Football taught Emmitt Smith lessons

JACKSON – NFL Hall of Fame running back Emmitt Smith played football since he was 8 years old after telling his father the previous year he was going to play in the NFL while watching a Cowboys game at their home in Pensacola, Fla.

Smith, who retired in 2005, was in Jackson on Tuesday speaking at a fundraiser for Jackson State Community College and shared some of the lessons he learned at different levels of football since his days as a kid.

“When I first started playing, I wanted to be the quarterback for three reasons,” Smith said. “They touch the ball every play, they get paid the most and all the ladies love the quarterback.

“My youth coach wanted to move me to running back and told me I could take handoffs there and do a better job there.”

Then came his first day of practice. He took a handoff and ran against one of the biggest kids on the team, who was playing linebacker. Smith got knocked down in a rough manner to the point he was ready to quit, but the coach told him how to get around him.

“I ran at him, sidestepped him, he hit the ground and I was off for a touchdown,” Smith said. “I learned a very valuable lesson that day that would help me throughout my career – avoid contact at all costs.”

RELATED: 6 things Emmitt Smith said in the press conference before speech about life after the NFL

In high school, he learned about giving credit to his teammates. He was interviewed by local media as a sophomore on a team that eventually won the state championship. They asked about rushing for more than 200 yards and two touchdowns in a win. He talked about taking pitches and juking defenders.

“My coach told me to always credit the linemen because they never get credit and that I didn’t hand the ball off to myself, I didn’t block for myself at the line and I didn’t block downfield,” Smith said.

He learned about teamwork in practice the next week when the coach had first string offense line up against first string defense.

“Then we ran a 9-on-7 drill with nine defensive players. That’s too many by the way,” Smith told the crowd, who responded with a collective laugh. “Then they hiked the ball, I got the handoff and the line all laid down for me.

“I got knocked flat by that entire defense, and I told coach right then I got the message.”

He went on to a standout career at Florida where he led the Gators to some big victories in the three years before Steve Spurrier arrived. He never got to play in Knoxville against Tennessee, but the Gators did travel to Memphis for a game.

He told about his professional career playing for the Cowboys and being a part of three Super Bowl championship teams in four years.

“People ask me if I thought we should’ve won four Super Bowls because we lost that third year in the conference championship,” Smith said. “My answer is no because we won as many as God thought we should.

“You can work as hard as you want and spend all the time preparing that you want, and you should. Because I did, and I don’t think anyone can have any kind of accomplishment like leading the NFL in rushing for four straight years without working hard. But if God doesn’t have that in His plan, it won’t happen. So be thankful for your blessings when you succeed in any area of your life.”

Reach Brandon Shields at bjshields@jacksonsun.com or at 425-9751. Follow him on Twitter @JSEditorBrandon or on Instagram at jacksonsunsports.