This weekend marks the 2010 Pro Football Hall of Fame Enshrinement in Canton, Ohio. Elected February 6, the day before Super Bowl XLIV was played, former Dallas Cowboys all-pro running Back Emmitt Smith is among the seven NFL giants who will officially don their gold jackets, introduced by someone of their choosing and enshrined as part of pro football’s immortality this Saturday, August 7.
Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones will introduce Smith.
For 13 seasons Smith made Cowboys fans proud as one-third of the triplets (with Michael Irvin and Troy Aikman) who led the ‘Boys to three super bowl wins in four seasons, and one who surpassed the late great Walter Payton as the NFL’s all-time leading rusher in 2002. All that happened just before a foreseeable lack of minutes to Troy Hambrick probably prompted Smith to leave the Big D to sweat out his final two years of his career in the desert playing for the Arizona Cardinals. But leaving his heart in Texas Smith retired from the game as a Cowboy in 2004.
He was the consummate pro player. Smith mentioned on a conference call with the media that if he accomplishing goals he established as a rookie it would “lead to a hall of fame career.” And he spoke it into existence with at least 1,000 yards for 11 seasons, three Super Bowl wins and career total 18,355 yards.
Texas gets to boast two times with the induction of Minnesota Vikings defensive tackle John Randle, who bounced around wearing black ‘game-face’ paint and mean-mugged opposing offenses every Sunday. Remember him? It was his trademark until the NFL inflicted one of their many no-fun rules and made him get rid of it. Randle is a native of Hearne, Texas (by way of Mumford, TX) and stayed close to home to play collegiate football at Trinity Valley Community College and Texas A&I (now Texas A&M-Kingsville).
Years later, face paint on or off, Randle’s dominate play recorded 137.5 sacks in 12 seasons with the Vikings and final two with the Seattle Seahawks.
The Sports Diva will travel to Canton to provide you with insights, stories, sounds, and photos of the things to taking place Hall of Fame weekend 2010 from a different perspective. Follow her on twitter @Sports Diva101 and facebook.com/sportsdiva for real-time updates.
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