The legend of Cowboys' Emmitt Smith's NFL rushing record and why it might never be broken
Emmitt Smith swears he wasn't going through a midlife crisis last month. "I've been wanting to get a tattoo for many years," the 53-year-old said. "It's just been weird in my head, 'Go ahead, do it. Go ahead." And so, on a September trip to Las Vegas, he did it. Smith had no doubt what the tattoo would be: the Dallas Cowboys star, of course. Then the number 18,355. Fittingly, it's on the outside of his right leg, which helped him become the NFL's all-time leading rusher with 18,355 yards.
Smith played of his 15 seasons for the Cowboys and spent his final two with the Arizona Cardinals before retiring in 2005. He completed "The Triplets" with Irvin and quarterback Troy Aikman when Dallas took him in the first round of the 1990 NFL draft. Smith won three Super Bowls (XXVII, XXVIII, XXX) and was the NFL Most Valuable Player and Super Bowl XXVIII MVP for the 1993 season. Smith won four rushing titles (1991-93, '95) and ran for more than 1,000 yards a record 11 times.