Familiar foes

In his Cardinals' debut, Emmitt looks to take out 'trash'

His comments in SI have become a sore subject for Emmitt Smith. AP

TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) -- After 13 seasons and an NFL record 17,162 yards rushing for Dallas, Emmitt Smith makes his Arizona Cardinals debut against, of all teams, the Cowboys.

Across the field, Bill Parcells coaches Game 1 in his effort to restore "America's team" to glory.

Clearly, Saturday night's matchup in the desert heat of Sun Devil Stadium is no ordinary preseason opener.

Although Parcells says "I'm not going to Arizona with Emmitt on my mind," some Cowboys might find it hard to forget that Smith told Sports Illustrated that he "felt like a diamond surrounded by trash" in his final season in Dallas.

Smith apologized for the remarks and bristled when it was brought up again late this week.

"I've apologized. What more can I do?" he said. "You want me to apologize again? You want me to do it in Spanish or French or something? You want my shorts or something?"

Parcells likened his recent existence to living in a cave as he works to remodel and recharge the team and get ready for this first game.

"Worrisome is the right word for this present situation because I've got a lot of moving parts here now that I'm a little unfamiliar with," Parcells said "I don't really have any experience to rely on in this particular situation, other than my own observations."

Smith will get at least a few shots at running the ball against his former teammates.

"He'll play some," Arizona head coach Dave McGinnis said. "He'll play between some and not a lot. I'd like to play our first groups at least a quarter, depending on how the series go."

Smith said he's long ago come to terms with wearing Cardinal red after all those years in silver and blue.

"I'm looking forward to seeing some of my old teammates and coaches and trainers, perhaps even Mr. [Cowboys owner Jerry] Jones," Smith said. "It feels funny. But that's the nature of the game."

Dallas safety Darren Woodson says it will be strange to go against his friend.

"I'm so used to seeing Emmitt on our side of the ball and talking to him before the game, him picking my game and I'm picking his brain at the same time," Woodson said.

Beyond the high-profile personalities involved, these are two teams coming off sorry 5-11 seasons. Both made big changes, Parcells coming to Dallas and Arizona losing Jake Plummer and David Boston, among others, then bringing in Smith and quarterback Jeff Blake.

Chad Hutchinson and Quincy Carter are fighting for the Cowboys' quarterback job, and neither will win it in this game.

The plan is for each to start a game, then perhaps a decision will be made.

"We're charting everything at quarterback. Statistics won't necessarily determine anything," Parcells said. "I don't want to be premature with the decision. I don't want to be right to the wire, either."

The Cardinals, meanwhile, will be looking closely at their young wide receivers, along with backups filling in on the injury-depleted offensive line. Arizona also will unveil its new "attack" philosophy on defense, an attempt to improve its anemic pass rush.

"What you look for is execution," McGinnis said. "Still, the overriding factor of it is this: The only thing you want to do is win."

That is certainly true for Parcells, too. He's had more than one preseason loss only twice in 15 seasons as an NFL head coach. The Cowboys, by contrast, have lost 17 of their last 18 preseason games.

All of the Dallas rookies will be wearing stars on their helmets for the first time, but only because of NFL regulations. Parcells stripped the rookies of their decals at the first mini-camp, saying they would have to earn them.

The Dallas players already have learned to keep their distance from their intense new coach after the opening kickoff.

"I know I'm not going to be up there around the sidelines," tight end Dan Campbell said. "I don't want to be anywhere near him when he's moving up and down that sideline. That's a big no-no. ... He's got things under control. He knows how he wants to do it."

 

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