Emmitt Smith says the Cowboys have lost the ‘fiber’ that once made them great
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The Dallas Cowboys haven’t made the NFC Championship game in over three decades.
Their drought reached 30 years this past January, and no matter what steps are taken, nothing works.
It’s a long way from the glory days of the organization, with Emmitt Smith as a bad running back. And while Smith hasn’t been on the field in a long time, he knows what’s holding them back.
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Former Dallas Cowboys running back Emmitt Smith (left) shakes hands with owner Jerry Jones after being presented with his ring of honor against the Detroit Lions at Cowboys Stadium on Nov. 21. 2010. (Matthew Emmons/USA TODAY Sports)
“I think if there’s anything that, in my opinion, has held us back, I think we’ve moved away from something that really helped build the organization from the beginning. In the beginning, you had Jimmie Johnson, you had Jerry Jones, they both had a crazy passion for what they wanted to accomplish, and winning Super Bowls was the ultimate goal,” Smith said in a recent interview with Fox News Digital.
“Building that team required some sacrifices and making some decisions that happened. And they made the right decisions. They traded players, they got a lot of players, and they rebuilt that organization overnight. But putting that together and having the passion to rebuild an organization and doing it in the past, in a quick way, is what they both did. To me, that should be a symbol of what this organization should be forever.
Smith then pointed to the Cowboys’ lack of resilience.
Dallas Cowboys running back Emmitt Smith (22) before facing the Buffalo Bills in Super Bowl XVIII at the Georgia Dome Jan. 30, 1994. (James D. Smith/USA TODAY Sports)
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“You think about the Pittsburgh Steelers, you don’t have to think about toughness, because they’re going to play hard. That’s how the Cowboys are supposed to be. And when you think about the (San Francisco 49ers), it’s like this now. And when you think about the (New England) Patriots, they were like that with (Bill) Belichick and they were everything with Robert.
“Organizations have a fiber that made them great. When you see organizations from that fiber, now you see how long it takes to get back to where you were. And I think that’s the problem with the Cowboys. There has to be a common thread: doing well on the football field leads to being good in the licensing world, or in the marketing world, or in the world in terms of your account that you can comment on in general, forget about your general account. sell a ton of merchandise, and that means you’re a better marketing team in that way.
Last year the Cowboys defense was suspect even before the team traded Micah Parsons to the Green Bay Packers. They then allowed a league-high 30.1 points per game en route to a 7-9-1 record.
Dallas Cowboys running back Emmitt Smith reacts at Candlestick Park Jan. 17, 1993, after their NFC Championship victory against the San Francisco 49er’s in San Francisco, CA. The Cowboys won 30-20 and will face the Buffalo Bills in Super Bowl XXVII. (Garcia/AFP)
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The offseason was filled with another contract dispute, as George Pickens was franchise-tagged following a breakout year, his first with the Cowboys.
The Cowboys scored 27.7 points per game, fifth most in the league.
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