EMMITT SMITH

Sixteen games, to me, is a long enough schedule for anybody. We're already concerning ourselves with head injuries and bodily harm to all of the professional athletes. Add to extra games to it, (and) you are just increasing those risks.

It's been a tremendous ride. My 15 years, my 15 minutes of fame, is up.

I have achieved everything that I ever wanted to accomplish in this game and more so, for me, I have been fulfilled.

I used to send Tony Romo texts throughout the season just to encourage him, just to wish him luck and just to tell him to get on his offensive line. I hated watching this young man get sacked as much as he did, especially when it came down to big games.

I've learned that football sometimes was an outlet. It was a way for me to release anger, release frustration.

I've given everything I can possible to the game, on and off the field.

My father is Emmit and my grandfather is Emmit, but I wanted something extra so I could separate my Emmitt from the rest of them. Even though on my birth certificate it has one T, I just added the extra T for me.

I don't have to put on shoulder pads and run out there and let somebody hit on me a little bit.

Demand excellence.

For me, winning isn't something that happens suddenly on the field when the whistle blows and the crowds roar. Winning is something that builds physically and mentally every day that you train and every night that you dream.

Consistency is one of the hallmarks of my career. You knew what you were going to get out of E-Smith every game, every year, no matter if I was 22, 21 or 35 years old.

If you know anything about me, I've never been a trash-talker. That's not even part of my DNA.

We are all born naked into this world, but each of us is fully clothed in potential.

I have been a Cowboys fan since I was a little bitty boy. And my dream has finally become a reality, of not only just playing a professional, becoming a professional athlete, but playing for the team that I always wanted to play for.

I know how important it is to have your quarterback standing upright. Matter of fact, I know how important it is not to allow someone hit on him period because I want him to think that this pocket is completely safe, no one is going to get to me and I got all the time in the world to make whatever decisions I need to make.

I was going through a little bit of turbulence in my career. And so, it's funny how turbulence itself will make you hold onto something for security. And so the only thing I knew is trust in the Lord and lean not unto your own heart, in all thy ways acknowledge him and he shall direct thy path.

I enjoyed being a teammate of Deion Sanders. He brings different elements to the game that many people would not even realize, and to watch and witness a superior talent like him and watch him prepare and train, and study the game is truly amazing.

I'm an enigma, an unknown. You can't really figure out what I'm going to do next. I like it like that.

My mom said, 'Don't get married. You're too young. Go out there and experience what life has to offer.' And I did.

As a former football player who has carried a football more than 4,000 times, trust me, I did not go into ballroom dancing with my body being 100 percent, with no aches or pains or ailments coming with me. When you're dancing, you're doing stuff that your body's not used to, and so you start to aggravate those old injuries.

If I didn't have a scholarship to go to the University of Florida or any school, I probably would have considered the military because my family could not afford to send me to college.

There's a lot of dancing in football. You can see Victor Cruz doing a little bit of a cha-cha or samba move in the end zone. You can see Terrell Owens getting his popcorn ready. You can see Ochocinco doing the riverdance. But not so much when it comes to ballroom.

If you're not settled spiritually, things can be a little bit more chaotic than normal.

Vision gets the dreams started. Dreaming employs your God-given imagination to reinforce the vision. Both are part of something I believe is absolutely necessary to building the life of a champion, a winner, a person of high character who is consistently at the top of whatever game he or she is in.

I don't have to get up in the morning and go beat up my body like I used to. I don't have to be out there in August in 108 degree weather down in Texas.