Winner of Season 3 – Emmitt Smith

Birthday : 5-15-1969

Birthplace : Pensacola, Florida, USA

Birth Name : Emmitt James Smith III

Recent Role : Himself on Hard Knocks

Gender : Male

Emmitt James Smith III (born May 15, 1969) is a Hall of Fame American football running back. He was an All-American at the University of Florida before playing professionally for the Dallas Cowboys and Arizona Cardinals, and is the NFL’s all-time rushing leader, a record formerly held by his childhood hero, Walter Payton. He is the only running back to ever win a Super Bowl championship, the NFL Most Valuable Player award, the NFL rushing crown, and the Super Bowl Most Valuable Player award all in the same season (1993). He is also one of four running backs to lead the NFL in rushing three or more consecutive seasons, joining Steve Van Buren, Jim Brown, and Earl Campbell. He was selected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2010. Smith is the first player from the 1990 NFL Draft to be inducted. He also won the reality TV show Dancing with the Stars in 2006.

While playing for the Cowboys, Smith, Troy Aikman, and Michael Irvin were “The Triplets” who led their team to three Super Bowl championships during the 1990s.

Despite his collegiate success, some NFL teams still felt that Smith was too small and slow for the pro game. He fell to the 17th pick in the first round, when he was picked by the Dallas Cowboys, who had traded up to draft him.

Smith was the first player in NFL history to have five consecutive seasons with over 1,400 rushing yards. Smith, Jim Brown, and LaDainian Tomlinson are the only players with seven straight 10-touchdown seasons to start their careers. With 1,021 rushing yards in 2001, Smith became the first player in NFL history with 11 consecutive 1,000 yard seasons and the first to post 11 1,000-yard rushing seasons in a career. He is the NFL’s all-time leader in rushing attempts with 4,409.

Smith currently holds the NFL record in career rushing yards with 18,355, breaking the previous record held by Walter Payton, on October 27 of the 2002 NFL season. He leads all running backs with 164 career rushing touchdowns, and his 175 total touchdowns ranks him second only to Jerry Rice’s 208. The sum of his rushing yards, receiving yards (3,224) and fumble return yards (-15) give him a total of 21,564 yards from the line of scrimmage, making him one of only four players in NFL history to eclipse the 21,000-combined yards mark.

Smith also accumulated several NFL postseason records, including rushing touchdowns (19), consecutive games with a rushing touchdown (9) and 100-yard rushing games (7). His 1,586 yards rushing is also top on the NFL postseason chart, and he shares the total playoff touchdown mark of 21 with Thurman Thomas. With the Cowboys, Smith won three Super Bowl rings and rushed for over 100 yards in two of those games, Super Bowl XXVII (108 yards and a touchdown, along with 6 receptions for 27 yards), and Super Bowl XXVIII (132 yards and two touchdowns, along with 4 receptions for 26 yards). Smith received the Super Bowl MVP award for Super Bowl XXVIII, becoming the only Cowboys running back ever to win the award out of all their Super Bowl wins.

Smith is one of only five NFL players who have amassed over 10,000 career-rushing yards and 400 career receptions. Emmitt Smith and Jerry Rice are the only two non-kickers to score 1000 points in a career.