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Emmitt Smith would like to see his beloved Dallas Cowboys be more focused and committed.
Smith, the NFL’s all-time leading rusher and a three-time Super Bowl champion, spoke to The Post on behalf of IHOP, where he is on a campaign for the company’s new rewards program, the International Bank of Pancakes, for customers to earn PanCoins.
Smith covered a wide range of topics, including what he wants to see the Cowboys improve on, Troy Aikman leaving Fox Sports for ESPN and, of course, his enormous IHOP order.
Earlier this offseason, Smith discussed how it was “frustrating as hell” to watch the Cowboys squander their talent. This was still a topic he was passionate about a couple months later.
“I think in order to be a Super Bowl champion and to have a successful football season, your team has to be focused and committed to the mission, and be willing to look and analyze oneself and what they’re doing to help the team become successful — or not become successful,” Smith said.
“That goes for the players and the coaching staff as well. Always trying to find ways to get better and improve, and to create momentum. Sustain that momentum for longer periods of time. The reason you do those things is you work your behind off in the offseason, and preparing yourself for what’s supposed to be a great season for you and your teammates.”
The Cowboys have just three playoff wins since 1997. Dallas lost, as home favorites, to the 49ers in the first round this past season. The final moments saw Dak Prescott, to no avail, scrambling to get one more snap off as the team felt in disarray.
Smith, 52, wants to see a more cohesive mission up and down the franchise.
“So, every man on the football field and every man that’s coaching the Dallas Cowboys has to be on the same issue,” he said. “Those missions cannot be disjointed, and if they are you’re going to get sporadic play. You’re going to see exciting moments, but you’re going to see more inconsistencies than you’re normally going to see.
“And being an inconsistent football team and organization, you will not become a Super Bowl champion. You may look good. You may make a playoff but you’re going to beat yourself. What I’m asking of my Cowboys and the coaching staff is work those things out. Do that now. Do that during the offseason. Make that part of your DNA and habits so when you go into the season you develop and sustain momentum — through every play.”
Smith said that it’s incumbent on every player and coach to be rowing in the same direction of improvement and practice mistake avoidance.
“They’re not calling timeouts when they shouldn’t be burning time outs. They’re not jumping offsides when they shouldn’t be jumping offsides. You’re going to make mistakes but they should be minor, not costly, and there shouldn’t be that many. If you look back at the Cowboys’ losses, look at penalties, mistakes, burnt timeouts — look at the efficiency of the entire team and you’ll see that there.”
Nonetheless, Smith would not have advised Jerry Jones to fire Mike McCarthy this offseason.
“I would have kept the way it is because the team did not play badly last year — they made the playoffs — but they did not build upon what they were doing well, and did not eliminate the things we were not doing so well,” Smith said. “We had to do with a makeshift offensive line. This offseason should be focused on getting healthy, and executing getting plays in on a timely fashion, and analyzing tendencies we show opposing teams, and broadening the offense.”
Smith added that he was extremely happy for his former quarterback, Troy Aikman, who is leaving Fox Sports for the massive contract on ESPN’s “Monday Night Football.”
“I think he’s one of the best — if not the finest — announcers out there calling the game,” Smith said. “I think Troy and Joe Buck have become the John Madden and Pat Summerall of this generation.”
Smith said he still keeps in touch with his former teammates, getting lunch every once in a while with Michael Irvin, and texting back and forth with Aikman for milestone occasions like birthdays and anniversaries.
While Smith accumulated over 10 miles of NFL rushing yards, his body has held up greater than nearly any other ex-football player.
“My body feels pretty good, to be honest with you,” he said. “I’m doing alright. I try to stay in shape by riding my bike and playing golf and relaxing. I try not to do too many stressful things besides working out every day. I don’t have aches and pains. I don’t wake up in the morning like ‘Awww this hurts.’ Not at this stage. I’m sure at some point in time. … I don’t know when to anticipate it, but right now I’m feeling good.”
While he takes his physique seriously, Smith is not afraid to go all-out in his breakfast order. When eating at IHOP, he orders two stacks of pancakes, scrambled egg with cheese, hash browns with cheese, crispy bacon and maybe some sausage links.
“I go all out, but I don’t have any butter or sugar on my pancakes,” he said. “I want my pancakes plain Jane.”
While Smith had such a legendary athletic career, it’s not something he dwells on mentally unless he’s prompted — only then does it all comes back to him.
“The only time I think about my playing career is when others bring it up,” he said. “Other than that, I don’t really think about it. It is in my rear-view mirror. When someone brings it up and I have a chance to reflect, that’s when I start to think in depth around that scenario. That could be about any point in time, as long as I’ve got a vivid memory of it — fond or even not so fond — I can have a conversation around it.”
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