When it comes to the current state of the Dallas Cowboys, there are no shortages of opinions. Anybody and everybody has a thought on the things that they both are and are not doing.
The latter has been the main focus of things from the beginning of the offseason into our present moment, even with the preseason starting across the league on the day that I write this. The day in question is a seismic one as it featured the legendary Emmitt Smith sitting down with me for a chat that can be seen on the Blogging The Boys YouTube Channel. It is right below for you to make things even easier.
Smith joined us on behalf of his partnership with NARCAN® Nasal Spray revolving around a new opioid emergency awareness public education campaign to prepare people across the country to help save a life with the ‘Lay, Spray, Stay’ method. Sponsored by Emergent and created in partnership with SAFE Project, a national nonprofit combating substance use, overdoses and addiction, the campaign stars Smith in a series of public awareness video and radio segments. The effort supports Emergent’s national Ready to Rescue initiative, which breaks down the stigma associated with accidental opioid poisonings and informs Americans on the availability and use of NARCAN® Nasal Spray to help save a life.
Over the course of our conversation we discussed a variety of things and among the first related to the Cowboys was the subject of fan apathy which has been a discussion at camp. Emmitt answered a question wondering if he had ever really experienced that in his day and how he viewed things in our current moment, and he noted that the final season of his career in Dallas was a bit rough but then things were never quite like they seem today.
“Over the last 20-some odd years... watching our team get to the playoff time and time again. Be told that we’re going to do better. This is going to be a Super Bowl year for us. And we just get completely let down. It’s like fan fatigue now. It’s all of that going on right now. And people are sick and tired of watching it. And they want to see something different. And we have to try, as an organization, we have to go and do a complete assessment in terms of the organization itself. What is our mission? And how does our mission aligns with the football team? On the surface we would think everything is in alignment. But to me I think there’s a little disconnect there. And we need to resolve that fairly quickly because 20-some odd years, man, that’s a long time.”
As the conversation went on the subject steered to things more specific regarding the current team. I brought up Emmitt’s own contractual situation in 1993 as we were getting set to discuss CeeDee Lamb and need to note that I characterized it as a holdout. Emmitt properly noted that he was not holding out and that he did not have any time left on his contract the way that CeeDee does. As it relates to Lamb though, Emmitt more so had thoughts about Dak Prescott and said that Dallas is doing a disservice to their quarterback with this Lamb situation.
“With CeeDee and the Dallas Cowboys today... let’s make this very clear. He is a very, very valuable asset to the Dallas Cowboys. He is a very, very valuable asset to Dak Prescott. Without him on the football field, they’re putting all of the pressure on Dak Prescott now. And that is unacceptable. Because every quarterback of his caliber should have quality people to throw the ball to. Not no Plan B or no Plan C or no Plan D guy. He should be in a position, as your franchise quarterback, he should be in a position to be successful. And right now you putting him behind the eight ball. And that is not right. And that’s how I see it.”
While he did not hold out in that sense, Emmitt certainly knows what it is like to be in a contractual stalemate with the Cowboys. He came out on top in the end, but the team lost two games in the process. Hopefully that does not wind up being the case here.
Our thanks to Emmitt Smith for the time.
