Emmitt Smith Biography

Emmitt Smith is a former American football player. This biography provides detailed information about his childhood, life, achievements, career and timeline.

Quick Facts

Birthday: May 15, 1969

Nationality: American

Famous: African American Men American Football Players

Sun Sign: Taurus

Age: 49 Years, 49 Year Old Males

Also Known As: Emmitt James Smith, III

Born in: Pensacola

Famous as: NFL Star

Height: 1.75 m

Family:

Spouse/Ex-: Patricia Southall

father: Emmitt James Smith, II.

mother: Mary Smith

siblings: Emory Smith

children: Emmitt Smith IV, Jasmine Page Lawrence, Rheagen Smith, Skylar Smith

City, States, Provinces & Districts: Florida

Net worth: $50 million as of Jan 25, 2017

More Facts

education: University of Florida, Escambia High School

awards: - Super Bowl MVP Award
1990 - NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year Award from the Associated Press
1993 - NFL MVP Award from the Associated Press

1993 - Bert Bell Award
1994 - Sporting News Sportsman/Pro Athlete of the Year

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When Emmitt Smith first chose to play football, he was considered too small for the sport. However, he managed to impress his fans and ascended the ladder of success with his great talent and sheer perseverance to outshine others in his league. He played football for the University of Florida before leaving freshman year to play for his dream team, the ‘Dallas Cowboys’. In his career, he became NFL’s unsurpassed leading rusher and won a number of awards. Apart from his football career, he also appeared on television for the popular show, ‘Dancing with the Stars’. He is a major contributor to the large successes that the Dallas Cowboys have enjoyed. His entire career total involves a stunning record of 18,355 yards, 164 touchdowns and 515 receptions. Apart from this impressive record, he has also single-handedly won three Super Bowl titles and won four NFL rushing titles. This Floridian is considered as one of the most influential American football players in sporting history because he became the first ever chief rusher in NFL history. Although the Dallas Cowboys were doing fairly well before his entry, with Emmitt on board, the team tasted success on a more frequent basis, season after season, bringing them back at the top of the NFL board.

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Emmitt Smith

Childhood & Early Life
Career
Awards & Achievements
Personal Life & Legacy
Trivia

Childhood & Early Life

Emmitt James Smith was born to Mary Smith and Emmitt James Smith, II in Pensacola, Florida.
From a very young age, he dreamt of playing with the Dallas Cowboys. However, he had to face a number of difficulties before he could realize that dream. Growing up, his family faced a lot of financial difficulties and young Smith did a number of odd jobs so that he could support his family.
When he was at school, he was noted for his athletic skills and he went on to play football for the University of Florida. He was quickly recognized as one of the most ‘dynamic’ performers of the university team.
He created a number of football records while in school such as 100 yards in his first game itself—many of his school records which remain unbroken today.
In 1990, he left the University of Florida in his junior year and decided to play for his dream team - NFL’s Dallas Cowboys - when he was chosen in the NFL draft.

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Career

He achieved his first Super Bowl victory with the Dallas Cowboys in 1992. The following year, he once again led his team to victory at the Super Bowl.
In his first five seasons as a professional football player, he managed to make a place for himself with the Dallas Cowboys and had the most number of games in a season with 25 rushing touchdowns, which he set in 1995. It was his most fruitful year where he recorded 1773 rushing yards and 62 receptions.
He helped his team achieve their third Super Bowl victory in 1995. He was tasting success one season after another and was selected to participate in eight Pro Bowls.
He was so prolific and dependable that on October 27, 2002, he thrashed Walter Payton’s unprecedented record for career rushing yards. He finished his NFL career with an amazing 18,355 yards rushing, 164 touchdowns and 4409 carries, all NFL records.
He was to be fired by the Dallas Cowboys after the 2002 season, but he chose to be released from the team anyway, with the Cowboys paying him $4.9 million. Thereafter, he joined the Arizona Cardinals.
Just before the start of the Super Bowl XXXIX in 2005, he announced his retirement from the NFL. The same year, he signed on as a studio analyst on the NFL show, ‘NFL Total Access’.
In 2005, he also became a real estate developer. He got together with Roger Staubach, another football player, to create Smith/Cypress Partners LP. He is also the co-founder of ESmith Legacy, a company that focuses in commercial real estate development and investment management.
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Soon after his retirement, he became a television personality and started appearing on a number of popular shows. In 2006, he served as one of the judges at the Miss Universe pageant. He was also a part of the hit dance-reality show, ‘Dancing with the Stars’, which he won along with partner, Cheryl Burke.
In 2007, he joined ESPN as a studio expert for the NFL pre-game reporting alongside Mike Ditka, Chris Mortensen and Tom Jackson. However, he was replaced in the next season. The same year, he had a cameo in the hit American television series, ‘How I Met Your Mother’.
He was seen at the Super Bowl XLIV in 2010, where he was asked to flip the coin at the start of the game between the New Orleans Saints and the Indianapolis Colts.
In 2011, he defeated David Williams in the National Heads-Up Poker Championship, but lost in the second round to Andrew Robl. After this, he was once again seen in the fifteenth season of ‘Dancing with the Stars, All-Stars’, once again with Cheryl Burke, but he was voted off.

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Awards & Achievements

In 1989, he was given the award of ‘SEC Most Valuable Player’.
He is an Eight-time Pro Bowler from 1990 to 1999.
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He won the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year Award, in 1990.
Smith won four NFL rushing titles in 1991, 1993 and 1995.
He won three Super Bowl titles in 1992, 1993 and 1995.
He won the Bert Bell Award, in 1993.
He is included in the Dallas Cowboys Ring of Honor.
Smith is inducted into the University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame.
He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, in 2010.

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Personal Life & Legacy

While he was playing professional football, he returned to the University of Florida to complete his bachelor’s degree in public recreation, in 1996.
He has a daughter from his ex-girlfriend, Hope Wilson.
He married supermodel and Miss Virginia USA, Patricia Southall on April 22, 2000. The couple has a son, Emmitt IV and a daughter, Skylar. He has a step-daughter from his wife’s previous marriage to Martin Lawrence.

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Trivia

This famous American footballer and television personality who played for the Dallas Cowboys apparently signed an $8 million contract with the Arizona Cardinals for two years.

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See the events in life of Emmitt Smith in Chronological Order