Better to burn out than to fade away?

Released by Cowboys, Emmitt believes his star still shines

As significant as it was, there was little if any shock value to Thursday's news out of Dallas. No, that will come the next time we see Emmitt Smith in a football uniform, without the familiar blue and silver star on his helmet.

Only then will it hit home that an era indeed has ended in Dallas, as well as in the NFL. Smith's long-anticipated release from the Cowboys officially closed out the team's second glory era, one that spanned Jimmy Johnson's run and almost the entire decade of the 1990s.

With apologies to Dallas safety Darren Woodson, the last link to those halcyon days has been severed. The Triplets are no more. No Troy, no Michael and now, no Emmitt. There's a new sheriff in town, of course, and Bill Parcells is already almost two months into laying down his own unique brand of law.

As much grief as Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has received from the media at times over the years, I like the way he handled Smith's demise in Dallas. It wasn't hurried, it wasn't impersonal and it wasn't left to anyone but the big boss man to deliver the news. There were no white hats and no black hats in this Texas-based Western. Jones pulled the plug only after looking at every possible way to keep Smith in some real role on a team that must rebuild.

But the facts are obvious: The Cowboys' goals and Smith's goals are no longer compatible.

In this era of the salary cap, the move made sense. The cap makes everyone vulnerable if the numbers aren't right, and Smith's numbers no longer fit the equation of a team that's trying to reinvent itself. Still, Jones was careful to leave room for the emotion of the situation, taking pains to not discard the past in planning for the future.

Some say it will be sad to see Smith playing for anyone but Dallas, and that's true. But I say it would have been sadder to see the NFL's all-time leading rusher pushed off to the side in the Cowboys' offense, more a living museum piece than a viable member of the roster. Better for him to have a successful second act in his career -- albeit wearing different colors -- than for him to grow into an embittered former superstar in Dallas.

Removed from the Cowboys, can he still be the Emmitt Smith we remember? Maybe, maybe not, but haven't we learned better than to try and predict when a great athlete is at the end? Two years ago we were writing Jerry Rice's epitaph, wishing he'd retire rather than tarnish his legacy in Oakland. Funny, but the tarnishing wound up to be a burnishing.

Smith insists he still has 1,300-yard seasons in him, which isn't a realistic number for a lot of running backs with 13 NFL seasons to their credit. But career rejuvenation is a powerful motivator, and Smith fell only 325 yards shy of that total this year playing behind a severely limited Cowboys offensive line. In new surroundings, his tremendous pride is sure to make up for some of his diminished skills.

Early speculation on where Smith will land has centered on Tampa Bay and Carolina, and other teams may well come out of the woodwork now that he is free and clear. The sentimental favorite in everyone's book has to be the Bucs, who would allow Smith to end his illustrious career where it all began: in his home state of Florida, where he was a schoolboy legend.

Playing for the defending Super Bowl champions also would be close to ideal for Smith, who craves another Super Bowl moment before he retires. With their defense, and an offense that improved dramatically late in the season, the Bucs have as good a chance to repeat as any recent Super Bowl winner.

Lastly, there's Tampa Bay head coach Jon Gruden, who always has been fond of trusting a veteran to do a young man's job and figures to not be deterred in the least by the fact Smith will be 34 before camp opens. Gruden knows what it's like to add a living legend. He made room for Rice in Oakland two years ago.

Wherever Smith winds up, his legacy as a Cowboy is secure. Never the fastest of runners, he still rarely was caught from behind in his Dallas career. A combination of the salary cap and age got him this time, finally angling him out of bounds. But at least there was time to see it coming, and prepare for the blow.

Both him and us both.

Don Banks covers pro football for SI.com.

 

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