The good folks at Keurig came to us last week and told us they were working with Emmitt Smith on a college football project where fans can win the chance to win a trip to the college football championship and wanted to know if we’d like to chat with the NFL’s all-time leading rusher. What do you say? No? Of course we wanted to talk to Emmitt.
Read closely at the bottom. You guys need to stop bothering Emmitt at sports bars. Let him hang like a normal guy.
You had a successful NFL career. Why work now?
You have to be passionate about what you’re doing and there’s only so many days I can go fishing, so many golf games I can play. At some point you get bored and tired of those things. And what I found is that in the businesses I’m involved with and the people I’m working with, at Keurig and others, I find joy and a level of self-fulfillment with these relationships. How much more fishing can you do? How much more hunting can you do? How many more golf rounds can you put in? For some people that may be fulfilling, but things that I’m doing right now are fulfilling to me.
You’re partnered with Keurig, tell us about that.
I’m here to launch the “What do you do while you brew” campaign, which is in celebration of the new Keurig 2.0. People can go to tailgate.keurig.com and enter to win a coffee date with me in January at the big game down in New Orleans in Jerry’s World. I’m a big fan of tea and I drink a little bit of coffee, and I’m a big fan of the Keurig brand itself. I love that the new Keurig 2.0 lets me brew a cup of coffee in just a minute – and there’s a lot you can do in just a minute! If you go to the Campus Insiders website and check out what I’m doing with Bonnie Bernstein, the challenges she’s posed, then you will get a chance to see how much you can get done within a minute.
Sweet tea or unsweetened?
I’m a sweet tea kind of guy. I like the Georgia Peach teas and there’s some raspberry teas I like as well.
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Some said you were too small and slow for the NFL but you ended up being one of the best running backs in NFL history. How do you explain that success?
You know, that’s something that I don’t think I can explain. Like I can’t explain why the Dallas Cowboys traded away Herschel Walker to get all those picks, and the Cowboys were going after a guy named James Francis in the first round of the 1990 draft and he was selected by another team and the Cowboys came to me as a Plan B with a trade from the 21st spot up to the 17th So there were many things that were in play that were out of my control, but I’m just thankful that it all worked out. I’m thankful that I was part of the rebuilding of the Dallas Cowboys from the ‘89 season when Jerry and Jimmy came together and bought the team.
Today’s NFL is a passing league. Given that, what are your thoughts about your rushing record ever being broken?
I’m a person that believes never say never. There’s a chance that every record can be broken. The way I grew up, all records are meant to be broken. A human did it and another human can come along and break it. No one thought that the world record in the 200 could be broken until Michael Johnson did it. No one thought Walter Payton would eclipse Jim Brown until he did it. And then no one thought Walter Payton’s record would be eclipsed and then I came and did it.
Who were some of the most interesting characters you played with?
Quite naturally, Michael lrvin. Charles Haley was also a very interesting character. Mike was fun to be around, but Charles Haley was fun to be around, too. And Deon, as big of a personality as he has, was an awesome teammate.
Why was Deion such a great teammate?
Because he worked hard. He shared information. He was a student of the game. As big of a talent as he was, he was just as good of a teammate.
Allen Dean Steele /Allsport
What are your thoughts on the new college football playoff format?
I’m going to reserve judgment. I’m just glad the kids aren’t playing any more games than they would in any other system. If you’re in the SEC, you’re going to play 11 regular season games, the SEC championship, and then the national championship if you’re fortunate enough to go that far. I think that’s plenty enough games for college kids.
Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images
Do you ever go out to sports bars and watch NFL games like a regular guy?
No, because a lot of your readers won’t let me be a regular guy! If you go into a sports bar and people know who you are, then regular is out the window. There’s no such thing as being a regular guy.
How do you think Jerry Jones would do on Dancing with the Stars?
Not too well.
