Too small. Too slow.

Those were the two knocks Emmitt Smith heard all the time before he entered the NFL. Sure he was a star in high school and a Heisman contender at Florida. He just didn't have the tools to be a productive back at the professional level.

Whoops.

Detractors will be quick to point out that the NFL's all time leading rusher had a massive offensive line to run behind, plus Troy Aikman and Michael Irvin keeping the defense from focusing on him. True, Emmitt Smith had a great team around him. So did Franco Harris, so did Tony Dorsett, so did Roger Craig, so did Marshall Faulk, and so did Thurman Thomas. Emmitt beat them all.

It's not just about what number 22 had around him, it's about what he brought to the table. He had deceptive power in his short (not small) frame and possessed other worldly balance. The thing that put Emmitt over the top though, was his feel for the game. It was just something you couldn't teach. He had the ability to move at the last second to avoid direct hits and he could sense where a hole was going to open. Sure his line opened up creases, but another back might just slam into where the hole should have been. Emmitt glided to the line looking for something, anything, and then BOOM, through the crease and into the secondary.

And then there was the heart. Emmitt wanted to be the best. Always. It was that competitive fire that kept him running with a separated shoulder against the Giants in a big late season game, it kept him attacking the 49ers with a bum hamstring until the other one finally snapped, and it eventually kept Emmitt driving even when his best years were behind him.

The later version of Emmitt was a frustrated star who had seen his team collapse around him. First Jay Novaceck retired and Charles Haley left. Then Irvin went down to a neck injury (and to the applause of Philadelphia fans.) Finally, Troy Aikman succumbed to concussions and had to leave. Suddenly, Emmitt was one of the only players on the Cowboys who remembered winning. He lashed out, he brooded and pouted. Yet he still ran.

Some chide Emmitt for staying past his glory years just to get the rushing record, but you have to take his whole package. Smith didn't want to leave unfinished business, his drive wouldn't let him. He had set a goal as a rookie to become the all-time leading rusher and he was going to do it. Once he left the Cowboys, Smith broke down during his press conference because he knew those years were over. His time as one of the most feared runners in the league on a Super Bowl champion were over.

Emmitt still didn't stop though. He went to the Cardinals, a team with no idea of how to win. He stayed two years in the desert before finally hanging it up for good. He couldn't stop running, it was what he was meant to do.

---BRAD SEAL.