Someone stood on the table for Emmitt.
Maybe it was they liked Hampton and didn't expect Emmitt to be there. I just remember it as Jimmy really liking Rodney Hampton and he could've been a Cowboy.
Pat summerall has passed away.
- Thread starter Theebs
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Someone stood on the table for Emmitt.
Maybe it was they liked Hampton and didn't expect Emmitt to be there. I just remember it as Jimmy really liking Rodney Hampton and he could've been a Cowboy.
cmd34(work)
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Emmitt went 7 picks before Hampton.
I thought I read something once about Jimmy liking Blair Thomas more than Emmitt but didn't want to trade all the way up to draft Thomas (he went 2nd).
I thought I read something once about Jimmy liking Blair Thomas more than Emmitt but didn't want to trade all the way up to draft Thomas (he went 2nd).
cmd34(work)
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Yeah, his name was Jimmy Johnson.
ZeroClub
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Several Cowboy scouts had told me Johnson was dead-set on drafting a defensive difference-maker -- North Carolina State defensive end Ray Agnew or Baylor linebacker James Francis. As the draft unfolded, Johnson, indeed, tried and failed to trade up from No. 21 to get Agnew, who went 10th to New England, and Francis, who went 12th to Cincinnati.
From 10 through 16, seven straight defensive players were snatched. So with Pittsburgh on the clock at 17, Johnson realized it was time to take the offensive. That's when personnel director John Wooten reminded Johnson that 1.) the Steelers had agreed before the draft to trade places with Dallas for a third-round pick; and 2.) Emmitt Smith was still on the board.
About half the Cowboy scouts and coaches were against drafting Smith. Not only was he too slow, but he was too small (about 5-foot-9 and 205 pounds) and too soft to pound out the tough yards between the tackles. To top it off, he had an unbreakable habit of carrying the ball under one arm instead of shifting it away from an oncoming tackler.
But Wooten remembers the eldest scout, Walt Yowarsky, "all but standing up on the table and saying, 'This kid broke every high-school rushing record in Florida. He can catch, he can block, and I've yet to see him get caught from behind. All he does is make yards. You have to take him.'"
Johnson had experienced this first-hand, while coaching the University of Miami against Florida. Johnson told Wooten: "Do it."
Wooten called Tom Donahoe, then Pittsburgh's general manager, now Buffalo's. Wooten says: "Pittsburgh wanted [tight end] Eric Green, who was going to be there at 21. So we gave him a three [third-rounder] to switch places and move up to 17. No sooner had we made the deal than Ken Herock called from Atlanta and offered us a two to move up from 20 to 17, which was a very attractive offer. But I said, 'Kenny, who you gonna take?' He finally said, 'Emmitt Smith.' I said, 'No thanks.'"
At 20, Atlanta wound up taking a running back from Washington State, the spectacularly forgettable Steve Broussard.
And because Jimmy Johnson couldn't wheel and deal for a defensive demon, he got stuck with a little guy who managed to play for 15 seasons and set NFL records for yards gained (18,355), carries (4,409) and rushing touchdowns (164). Emmitt also helped put two Super Bowl rings on Jimmy's fingers, and a third on Barry Switzer's.
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=bayless/050211
From 10 through 16, seven straight defensive players were snatched. So with Pittsburgh on the clock at 17, Johnson realized it was time to take the offensive. That's when personnel director John Wooten reminded Johnson that 1.) the Steelers had agreed before the draft to trade places with Dallas for a third-round pick; and 2.) Emmitt Smith was still on the board.
About half the Cowboy scouts and coaches were against drafting Smith. Not only was he too slow, but he was too small (about 5-foot-9 and 205 pounds) and too soft to pound out the tough yards between the tackles. To top it off, he had an unbreakable habit of carrying the ball under one arm instead of shifting it away from an oncoming tackler.
But Wooten remembers the eldest scout, Walt Yowarsky, "all but standing up on the table and saying, 'This kid broke every high-school rushing record in Florida. He can catch, he can block, and I've yet to see him get caught from behind. All he does is make yards. You have to take him.'"
Johnson had experienced this first-hand, while coaching the University of Miami against Florida. Johnson told Wooten: "Do it."
Wooten called Tom Donahoe, then Pittsburgh's general manager, now Buffalo's. Wooten says: "Pittsburgh wanted [tight end] Eric Green, who was going to be there at 21. So we gave him a three [third-rounder] to switch places and move up to 17. No sooner had we made the deal than Ken Herock called from Atlanta and offered us a two to move up from 20 to 17, which was a very attractive offer. But I said, 'Kenny, who you gonna take?' He finally said, 'Emmitt Smith.' I said, 'No thanks.'"
At 20, Atlanta wound up taking a running back from Washington State, the spectacularly forgettable Steve Broussard.
And because Jimmy Johnson couldn't wheel and deal for a defensive demon, he got stuck with a little guy who managed to play for 15 seasons and set NFL records for yards gained (18,355), carries (4,409) and rushing touchdowns (164). Emmitt also helped put two Super Bowl rings on Jimmy's fingers, and a third on Barry Switzer's.
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=bayless/050211
ThoughtExperiment
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Mid, I remember something about Jimmy liking Hampton, too.
I wonder if it could've been something about Jimmy thinking he was the bees knees when he was with the Giants?
I wonder if it could've been something about Jimmy thinking he was the bees knees when he was with the Giants?
dbair1967
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dbair1967
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I pretty clearly recall Jimmy saying they never gave much thought to drafting Emmitt because they never expected to have any chance to draft him.
I think most people thought Emmitt would still go in the top-10 despite the mediocre 40 times.
I think most people thought Emmitt would still go in the top-10 despite the mediocre 40 times.
bbgun
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his agents spooked a lot of teams
dbair1967
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ZeroClub
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That was a very scary moment.
He slowed down some over time, of course, as all RBs do, but no, I don't think there was an obvious difference associated specifically with that injury.
dbair1967
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He had down years in 96 and 97, but he had some injury issues both years and the team itself was very poor in 97.
He came back with strong 98 and 99 seasons.
Theebs
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pdom
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Madden: "Heh, so let's go ahead and take a look at this...you know you can always tell a guy, that he's a football guy, when the guy has all this ~circles the guy~ and it's going one way and then BOOM it's going the other way and gjeljasdvjeej it's coming back the way it just came and went. Look at the guy next to him. He's going one direction and saw that guy going the other way and it made him go that way."
Summerall: "You said a mouthful, John..................2nd down and 8."
Summerall: "You said a mouthful, John..................2nd down and 8."
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Jimmy wanted Junior Seau in a bad way that year... had him as his top-rated player on the board but he went at #5.