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Emmitt King For A Day
By MICKEY SPAGNOLA
DallasCowboys.com Columnist
March 13, 2003, 8:46 p.m. (CST)
IRVING, Texas - So he was supposed to be washed up. Done. Through. Nobody would want a soon-to-be 34-year-old running back once the Dallas Cowboys sent the NFL's all-time leading rusher out the door.
Bull.
The Arizona Cardinals disagree, and they raised their objections loudly the past two days out there in the desert sun, courting free agent Emmitt Smith as if he were royalty, and not some tarnished relic just biding his days before hall of fame enshrinement.
They flew him into town. Put him up in swanky Scottsdale. Checked him into a Four Seasons. Got him a tee time at Troon. Got all the heavy hitters together and took him to dinner Wednesday night. Let him address the media on Thursday, with even some nosy fans showing up at the Cardinals complex for an ego booster upon his arrival.
"It feels like I'm being recruited again," Smith said.
He should have felt so. Wednesday night, owner Bill Bidwill, vice president of football operations Rod Graves and head coach Dave McGinnis wined and dined the former Cowboys running back. You know, nice place. Nice conversation. Good food.
Respectful.
"Dinner was very rewarding," said McGinnis, who knows a thing or two about NFL all-time leading rushers since he was an assistant with the Chicago Bears during Walter Payton's days. "It was one of those types of things you happen to look down at your watch and it was 11:30. Time just flew by.
"Mr. B looked down at his watch, smiled and said, 'Does anyone know what time it is?'"
Does anyone really care?
Good for Emmitt. He deserves this.
And this is not the type of treatment that is forerunner to a minimum, $755,000 offer. The Cardinals are serious about signing Emmitt Smith, bringing him in as the starting running back to bridge youngster Marcel Shipp into the future. And if you're serious, then you got to be talking like real money, a salary upwards of averaging $2 million a year, with a nice relocation signing bonus and some incentives.
If not, then how silly of the Cardinals to pump up Smith with all this pomp, then prick him with a low-ball offer.
As for Smith, he was non-committal. He said all the right things. Was charming as ever. Said he had to talk to his CEO - wife, Pat - and then gauge the interest of other teams. He would not say which teams. Nor would he say where he might have a visit, if there any more visits planned.
But it seems Arizona might be the place to be. Carolina is now out. They reportedly have agreed to terms with Stephen Davis. Can't see how Tampa Bay could be in. They have just more than $600,000 in cap space, and a one-year, minimum deal for Emmitt would bounce them into the red. There has been mention of New England, but, well, brrrrrr.
Smith says he has his priorities: Winning, playing time and money. I would imagine ability to play golf year 'round has to be bucking for third, since it stands to reason the 13-year veteran has made more money than he or his children can spend. And Phoenix has all the golf a man could want.
So then it comes down to this:
Does he really want to play for the Arizona Cardinals, an organization that has needed to hem its trousers to keep from tripping over itself? Would he dare slap that bird head on a white helmet, replacing the blue star on that royal silver?
Again, Smith had the right answer on Thursday.
"I am keeping my eyes focused in terms of where I need to go," Smith said. "That is one reason why I don't dwell on the things I have done in my past. I think the organization has taken that approach as well. With them not signing Jake (Plummer) and David (Boston), maybe they were looking to go in a drastic direction fairly quick. Maybe bringing in (Dexter) Jackson, (Jeff) Blake and fullback James Hodgins and James Darling, they are bringing in veteran guys to help facilitate, and not only that, but to help the young guys learn how to win."
But all that kind of stuff is for other people to bicker about. Good talk-radio fodder. Who cares if there is a one-eyed red bird profile on your helmet?
As long as you get to do what you want, and for Emmitt at this point, it's play football. Add to his legacy. Add to his all-time rushing totals. Just do what he does for as long as he can. What's so wrong with that? Especially when they pay you good money to do these kinds of things.
And he's willing to gamble failure to reap those benefits.
"I think that is something that I am looking for," said Smith of a chance to play, not a chance to rust away the potential final years of his career standing on the sideline. "I feel like I can contribute and I will be able to have an opportunity to contribute to the team's success. I think coming here, there might be an opportunity for that to happen. Not only that, but when you look at the overall character of the team and the individuals of the team, you have to take those things into account.
"Obviously the Cardinals have some younger players on their ball club and I don't want them to be threatened by me, I want them to receive me as one of their own. That goes for any ball club. I am not coming into be a distraction, I am coming in to be an asset to the organization as well as those individuals."
Smith can do that, and he can do those types of things more readily in Arizona where he will be embraced by all those Cowboys fans and an organization thirsting for a marketing tool to sell tickets, then he could have back here in Dallas one more year. See here, it would have been all about Emmitt: How many carries he got; how many yards; if Bill Parcells likes him; if the Cowboys are respecting him; who is going to replace him.
But down there, or anywhere new, there will be more of an appreciation for what Smith was, not so much for what he might still be. At least for a year or two, and really, that's about all Smith has left, anyway. And if that is the case, then both sides get what they want out of this: Smith a chance to continue playing and adding yards to his record (plus make some nice scratch), and the Cardinals a product to market and a veteran with know how to show a younger back how it's done.
Win, win.
"Honestly I see myself playing somewhere," Smith said. "I love the game too much. I think I am as healthy as I could possibly be and have the ability to go out there and do the things that I am capable of doing to help a team win. That is very important to me."
But Emmitt, OK, come on. About that darn bird.
"Like I said during my press conference in Dallas, I am a football player first and foremost," Smith said. "That is what I do. I have been playing football all my life. I have played football for the Gators of Escambia High School, for the Gators of the University of Florida, and now the Dallas Cowboys. My uniform colors have changed, but the football player is remaining the same. That in itself is what I am.
"I may change uniforms and whether it be a bird or whatever it may be, but I am going to be the football player that I always have been."
And for that, the Cardinals would die for.
Emmitt King For A Day
By MICKEY SPAGNOLA
DallasCowboys.com Columnist
March 13, 2003, 8:46 p.m. (CST)
IRVING, Texas - So he was supposed to be washed up. Done. Through. Nobody would want a soon-to-be 34-year-old running back once the Dallas Cowboys sent the NFL's all-time leading rusher out the door.
Bull.
The Arizona Cardinals disagree, and they raised their objections loudly the past two days out there in the desert sun, courting free agent Emmitt Smith as if he were royalty, and not some tarnished relic just biding his days before hall of fame enshrinement.
They flew him into town. Put him up in swanky Scottsdale. Checked him into a Four Seasons. Got him a tee time at Troon. Got all the heavy hitters together and took him to dinner Wednesday night. Let him address the media on Thursday, with even some nosy fans showing up at the Cardinals complex for an ego booster upon his arrival.
"It feels like I'm being recruited again," Smith said.
He should have felt so. Wednesday night, owner Bill Bidwill, vice president of football operations Rod Graves and head coach Dave McGinnis wined and dined the former Cowboys running back. You know, nice place. Nice conversation. Good food.
Respectful.
"Dinner was very rewarding," said McGinnis, who knows a thing or two about NFL all-time leading rushers since he was an assistant with the Chicago Bears during Walter Payton's days. "It was one of those types of things you happen to look down at your watch and it was 11:30. Time just flew by.
"Mr. B looked down at his watch, smiled and said, 'Does anyone know what time it is?'"
Does anyone really care?
Good for Emmitt. He deserves this.
And this is not the type of treatment that is forerunner to a minimum, $755,000 offer. The Cardinals are serious about signing Emmitt Smith, bringing him in as the starting running back to bridge youngster Marcel Shipp into the future. And if you're serious, then you got to be talking like real money, a salary upwards of averaging $2 million a year, with a nice relocation signing bonus and some incentives.
If not, then how silly of the Cardinals to pump up Smith with all this pomp, then prick him with a low-ball offer.
As for Smith, he was non-committal. He said all the right things. Was charming as ever. Said he had to talk to his CEO - wife, Pat - and then gauge the interest of other teams. He would not say which teams. Nor would he say where he might have a visit, if there any more visits planned.
But it seems Arizona might be the place to be. Carolina is now out. They reportedly have agreed to terms with Stephen Davis. Can't see how Tampa Bay could be in. They have just more than $600,000 in cap space, and a one-year, minimum deal for Emmitt would bounce them into the red. There has been mention of New England, but, well, brrrrrr.
Smith says he has his priorities: Winning, playing time and money. I would imagine ability to play golf year 'round has to be bucking for third, since it stands to reason the 13-year veteran has made more money than he or his children can spend. And Phoenix has all the golf a man could want.
So then it comes down to this:
Does he really want to play for the Arizona Cardinals, an organization that has needed to hem its trousers to keep from tripping over itself? Would he dare slap that bird head on a white helmet, replacing the blue star on that royal silver?
Again, Smith had the right answer on Thursday.
"I am keeping my eyes focused in terms of where I need to go," Smith said. "That is one reason why I don't dwell on the things I have done in my past. I think the organization has taken that approach as well. With them not signing Jake (Plummer) and David (Boston), maybe they were looking to go in a drastic direction fairly quick. Maybe bringing in (Dexter) Jackson, (Jeff) Blake and fullback James Hodgins and James Darling, they are bringing in veteran guys to help facilitate, and not only that, but to help the young guys learn how to win."
But all that kind of stuff is for other people to bicker about. Good talk-radio fodder. Who cares if there is a one-eyed red bird profile on your helmet?
As long as you get to do what you want, and for Emmitt at this point, it's play football. Add to his legacy. Add to his all-time rushing totals. Just do what he does for as long as he can. What's so wrong with that? Especially when they pay you good money to do these kinds of things.
And he's willing to gamble failure to reap those benefits.
"I think that is something that I am looking for," said Smith of a chance to play, not a chance to rust away the potential final years of his career standing on the sideline. "I feel like I can contribute and I will be able to have an opportunity to contribute to the team's success. I think coming here, there might be an opportunity for that to happen. Not only that, but when you look at the overall character of the team and the individuals of the team, you have to take those things into account.
"Obviously the Cardinals have some younger players on their ball club and I don't want them to be threatened by me, I want them to receive me as one of their own. That goes for any ball club. I am not coming into be a distraction, I am coming in to be an asset to the organization as well as those individuals."
Smith can do that, and he can do those types of things more readily in Arizona where he will be embraced by all those Cowboys fans and an organization thirsting for a marketing tool to sell tickets, then he could have back here in Dallas one more year. See here, it would have been all about Emmitt: How many carries he got; how many yards; if Bill Parcells likes him; if the Cowboys are respecting him; who is going to replace him.
But down there, or anywhere new, there will be more of an appreciation for what Smith was, not so much for what he might still be. At least for a year or two, and really, that's about all Smith has left, anyway. And if that is the case, then both sides get what they want out of this: Smith a chance to continue playing and adding yards to his record (plus make some nice scratch), and the Cardinals a product to market and a veteran with know how to show a younger back how it's done.
Win, win.
"Honestly I see myself playing somewhere," Smith said. "I love the game too much. I think I am as healthy as I could possibly be and have the ability to go out there and do the things that I am capable of doing to help a team win. That is very important to me."
But Emmitt, OK, come on. About that darn bird.
"Like I said during my press conference in Dallas, I am a football player first and foremost," Smith said. "That is what I do. I have been playing football all my life. I have played football for the Gators of Escambia High School, for the Gators of the University of Florida, and now the Dallas Cowboys. My uniform colors have changed, but the football player is remaining the same. That in itself is what I am.
"I may change uniforms and whether it be a bird or whatever it may be, but I am going to be the football player that I always have been."
And for that, the Cardinals would die for.
