Not many people thought Emmitt Smith would do much after a successful high school football career in his hometown of Pensacola, Fla.
He was thought of as being too small and too slow to play major college football.
Recruiting expert Max Emfinger at the time went as far to say, “When (Smith) falls flat on his face, remember where you heard it first.”
Smith proved Emfinger and all the other critics wrong as he went on to star at the University of Florida, became a first round draft pick of the Dallas Cowboys and became the all-time leading rusher in NFL history with 18,355 yards after a career that spanned 15 seasons from 1990 to 2004.
Smith said he had somebody believe in him to help him succeed, even when he had his share of detractors. Maybe that’s why Smith is willing to take part in charitable events like the dinner and auction at the Midland County Horseshoe Arena benefiting Unlock Ministries and Opportunity Camp (Op Camp), which helps “at risk” kids forge meaningful relationships with fellow students and adults.
“Although Max Emfinger said those things about me, I still hold on to that hope that God has something better for me to do outside of somebody telling me what I could not do,” Smith told emcee Jay Hendricks and the audience.
Smith said one of his biggest influences in life was his Pop Warner coach in Pensacola. On most Friday nights before a football game he was at his coach’s house and one time he noticed an “unusual” looking table. The coach explained that it was drafting board and that he owned a construction business.