Emmitt Smith is a lifelong Dallas Cowboy, helping bring three Lombardi Trophies to the franchise while forging his own 15-year Hall of Fame career. But he couldn’t be more unhappy with the team heading into the 2024 offseason, telling “PFT Live” on Friday that he was “tired” of seeing the team fail to meet expectations, suggesting that everyone, from Dallas’ star players to team owner Jerry Jones, is losing. credibility and respect.
“I’m tired of being convinced of what the Cowboys could be,” Smith said, reflecting on the fact that Dallas made a playoff loss despite going 12-5, failing to secure the club’s first appearance in the conference championship since 1995. “I’m tired. I’m tired of it because I’m more interested in what the Cowboys really are. And who we really are and who we were. It’s there where I am. This is where everyone is. How do you allow this to happen?”
Smith was “surprised” that Jones didn’t replace head coach Mike McCarthy after the latest playoff failure, suggesting the way the team finished 2023 “doesn’t match the mystique, respect and to the Dallas Cowboys brand.
The truth is, he added, that “respect” has been lacking for years within the American team.
“Nobody wants to fight anymore,” Smith said of today’s players. “Nobody wants to fight hard anymore. They want to (say), ‘Oh, we’re the Cowboys. Tell me how good I am. Check out my Instagram posts. Do you see me on my podcast? I do it all that. I am everything. Without doing anything. And everyone pats them on the back. … People want to give them so much without doing anything. And what they live on is what happened in the past, not what is happening right now. They are without establishing their own legacy, much less building on the legacy that has been established.”
Ultimately, it’s Jones who oversees everything. And Smith, who played all 13 seasons with the Cowboys under the polarizing owner, believes the former Super Bowl-winning executive is losing credibility.
“And if you lose credibility, you lose respect,” he said. “You lose respect, you have no honor. … Things have to change. … I mean, it’s like we go out and play with our hands tied behind our backs or we have left our minds in Frisco and didn’t even take it to AT&T (Stadium) in Arlington. It was such a disappointing thing. It was just bad. It’s bad everywhere. I even hate it in speak up because I feel responsible. I feel like I could have helped, and I don’t know how. But yeah, it was bad.