faba Posted March 18, 2005 Share Posted March 18, 2005 Emmitt Re-signs To Officially Retire With Cowboys Nick Eatman DallasCowboys.com Staff Writer March 17, 2005, 6:07 p.m. (CST) IRVING, Texas -In the midst of trying to sign the top free agents in the market, the Cowboys just so happened to re-sign the NFL's all-time leading rusher on Thursday . . . finally. As expected, the Cowboys signed Emmitt Smith to his token one-year contract, which will allow the future Pro Football Hall of Fame running back to officially retire as a Cowboy. Smith, who announced his retirement at a press conference Feb. 3 in Jacksonville, Fla., during Super Bowl week, played the last two years with the Arizona Cardinals after constructing that league-leading rushing career with the Cowboys in 13 seasons. Smith now only needs to submit his official written notification of his retirement to the league office to be officially placed on the Cowboys' reserve/retired list. The first date Smith could have re-signed with the Cowboys was March 2, the start of the NFL's free-agent signing period. However, with the Cowboys making a big splash in the first week of free agency, signing cornerback Anthony Henry, guard Marco Rivera and defensive tackle Jason Ferguson right off the bat, and recent trade talks concerning Saints defensive end Darren Howard, completing Smith's deal seemed almost trivial. But Smith made it clear at the Super Bowl retiring as a Dallas Cowboy was highly important to him. "It's only fitting for me to leave the game of football and move on with my life, and retire as a Dallas Cowboy," Smith said last month in his press conference. "It's been a tremendous ride, and one that I'm very proud of. "The memories that I have, the relationships that I'm taking away from the game are something dear and something I will take with me for the rest of my life. I'm moving on to another chapter in my life, and that's a chapter I'm looking forward to." Smith will finish his career with 18,355 rushing yards, having surpassed Walter Payton's previous all-time leading mark of 16,726 yards during the 2002 season. Smith currently remains nearly 5,000 yards ahead of the closest active rusher, that being Curtis Martin, who has 13,366 rushing yards after 10 NFL seasons. Martin will turn 32 in May. Along with being the league's all-time leading rusher, Smith also holds NFL records for most rushing touchdowns (164) and rushing attempts (4,509). An eight-time Pro Bowler, Smith owns four rushing titles, helped lead the Cowboys to three Super Bowls, and was named MVP of Super Bowl XXVIII and the NFL's MVP in 1993. Smith rushed for 937 yards this past season for the Cardinals and scored nine touchdowns, his highest TD total since the 2000 season. With all the bad stories lately with greedy players, players getting arrested, etc I wanted to post a nice story for a change! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bergen Jet Posted March 18, 2005 Share Posted March 18, 2005 Class move. I am glad he gets to retire a Cowboy. He really seemed to need that for closure. I think we would do the same for Becht when he retires. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spjets Posted March 18, 2005 Share Posted March 18, 2005 old news.......next !!!!!! just kiddin FABA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Posted March 18, 2005 Share Posted March 18, 2005 Class move. I am glad he gets to retire a Cowboy. He really seemed to need that for closure. I think we would do the same for Becht when he retires. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maxman Posted March 18, 2005 Share Posted March 18, 2005 I thought Savage had a good idea when he said that Emmitt should have signed with the Jets as a backup. Since he and Curtis are the same age and all! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PFSIKH Posted March 18, 2005 Share Posted March 18, 2005 Class move. I am glad he gets to retire a Cowboy. He really seemed to need that for closure. Wish he could have checked his ego and stayed with the Cowboys those two extra years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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