Catch '22'

emmitt smith was too small and too slow for pro football. so how did he end up breaking the all-time nfl rushing record?

Since 1990 there's been a catch-22 for NFL defenders: They can't catch number 22. You may slow down Dallas Cowboys running back Emmitt Smith. You may hold him to a yard or three. But check the stat sheet after the game and the man will have his yards. The 33-year-old Smith has run for more yards than anybody else in pro history. Jim Brown, O.J. Simpson, Barry Sanders, Walter Payton—this season Smith left them all behind. Not bad for a guy who was said to be too small and too slow to play in the NFL.

As a rookie, the 5'9", 212-pound Smith wrote down his career goal: Be the NFL's all-time leading rusher. A dozen years and nearly 4000 carries later, the dream came true, and now Smith has racked up almost 10 miles of NFL yardage. He has three Super Bowl rings, a Super Bowl MVP trophy, a league MVP award and four NFL rushing crowns. But the rushing king isn't finished. He wants to add more mileage to his total to discourage would-be record breakers. Then, after he retires, he might become an NFL owner.

[Q] Playboy: Did you think about the rushing record constantly this year?

[A] Smith: I thought about it more as I got closer. I'd been trying to control my emotions, but once the season began I decided it was OK to be excited. It's like a 100-yard dash—I'd already run 95 yards. All I needed was a strong finish.

[Q] Playboy: Do the yards seem longer now that you're 33 years old?

[A] Smith: They seem longer when you're losing. Everything is smooth when you win, but we've found that harder the past few years.

[Q] Playboy: You've always written down your goals. In your rookie year you wrote that you planned to break the league's rushing record.

[A] Smith: It was before my rookie year.

[Q] Playboy: You were holding out for more money. You weren't even officially a Cowboy—

[A] Smith: Right. I was sitting in my little apartment here in Dallas. I knew I wanted to play a minimum of 13 years—

[Q] Playboy: Why 13 years?

[A] Smith: It's a magical number. And it's the time a lot of players retire.

[Q] Playboy: But the average running back's career is only three or four years.

[A] Smith: Forget average. I was thinking about going the distance.

[Q] Playboy: You were thinking about passing Jim Brown and Walter Payton before you gained your first yard in the NFL?

[A] Smith: And I knew getting to 16,727 yards would take about 13 years.

[Q] Playboy: Where did you write your goal?

[A] Smith: On a piece of paper. Then a girl I was dating got it laminated.

[Q] Playboy: That was brash, having it laminated.

[A] Smith: Hey, it wasn't me. Girlfriend did it.

[Q] Playboy: Does she still have it?

[A] Smith: I have it in a box in storage. Tell you what—that's a valuable piece of paper, isn't it?

[Q] Playboy: This is your 13th year. What's on your list of goals for next year?

[A] Smith: The first goal I write down every year is to keep Jesus Christ number one in my life. Number two, stay healthy all season. After that I proceed to team goals and then individual goals.

[Q] Playboy: What can you average per game this year?

[A] Smith: I always shoot for 120, 125 yards.

[Q] Playboy: Early in the season you were gaining about half that per game. Still, you wound up pushing toward 17,000 career yards. Can you reach 20,000?

[A] Smith: I'd need a couple more good years to get close to 20,000. But, yes, that number is in my mind.

[Q] Playboy: You've already piled up a mountain of yards for the next ambitious rookie to climb. But only five years ago your career was in trouble—you had a slow start, the Cowboys struggled and you were benched. What happened?

[A] Smith: What happened is that people were idiots. "Emmitt is holding the team back," they said. They said I was done. They didn't look at the fact that I was injured—our team was decimated by injuries and age and lack of talent, and our system was outdated. We ran the same offense for five years, so teams were well prepared to stop us. They knew what was coming. I had a badly sprained ankle and had broken a bone spur, so I couldn't push off. But I still got over 1000 yards that year.

[Q] Playboy: You ran for 1074 yards and caught 40 passes for another 234, all for a team that went 6-10. How did you feel when coach Barry Switzer said of you, "Father Time gets everybody." You were only 28 and you were injured—that must have stung.

[A] Smith: Barry popped off a lot. He was definitely wrong that time.

[Q] Playboy: He resigned after the season. Do you ever see him?

[A] Smith: Yes, and we do not talk about that time. Nobody makes apologies; we proceed on. I'm still here, even though Father Time does catch up with you. I'm still an effective running back—you don't get to 1000 yards by being ineffective. I've still got a major step on Father Time.

[Q] Playboy: You suffered major pain in a 1994 game against the Giants, when you separated your shoulder but stayed in the game. You kept carrying the ball—even stiff-armed Lawrence Taylor with your bad arm—and the Cowboys won the NFC East. How much does it hurt to stiff-arm a huge, fast tackler with a separated shoulder?

[A] Smith: I wasn't hurting, I was flowing on adrenaline. You know how a soldier in battle gets shot but doesn't know it? He's wounded but still fighting. That was me.

[Q] Playboy: On the sideline, you wept from the pain.

[A] Smith: Sitting on the sideline when our defense was in, yeah. It was cold, I'm stiffening up and my shoulder is pounding like a migraine headache.

[Q] Playboy: After that game, for the first time in his career, John Madden went from the booth to the locker room to congratulate a player. What did he say to you?

[A] Smith: He said, "What a performance! It's the greatest thing I've ever seen in football." And I'm just sitting there in pain, my head's lolling back and I'm going, "Thanks, John."

[Q] Playboy: What was the worst moment?

[A] Smith: I was cool until I got out of the shower. Took a shower, now I'm putting on my clothes and all of a sudden I get these severe chest pains and just fall over.

[Q] Playboy: Where were the doctors? The NFL is supposed to be the home of prescription painkillers.

[A] Smith: I don't like needles. I'd had a couple pain pills after I got hurt, and after the game they gave me a couple of shots in the shoulder, just to calm it down. It knocked me out. I slept through the bus ride and woke up on the plane back to Dallas. Everybody else was celebrating, but I was in a panic, almost screaming from the pain. I started beating my shoulder on the seat and they had to shoot me again. They wanted to land in Memphis and put me in a hospital, but I said no. "Take me home," I said. "I'm not dying in Memphis."

[Q] Playboy: It was good enough for Elvis.

[A] Smith: "I'll die in Dallas," I said. So as soon as we landed we went to the hospital. They gave me an IV and more medicine. It's 10:55 and I said, "Man, I want to see Sports Center. I'll be on Sports Center for sure." Now it's like 10:59, the Sports Center music's coming on and I said, "Yeah, gonna see myself...," and I fell asleep.

[Q] Playboy: Let's go back to less-painful memories. Is it true that when you were a baby, you wouldn't calm down unless your mother found a football game on TV?

[A] Smith: That's what the family says.

[Q] Playboy: Your father, Emmitt Smith Jr., worked as a city bus driver in Pensaco-la, Florida.

[A] Smith: He still does.

[Q] Playboy: His father, the original Emmitt, worked in a factory.

[A] Smith: And we lived in the projects. I remember one day my grandfather took me to the bank. I was 11 or 12. He had a certificate of deposit, and he wanted me to see it. Not just to show me the money, but to make me think about working and saving. Now, in my culture, we'd never been educated in the stock market, so our way to protect a dollar was to put it in a CD, collecting four or five percent. My grandfather paid taxes on that. It wasn't a tax-free CD. Years later I know about investing, but we didn't then. So he asks the bank guy to bring him the CD and I saw this huge number. It was for more than $15,000.

[Q] Playboy: What did your grandfather do with the money?

[A] Smith: He bought my sister a car for her high school graduation. Later on, when I graduated, he bought one for me—a 1985 Nissan Maxima. By the time my brothers got out of high school I was in the NFL. I could do the same for them.

[Q] Playboy: You took over for your grandfather. Did you get them Maximas?

[A] Smith: No, they got Lexus LX 450s.

[Q] Playboy: In the old days your grandmother, Erma Lee, was confined to a wheelchair. You looked after her, didn't you?

[A] Smith: My grandfather was working the night shift and my father needed some sleep—he had to go to work at five a.m. So I slept on the sofa in my grandparents' house. I would feed her. I'd give her water in the middle of the night, or help her into bed or roll her over so she could be comfortable. Those were my nighttime chores.

[Q] Playboy: Those were some long nights for a little kid.

[A] Smith: It's what we did. It was family.

[Q] Playboy: Even after you became a college football star at Florida, you let your dad tell you what to do.

[A] Smith: One time I did a little touchdown dance, and he didn't think much of that. "Son," he said, "show a little class. Act like you've been there before."

[Q] Playboy: Didn't he give you some advice when you were an NFL rookie?

[A] Smith: He did. At first I was too hyper after I got tackled. I'd bounce up—try to throw everybody off me and get back to the huddle real quick. My father said, "Son, don't waste energy pushing these big guys up off you. Just relax and lay down. Lay there long enough and they might help you up." So the next game I chilled out. Stayed down, let everybody untwist their bodies. And guess what—somebody reaches down and helps me back up.

[Q] Playboy: Before Walter Payton died three years ago, he asked you to talk to his son, Jarrett. How close were you and Walter?

[A] Smith: We didn't know each other well, but we were spiritually close. I think he trusted me, and he thought it was fitting for me to call Jarrett.

[Q] Playboy: What things did you and Jarrett talk about?

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[A] Smith: Going to school. Staying focused. Jarrett's at Miami, and he has a chance to be a sought-after player. When he'll really need somebody to talk to is when he's done with college. He'll have agents chasing him, people flocking around. He'll need someone to help filter that stuff. I'm not going to pester Jarrett, but he's got my phone number.

[Q] Playboy: What did you and Walter talk about?

[A] Smith: We used to talk about life. Training regimens. Financials. Protecting our privacy.

[Q] Playboy: When was the last time you spoke to him?

[A] Smith: A little bit before he died.

[Q] Playboy: Was he saying goodbye?

[A] Smith: Yes. I think Walter had come to grips with the idea that his life was starting to leak away. "I've got to go in for more tests, a couple more tests. But I'm at peace," he said. "I'm cool. It's in God's hands. Just keep me in your prayers."

[Q] Playboy: Do you think it's fate that you are die guy who broke his record?

[A] Smith: I do. I think certain people are destined to do certain things. People ask me, "Why you?" But I'm just happy God has chosen me, and I don't question his motives. I try to live up to this destiny he made for me and never forget where I came from.

[Q] Playboy: Let's see how fast this interview can change directions. Can a running back enjoy sex after a game, or are you too bruised?

[A] Smith: After the game? It's every bit of possible. Oh, yes. It's comforting. It's hard to go to sleep on Sunday night.

[Q] Playboy: Can a religious man enjoy sex as much as a hedonist?

[A] Smith: Of course. Why not? If you're married, you've got your mate. You can do a whole lot; you can do it all.

[Q] Playboy: We tend to think of churchgoing men as straight arrows.

[A] Smith: Man, I'm going to have as much fun as I possibly can. My wife and I will go wherever, do whatever. We don't limit ourselves.

[Q] Playboy: You're unlimited.

[A] Smith: Unlimited. We're good.

[Q] Playboy: Your wife, Patricia, was Miss Virginia and a runner-up in the 1994 Miss USA pageant.

[A] Smith: She should have won it.

[Q] Playboy: Before you, she was married to Martin Lawrence. Have you and Lawrence met?

[A] Smith: Years ago. Before I knew Patricia. I told him I was a fan of his.

[Q] Playboy: Is it awkward to see him now?

[A] Smith: No, it's respect on both sides. He'll say, "Go out and knock them down. Beat the record, get your yards."

[Q] Playboy: Think back to your bachelor days. Which NFL city has the best-looking women?

[A] Smith: Phoenix.

[Q] Playboy: Not Dallas? There was a scandal in Dallas in the Nineties—the news got out that Cowboys players had paid for a house where they could take women without their wives or girlfriends knowing anything about it. You must have known about the infamous White House.

[A] Smith: I knew some things. I don't want to discuss them, though.

[Q] Playboy: Did you ever visit die White House?

[A] Smith: [Staring interviewer down] I knew some things. We'll leave it just like that.

[Q] Playboy: Are pro football players bad citizens?

[A] Smith: No. People want to judge us, but before you judge us, why don't you look at your own life? When you point a finger at one of us, there are three fingers coming right back at you. The difference between a football player and somebody else is that he's in the public eye and you're not. His dirt is uncovered. Yours is not.

[Q] Playboy: You discovered years ago that you were drawn to the business world. You've owned a sports-collectibles store and you're planning to capitalize on breaking the record with everything from bobblehead dolls to silver helmets. Cowboys owner Jerry Jones calls you and Troy Aikman two of the best businessmen he's had on die team.

[A] Smith: There's some history behind that—all our contract negotiations.

[Q] Playboy: Who's the tougher businessman, you or Jerry Jones?

[A] Smith: I'll say he is, because he's older and worth billions. I'm only worth millions. Jerry's probably more ruthless than I am.

[Q] Playboy: Any complaints about how the Cowboys treat players?

[A] Smith: I miss the swimming pool that we had here at Valley Ranch, where we work out. In a pool you can work muscles you don't work in the weight room. It's good for your lungs, too. But they removed the pool.

[Q] Playboy: Emmitt Smith wants to swim and they take out the pool?

[A] Smith: I guess there weren't enough people using die pool to justify it. And I'm not going to say anything against Jerry Jones right now, knowing that he's looking to do some things with the organization.

[Q] Playboy: Like maybe cutting you loose to save payroll.

[A] Smith: So I won't be demanding a new swimming pool. Though I do have my vision of what I'd do if I were an owner. I'd want a track and football field like we have here. A swimming pool, definitely. I would make some improvements in classrooms—we need a larger meeting room for our team—and put in a state-of-the-art training room like the Mavericks have. I love what [Dallas Mavericks owner] Mark Cuban did widi his NBA team. Their facility is awesome. I wouldn't go so far in the locker room, though—the players have DVDs and Game Boys and PlayStation 2s at their lockers!

[Q] Playboy: What else would you do as an NFL owner?

[A] Smith: Provide massage and chiropractic services. Those things are necessary to keep players healthy, and healthy players stretch the owner's dollar.

[Q] Playboy: Will you become an owner?

[A] Smith: [Rubbing an imaginary dollar between his fingers] Got to get more paper first.

[Q] Playboy: Let's talk about paper. What has been your biggest thrill financially?

[A] Smith: Seeing my first million dollars. It was a Tuesday, before the season opener in my rookie year. I got a check for $1,050,000.

[Q] Playboy: Do they spell it out on the second line, One million dollars?

[A] Smith: [Nodding] One million and fifty thousand. Wow.

[Q] Playboy: Was that the biggest check you've held in your hand?

[A] Smith: It was one of the smallest. The biggest was for diirteen point five.

[Q] Playboy: That's a lot to spell out, Thirteen million and five hundred thousand dollars. What color was the check?

[A] Smith: Cowboys blue.

[Q] Playboy: People talk about your vision and about your balance. We have always thought, from watching you, that your success has been more about strength. At 5'9", 212 you have a low center of gravity and you're incredibly strong through the middle.

[A] Smith: It's interesting you say that. You mean right through here, right? That's what I call the body's core. There are so many little muscles in there that make a man run fast or jump high. As an athlete, your core is the essence of who you are—it's what keeps you balanced and strong. The guys in the weight room tell me that I have one strong core.

[Q] Playboy: As did die Lions' Barry Sanders, but he retired before he could break Payton's rushing record. Were you surprised?

[A] Smith: Very surprised. Barry and I have talked about it since then. I don't want to discuss it because he has a book coming out. I want to let Barry's book speak for itself.

[Q] Playboy: Come on—tell us a little.

(concluded on page 150)Emmitt Smith(continued from page 120)

[A] Smith: All right. One reason he retired, in my opinion, is that he was unhappy with the way he was treated in Detroit. Not just the frustration of losing, but promises that weren't kept.

[Q] Playboy: Bad faith on the Lions' part?

[A] Smith: Yes. And that is part of what's wrong in Detroit. Players can see how people are treated. Players are smart; they all know when somebody has been screwed over. And if they'll do that to Barry Sanders, the pride and joy of the organization and the team's whole history, what are the players supposed to think? Why would they stay there or go there in the first place?

[Q] Playboy: DO you think the way the Lions treated Sanders led to the franchise's troubles?

[A] Smith: I think it had a lot to do with it.

[Q] Playboy: Which running backs are in your class?

[A] Smith: There are a lot. Marshall Faulk's probably the most talented runner in the league. But don't forget about Fred Taylor. He hasn't been healthy the past couple of years, but he has all Marshall's attributes and he's probably faster.

[Q] Playboy: Few NFL backs can block like you do. You're a fierce blocker. That's a lunch-bucket skill—it's mostly effort, isn't it?

[A] Smith: Here's how I see it: The more rounded you are, the harder it is for the defense to know what you might do. Teams know that a lot of backs don't want to put their heads down and block, so they can fire away and blitz the quarterback. But if you can block they'll say, "Why waste our time rushing the quarterback?" They don't even try. Now suppose I'm a back who doesn't just run and block. Suppose I can catch a pass, too.

[Q] Playboy: You've caught 480 passes for over 3000 career yards.

[A] Smith: If you can run and block and catch the ball, then you've really got them thinking. They have to ask themselves, What do we do? Which way do we go?

[Q] Playboy: Running backs often talk about a sixth sense they have. They say they are able to "feel the hole." Can you really do that?

[A] Smith: It's more like feeling the flow of a play—how fast the defense is coming, where it's moving, where all the bodies are headed. Is the defense going to meet you at the hole, at the juncture, or can you get to the hole first? Should you be behind the flow of a play, or should you hurry to get out in front of it?

[Q] Playboy: Do you see arrows moving around, like on Madden's Telestrator?

[A] Smith: What I see is flashes. I see colors—the uniforms of my team and the team we're playing. It's a flash of our uniforms mashing against the color of theirs.

[Q] Playboy: That's pretty abstract.

[A] Smith: It's pretty cool.

[Q] Playboy: Do you ever think, Hey, one of those flashes is Ray Lewis coming to get me?

[A] Smith: Yes, exactly. That's one flash to avoid. You want to stay away from him.

[Q] Playboy: Brett Favre did the Playboy Interview several seasons ago, after he came out of rehab. He said he had "taken a fancy" to the painkiller Vicodin. He told us he didn't take the stuff to keep playing; he liked it because it helped him escape after games.

[A] Smith: I have taken Vicodin, but I don't take pills for more than a day or two. I've got a medicine case full of bottles that were prescribed for me, but I leave them there.

[Q] Playboy: Last year Favre got sacked—sort of—by the Giants' Michael Strahan. It looked like he took a fall to help Strahan set the NFL single-season record for sacks.

[A] Smith: I'd have to look at the tape to say for sure, but I thought Brett was about to roll out and he moved right into Michael and went down to avoid a big hit.

[Q] Playboy: That's not how it looked. If Favre took a dive, was he right or wrong to do it?

[A] Smith: It makes sense for the quarterback to avoid the big hit. Now if he could have avoided it—

[Q] Playboy: If he went down to help Strahan get the record—

[A] Smith: That would be bad, yes. That would be sick.

[Q] Playboy: What if a guy had let you run through him so you could break Payton's record?

[A] Smith: Trust me. They weren't rolling over for me. Nobody wanted to be in my highlight clip.

[Q] Playboy: Let's end on a philosophical note. Fate may be a fine thing, but do you really think it guides football careers? Twenty years ago you were playing Pop Warner football and a 10-year-old tried to tackle you—he collided with you and you broke the poor kid's arm. Was that fate?

[A] Smith: [Smiling] Maybe I helped that kid figure out that football wasn't for him.

"I'm only worth millions Jerry Jones is probably more ruthless than I am."