22 in the 956 - The Rider Newspaper

Former Dallas Cowboys running back Emmitt Smith shares his story during the Distinguished Speaker Series tonight at the Performing Arts Complex on the Edinburg campus. Smith spoke about growing up in Florida, his journey getting into the NFL, meeting O.J. Simpson “before he lost his mind” and winning “Dancing with the Stars.” FERNANDO RAMIREZ/THE RIDER

Businessman, entrepreneur and NFL’s all-time leading rusher, Emmitt Smith began the 16th season of the Distinguished Speaker Series tonight in the Performing Arts Complex, speaking on his rise to the top and life lessons he learned along the way.

“We’re all enclothed in our own talent and we all have the opportunity to achieve our level of greatness,” Smith told hundreds of people who attended his lecture on the Edinburg campus. “Now, oftentimes, I’m … asked, ‘How did you manage to get to this place? This place where I’m at today?’ I am actually 50 years old, so it’s a process. It took a journey to get here and the journey was not easy, I’ll tell you.”

Smith said when he was 7 years old, he saw the “excitement” and “energy” of the room as his family was watching football and told his father, “One day, I’m gonna play football, and I’m gonna play for the Dallas Cowboys.”

“The Dallas Cowboys were my favorite football team and they still are to this day,” he said. “And then I turned to him and I said that and he looked at me with this look on his face and I didn’t know if my dad wanted to laugh or if he wanted to cry because he said something very profound. He said, ‘Son, that’s a great dream for you to have, but life’s gonna deal you some things that you’re going to have to learn how to deal with.’ That’s a whole lot for a 7-year-old kid to take in.”

When he was 9, Smith’s coach said, after watching him play, he thought that he was better suited to play as a running back, despite Smith’s desire to be a quarterback. Instead of arguing, Smith accepted the challenge.

“And so, I accepted it. And you know what? My life was forever changed.”

When he was 11, his coach at the time invited Smith to have dinner with his family in his home, where he discovered his coach owned a construction company.

“After that conversation, he shared with me this lesson, ‘You have great talent and your talent can take you a long way, but you gotta get your education, because someday, that talent is only gonna go so far,’” Smith said.

In high school, he said after speaking with the press for the first time, his coach spoke to him about how he didn’t mention his teammates in the interview, using a lot of “I” instead of “We.” He said his coach told him every chance Smith got, he was going to share the spotlight with his teammates.

After college, he recalled the day he was drafted to the Dallas Cowboys and the nerves he felt while his mother’s excitement caused her to invite everyone over to their home.

“At the time, I stop and reflect, all the way back to that kid who was 7 years old who was watching the Dallas Cowboys play, laying on the floor watching the Dallas Cowboys play, talking to his father saying one of these days, I’m gonna play for the Cowboys,” he said.

Before Smith retired in Jacksonville, Florida, he said he knew he wanted to go into real estate, recalling his first memories with his coach when he was 11.

At the end of the evening, he answered seven questions in front of the crowd, naming his mentors, his failures, his advice and how he felt becoming a three-time Super Bowl champion.

“I felt like Tony the Tiger,” Smith said. “Grrrrrreeeat!”