18,355 NOT JUST A NUMBER
By mark rogers
August 6, 2010
Emmitt Smith's first yard from scrimmage gained in the NFL was in 1990. It came against the San Diego Chargers at Texas Stadium in a Cowboys win that snapped a 14-game home losing streak.
12 years later, against the Seattle Seahawks, Emmitt would lunge up the middle on a carry very symbolic of his style of grit and determination, clawing and scratching his way to the all-time NFL rushing title.
And two years after that, I watched and wept as Emmitt signed a one-day contract with the Cowboys and retired from the NFL as the greatest running back in the history of the universe.
18,355 total yards. 164 touchdowns (second all-time). 15 seasons. Rookie of the Year. NFL MVP in 1993. Super Bowl 28 MVP, and maybe most importantly...Dancing with the Stars champion, 2006. He carried the ball 4,409 times. He lost 25 fumbles. That's a lost fumble for every 176 carries.
Smith was the final piece of a three-player combination that will forever be known as the Triplets. Michael Irvin was drafted by the Cowboys in 1988. Troy Aikman followed in 1989. Smith came in 1990. And that's the order they will have gone into the NFL Hall of Fame.
The triplets. Three players. Three Super Bowl championships.
He was also the last of a dying breed in an NFL era that was dominated by team loyalty and commitment to one organization. Even though he spent his final two season in an Arizona Cardinals uniform, he never considered himself an Arizona Cardinal.
Irvin doesn't have any major all-time NFL records. Aikman doesn't either. Smith is the only one with one of the "big records" which I consider touchdowns and yards (rushing, receiving, passing), and wins. In baseball the "big ones" are homeruns, hits, RBIs, and for pitchers, wins, strikeouts, and ERA.
Most people know Jerry Rice scored the most TDs and Brett Favre has thrown for the most yards (and touchdowns, and about fifty other categories), but you may not know (or care) that Morten Anderson has scored the most points in the NFL.
You know that Barry Bonds is the home run king. Nolan Ryan is the strikeout king. Pete Rose is the hits king. But you may not know (or care) that Sam Crawford has the most triples ever.
That's what I mean by the "big records".
And Emmitt is the only of the triplets that has one. All-time rushing leader. And isn't it fitting that the number in the middle of Emmitt's record, the number that holds it all together, is a '3'.
18,355
Emmitt was the cornerstone of the Cowboys 1990s dynasty. He was the one who held it all together. Without Emmitt there would be no Triplets or three Super Bowl wins.
The first Super Bowl win in the 90s (1992) came when I was in the 6th grade. I was just starting to care about professional sports. So those Cowboys teams were my "first love" of what has turned into quite a passion and strong relationship I now have with organized sports.
I started playing football the following season...the one which ended with another Cowboys Super Bowl win. There is a deep and powerful connection between the 1990s Cowboys and me.
Some of my best memories are watching those games with my dad, attending some of those games, talking about those games, wearing Cowboys apparel, and learning what it's like to be obsessed with a sports team.
So when I see replays of Emmitt running through or over guys, or of Aikman running in slow motion with his hand in the air holding up the number 1, or Irvin slamming the ball on the turf and motioning "first down", I have to admit, I get a little choked up.
That was my team. Those were my players.
Just like I watched Aikman and Irving get inducted in Canton, I'll watch Emmitt, too. And as much as I hate to admit it, I'll probably shed a tear or two.
Tears symoblizing some of the best times in Cowboys history, celebrating some of the best memories of my childhood, representing all that is great and signifcant about beating the odds, and accomplishing something great when everyone tells you that you can't.
And you know what? Now that I think about it. I won't shed just a tear or two. I know exactly how many tears I'll shed...
3
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