Tuesday, September 10, 2024 | Football, Chris Harry
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By: Chris Harry, Senior Writer
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Emmitt Smith has had a standing invitation to be "Mr. Two Bits" since the honorary pregame tradition began in 2013. The dates just never worked out.
Suffice to say that when you're the all-time NFL rushing leader your services are in demand. The weekend plate is often full. Since 2020, in fact, that plate has taken Smith out west to watch his son play running back at Stanford. E.J. Smith, however, transferred to Texas A&M for his fifth-year senior season, which will put father and son at Spurrier/Florida Field Saturday at the same time when the Gators (1-1, 0-0) and Aggies (1-1, 0-0) open their Southeastern Conference slates.
In other words, a date that works out. Perfectly. Finally.
"It's always a great time being back at 'The Swamp' and this time is extra special watching my son take on my alma mater. It's truly a full circle moment and I'm blessed to witness it," Smith said. "I can still hear George Edmondson hyping up the crowd back when I was a player. You better believe I'm going to give it my all now that it's my turn to give it a go. I'm ready to have a blast while keeping this tradition alive. "
Emmitt Smith (22) as a Gator in 1989
So get there before kickoff to see the elder Smith back in the stadium and in front of an adoring Florida fanbase that watched him carry 700 times for 3,928 yards and 36 touchdowns over his three seasons (1987-89). While those numbers may rank second all-time in Florida history there is little doubt that Smith – with apologies to "Gator Great" Errict Rhett – rates as the greatest running back to ever wear a UF uniform, hence his place high above the north end zone as one of just six players in the UF "Ring of Honor," alongside Heisman Trophy winners Steve Spurrier, Danny Wuerffel and Tim Tebow, plus defensive stalwarts Jack Youngblood and Wilber Marshall.
And, of course, Smith was even better in the NFL, where he was surrounded by some of the greatest players in league history.
Smith, at just 5-foot-9 but a powerful 212 pounds, left Florida after his junior season, was selected 17th overall in the 1990 draft by the Dallas Cowboys and over the next 15 seasons rushed 4,409 times for 18,3455 yards and 164 touchdowns, all of which remain NFL records. Four times he led the league in rushing yards, was named NFL Most Valuable Player in 1993, was part of three Super Bowl-winning teams and elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2010, his first year of eligibility (one of just two Gators in Canton, along with Youngblood).
Smith after breaking Walter Payton's all-time NFL rushing record.
It was on Oct. 27, 2002, in a home game against the Seattle Seahawks, that Smith broke the all-time rushing mark previously held by Chicago's Walter Payton (16,726 yards). The following year, Smith was released by Dallas and signed by the Arizona Cardinals, where he played the final two seasons of his career.
Now 55, Smith is thriving businessman in Texas with his hands in a slew of different ventures and charitable organizations. In 2006, two years out of retirement, Smith and partner Cheryl Burke won the third season of "Dancing With the Stars."
He'll neither dance nor tote the rock Saturday, but he'll be wearing some semblance of "Two Bits" garb. At long last.
Here's betting he'll be very much at home back in "The Swamp" and the anticipated sellout crowd will adore him for it. Again.
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