Sports Junkie

Story of the Week



All sports fans love to debate with one another as to who was best at whatever sport he played. I do it constantly with my friends and it’s fun.


For example, who’s the greatest running back of all time? I’ve held true to my belief for decades that Jim Brown is the only answer to that question. I still maintain Brown to be the correct answer, despite the fact that Emmitt Smith just broke Walter Payton’s NFL career rushing record on Oct. 27.


But no matter who your choice is or mine, the fact remains that Smith holds the record now. Since joining the Cowboys in 1990, he’s averaged 4.3 YPC in his 193 games played in rolling up the record-to-date of 16,743 yards rushing and 150 rushing touchdowns. And during those 193 games through Oct. 27, Smith caught 480 passes for 3,003 yards and 11 touchdowns.


Smith, a Pensacola, Fla. native, went to the University of Florida where he, as you’d expect, excelled in football. Not the biggest back (5-9, 212), he was and still is very strong with shifty moves, great balance and fast acceleration into the line.


The owner of three Super Bowl rings, Smith scored 25 touchdowns in 1995, a fantasy footballer’s fantasy, and scored 100 touchdowns in just six seasons, the fastest anyone in league history has reached that mark. He shares a record with Jim Brown as being the only NFL players with six straight 10-touchdown seasons to start their careers.


After 33-year-old Emmitt Smith made history, he took a victory lap around Texas Stadium and slapped hands with fans before making his way to a star-shaped stage in the middle of the field. Emmitt gave an eloquent speech as he thanked teammates, former and current, and fans alike; it was impossible for him to hold back the tears.


Walter Payton, the man whose record Smith broke, once said that he wanted to set the record high so that the next person wouldn’t easily break it and Emmitt alluded to "Sweetness" by saying, "Today is a special day for me, my family and the Payton family. Without Payton doing what he did in the NFL and representing all he represented, he wouldn’t have given a young man like myself a dream, something to shoot after and a person to look up to and try to emulate in every way possible."


Payton’s widow, Connie, said he’d have been happy to see No. 22 take the title. Payton passed away in 1999 at age 45.


My congratulations to Emmitt Smith, a great running back and a truly class guy.


Last Week’s Trivia


Since the beginning of NFL expansion in 1960, two teams made it to the playoffs in just their second year of existence. Who were they? They were both 1995 expansion teams. The Panthers and the Jaguars made it to the playoffs in 1996.


Trivia Question of the Week


What pitcher holds the World Series record for most innings pitched in one game? See next week’s Sports Junkie for the answer.


Visit the Sports Junkie Website at www.sportsjunkie.info.





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