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Cowboys’ RB Smith on track to break Payton’s record
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H IRVING (AP) — Emmitt Smith
remembers hearing about an ordi
nary working man who won a
huge lottery jackpot, but did not
quit his day job. To Smith, it made
Rrfect sense.
■ “If he chose to work, it’s, be
cause he loves to work,’’ Smith
' said. “I mean, I can retire right to
this day. I’ve achieved so much
and won three Super Bowls. I
think it’d be easy for me to walk
away right now.
■ “But I’m not in the game to
achieve certain things and leave it
alone.”
I Going into the 10th season of a
career that’s put him in the same
tax bracket as the lotto winner and
made him a lock for the Hall of
Fame, Smith is still going strong.
DE Ekuban
sees action
at tight end
I IRVING, Texas (AP) — '1Toy Aik-
man saw a big guy catch the kickoff
yhd was impressed. Whoever it was
showed good hands in picking up
the squib kick, and he seemed to
know what he was doing when he
ran with the ball.
Once the New
England defenders
were peeled off,
Aikman was sur
prised to see rook
ie defensive end
Ebenezer Ekuban
get up from the
bottom of the pile.
Ekuban’s
smooth handling of that play re
minded Dallas Cowboys coaches
that he had been a tight end for two
years at North Carolina before
switching to defense.
That knowledge came in handy a
week later when injuries thinned
Dallas’ depth at tight end.
This week, the Cowboys took the
first steps toward breaking in Ekuban
as a short-yardage tight end by issu
ing him an offensive playbook and
inviting him to offensive meetings.
He’ll begin practicing at tight end
next week, and coach Chan Gailey
plans to give him a few minutes
there every week to learn his as
signments. He’ll primarily be used in
goal-line formations.
[ “He won’t be running any post
routes,” Gailey said. “It’ll just be in
an emergency situation.”
Hayward Clay was supposed to
be Dallas’ blocking tight end, but he
went on injured reserve Thesday
with a hurt knee. The next option,
rookie Mike Lucky, is recovering
from a foot injury that could be
stress fracture. That leaves only
rookie free agent Brian Waters, who
is listed as a fullback but played tight
end during his junior and sopho
more years at North Texas.
I Even if Lucky or Waters makes
the 53-man roster, there could be
weeks when Gailey can not squeeze
them onto the 45-man active list.
Having Ekuban ready would make
that decision easier.
I “Anything I can do to help the
team I’m willing to do,” said
Ekuban, a native of Ghana who has
only been playing football six years.
“1 guess it’s a compliment that the
coaches have confidence in my ath
letic abilities.”
' The 6-foot-3, 281-pound Ekuban
ran the fastest times among defen
sive linemen in the 10-yard and 40-
yard dashes at the scouting combine,
convincing the Cowboys to take him
with the 20th overall pick. He’s lived
up to the billing thus far and has se
cured a spot as a top backup.
I “If he was having to start and
play every down at end, we would
probably not do this,” Gailey said.
“But since he is in a rotation, we feel
like we probably can.”
In his freshman and sophomore
years at North Carolina, Ekuban
caught six passes for 66 yards and
two touchdowns.
He’s already begun his NFL stat
file with the 18-yard kickoff return
against the Patriots, the play that im
pressed Aikman.
I “When I came back to the side
lines, he gave me a compliment,”
Ekuban said. “At first, I thought he
was being sarcastic. I was like, !'D-oy
Aikman is telling me I did a good
job? What is he talking about.’”
Now that he’s got the quarter
back on his side, all he has to do is
work on the coach.
I “I’ll do whatever he tells me to
do, but I may nudge him on the
shoulder to throw me a pass every
now and then,” Ekuban said, laugh
ing. “Hopefully I’ll get some passes
thrown my way and get a couple of
touchdowns.”
Barry Sanders’ retirement
makes the Dallas Cowboys star the
leading active rusher and paves the
way for Smith to break Walter Pay
ton’s all-time rushing record, prob
ably in 2001.
That did not seem likely this
time last year when it seemed like
all the pounding his 5-foot-9, 209-
pound body had taken over the
years was beginning to catch up
to him.
Smith was coming off his fewest
yards since his rookie year and the
fewest touchdowns of his career.
His numbers had dropped for a
second straight season, a sure in
dication the end was near, right?
Wrong. In 1998, Smith had his
most carries, yards and touch
downs since 1995, his best season
“I always knew it
wasn't over for me.
/ guess it had to be
answered in other
people's minds."
— Emmitt Smith
Cowboys’ RB
and the last time Dallas won the
Super Bowl.
“I always knew it wasn’t over for
me,” Smith said. “I guess it had to be
answered in other people’s minds.”
Smith has been defying critics
ever since he, first put on pads.
Constantly knocked for being too
short and too slow, he has put to
gether the most impressive balance
of individual feats and team success
of any running back in NFL history.
No player has run for more
touchdowns than his 125 and his
12,566 yards is fifth on the all-time
list. Smith, though, has won more
Super Bowls than all four guys
ahead of him combined.
Smith is on pace to reach No. 3
on the rushing chart by Thanks
giving, then pass Sanders, presum
ing he stays retired, in the 2000 sea
son. Smith would catch Payton the
following year.
Smith’s personal accolades have
been a byproduct of his team’s glo
ry, and he hopes it continues.
“There’s an awful lot left to ac
complish,” Smith said. “I’d like to
have five rings. But you’ve got to
get four first, then get to five.”
His chances of getting No. 4 are
better this year than they’ve been.
in a while.
Dallas’ offensive line is the first
that can compare to the behemoths
on the championship teams of ’92,
’93 and ’95. It’s no coincidence that
Smith’s 1996-97 skid happened while
running behind worse blockers.
The Cowboys also have a faster,
more sure-handed group of re
ceivers, which should stretch de
fenses, thus creating more room for
Smith to run.
“With all that in mind, you can’t
help but look forward to what we
can achieve this season,” he said.
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