The Dallas Cowboys are one of the winningest franchises in NFL history, winning five Super Bowls over the years.
Three of those Super Bowls came with NFL legend Emmitt Smith wreaking havoc out of the backfield, even earning Super Bowl MVP honors back in 1994.
Smith has become one of the role models for NFL players ever since and one of the most beloved sports figures of all time.
That’s why thousands of people took to social media to show their love and condolences when the legendary back announced the passing of his father on Twitter.
Smith bid his old man farewell by thanking him for being the one who made him fall in love with the game of football, so it seems like we all have to be thankful to him as well.
The man who inspired me to play the game of football has transitioned to be the lord. I will miss your timely advice but will hold on to the things you and my first love 😍 taught me, my brothers and sisters. ❤️U Pop pic.twitter.com/Cn93nBjkTM
— Emmitt Smith (@EmmittSmith22) February 15, 2023
The Florida product had an NFL career for the ages, being taken by the Cowboys 17th overall in the 1990 NFL Draft.
He spent 13 seasons with America’s Team before playing for the Arizona Cardinals in the last two seasons of his career.
Smith was a mainstay among the league’s most disruptive tackle-breakers, logging 18,355 rushing yards and 164 rushing touchdowns on 4.2 yards per carry and hauling in 515 receptions for 3,224 yards and 11 scores.
He was named MVP, Offensive Rookie of the Year, and a member of the NFL’s 1990 All-Decade Team and 100th-Anniversary Team.
He was also selected to eight Pro Bowls, was a four-time First-team All-Pro, two-times Second-team All-Pro, and led the NFL in rushing yards four times, three times in rushing touchdowns, and was the league’s scoring leader in 1995.
To this day, Smith still holds the NFL records for the most rushing yards, rushing touchdowns, and rushing attempts (4,409) per his career, marks that are unlikely to be topped in today’s pass-happy offenses.
NEXT: Herm Edwards Makes His Thoughts On The Cowboys Clear
