When referencing Smith...

He put it all together.
4th all-time Dallas receiver??

Plus, his durability was just crazy. I am not sure anyone will ever be able to break his record in today’s NFL.

His stiff arm could be so pinpoint that he could grab, right on the forearm, and redirect an incoming defenders lead tacking arm while he was still on the fly looking down the field for the optimal line.

this is IMHO the ability that separated Emmitt from everyone else. Watch the SB highlights in 93 when he absolutely ran through the DLine of the Bills. That stiff arm was so subtle that if you weren’t looking for it, you wouldn’t see it. But that made him so many yards and it looked so easy. Almost as it it was a natural motion—something that he was born with.

I’ll poke holes in all their BS arguments, whether they wanna go the Barry route or the OLine route.

an indomitable will to succeed".
How is “indomitable will” measured at the combine?

Emmitt was the best RB of his era. I can’t say he was the best ever. There was Jim Brown, OJ, Earl, Payton, Tony D. and some other great RBs. Its hard for me to say who was the best, but one thing I will say is Emmitt was the most complete RB ever.

then why did he set high school and college records everywhere he went? Did he have a really amazing line then too?

Furthermore, if Emmitt was really benefitting from our line than I guess we should have had no problem replacing him when he was injured. That however was not near the case. Not only did the Cowboys infamously go 0-2 without him at the beginning of 1993 without him but our backups back then generally put up nowhere near the numbers that Emmitt did.

All in all, Emmitt is a much more complete back than Barry ever was and is ultimately the all-time leading rusher. In my opinion that makes him the best ever. There are certainly arguments for guys like Brown, Sanders, and even Sayers (if you listen to some old-timers) but in my mind Emmitt’s mastery of every facet of being a running back and his ability to do it for so long in the modern-era of football makes him the best (not necessarily the most exciting).

In a feeble attempt to downplay how great Aikman, Irvin and Smith were. Since big fat stinky linemen aren’t anywhere near as sexy as skill players it tickles the fancy of other jealous fanbases to pretend that plenty of other QB’s, backs or receivers could’ve just as easily had Hall Of Fame careers behind that line when in fact Larry Allen is the only one of that bunch likely to make the Hall Of Fame. Williams obviously would’ve been a shue-in if not for never fully recovering from that car wreck.

I’ll put it this way; if there are dumbass Steelers fans that think Neil O’Donnell, Barry Foster and Ernie Mills would’ve been Hall Of Famers by simply playing behind that Cowboys line they’re delusional. It’s not like the Bills core of Kelly, Thurman and Reed were playing behind jelly bellied slobs up front. Kent Hull, Howard Ballard and Jim Richter were all Pro Bowlers and in Hull’s case an All-Pro caliber player.

I have always liked Walter Payton, and always will feel he is the best RB to ever play the game. Not because of stats, or how long his records stood, just because I like Walter Payton, his abilities, his stats, and his love of the game. It is sometimes hard to let go of the past performers that were considered to be the best and make room for someone new to take that place in history.

That being said, I can’t argue that Smith’s stats are the best. His love of the game is only rivaled by Payton’s. His will to win, his determination to be the best, his ability to change a game, they are all unquestionable. I have a lot of respect for Emmit Smith and everything he has done for the game of football. He was an outstanding athlete, and that can never be taken away from him.

One last thought, Sanders was great, but the “if only he had a line” bit is BS. If he wanted a better line to run behind he would have went to a different team.