SeattleCard
Back in Arizona!!!
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/inside_game/don_banks/news/2003/03/26/banks_emmitt_insider/
PHOENIX -- I hope I'm wrong about this. I hope the Arizona Cardinals are getting Emmitt Smith's complete game and not just renting his name. I hope the guy who made No. 22 famous is about to embark on the best second act anyone anywhere has had in his NFL career.
I hope, for Emmitt's sake, the Valley of the Sun doesn't become the Valley of the All Done. I hope that at least one more time he shows us all he's capable of stepping up when everybody's expecting him to wind down.
But still, you wonder. When I heard that Smith and the Cardinals were the NFL's newest item on Wednesday, I had to fight off all of those old, sad visions of Johnny Unitas in San Diego, Joe Namath in Los Angeles and O.J. Simpson in San Francisco. (Come to think of it, maybe it's just a California thing).
After all, Jerry Rice went to Oakland two years ago and hasn't looked back yet. Maybe Emmitt, despite heading west, isn't heading into the setting sun.
Smith's stated goal is to go out on top. But the truth is, it's hard to figure out how he's making much progress going from the 5-11 Cowboys to the 5-11 Cardinals. From a Quincy Carter- and Chad Hutchinson-quarterbacked team to a Jeff Blake-quarterbacked team. Dallas has finished 5-11 for three consecutive seasons. Arizona has the league's territorial rights to the record.
I don't blame the Cardinals for trumpeting the signing of Smith to a two-year deal as a huge step forward for the long-downtrodden organization. It's not every day that you make room for the NFL's all-time leading rusher under your salary cap.
In Arizona this offseason, it has been tough to keep hope alive. Smith offers the Cardinals something to talk about besides the feat of losing both their starting quarterback (Jake Plummer) and best receiver (David Boston) without getting anything in return.
But all I know is that one day Smith didn't seem all that eager to become a Cardinal -- taking a patient approach to negotiations despite Arizona being his only free-agent visit -- and the next day the Big Red were calling a news conference to announce the Big Move.
It seems likely that Smith woke up recently and realized that the list of teams clamoring for his services was exactly one deep. It was Arizona, or maybe wait around until June for someone to lose a running back in minicamp. Who knows, it might have worked out in the end. But the spectacle of Smith going unclaimed on the market for three months or so would have been painful for everyone.
Nothing made me queasier about Smith becoming a Cardinal on Wednesday than hearing team officials' vague talk about how his "unique" contract creates "a partnership both on and off the field" with the team. There's obviously some marketing aspect built into the deal.
I understand perfectly that Smith and the Cowboys always have been a huge draw in Arizona, and that the acquisition will help sell tickets to the Cardinals' frustrated and apathetic fan base. Smith's presence unquestionably enhances the team's image both locally and nationally, and his addition might even induce folks, praise be, to fork over some cash to buy a piece or two of Cardinals merchandise.
No problem there. The football business is still a business. But unless Smith still can perform on the field like the Emmitt we've come to know -- a task that he'll need the help of his teammates to accomplish -- the marketing possibilities are probably going to fall well below projections.
At one point in Wednesday's news conference at the Arizona Biltmore Resort, site of this week's NFL annual meeting, Cardinals vice president Rod Graves even was asked if any part of Smith's contract was tied to ticket sales. "There is nothing in this particular contract about that," Graves said. "Thank goodness."
Amen to that. Before Graves shot down the idea of a ticket-sale clause, I got the mental image of Smith walking back and forth along Camelback Road, wearing a sandwich board that hawked Cardinals season-ticket packages. I know that's not what Arizona head coach Dave McGinnis meant when he said Wednesday that "Emmitt Smith is going to be a very valuable member of the organization."
The Cardinals deserve credit for going out and getting Smith. They've been chided for losing their two marquee players -- Plummer and Boston -- this offseason, so you can't blame them for looking to offset those subtractions with a big-name splash of their own. They needed to give their fan base something to get excited about, some reason to believe.
Even if the franchise's latest savior is a 33-year-old running back with 13 years of NFL wear and tear under his belt.
"You have to do something in this league to attain stature," McGinnis said. "And then, with that, comes respect. Respect from a lot of different avenues. This is nothing but positive for us."
He's right. From the perspective of today, Smith was somebody that still has a lot to offer the Arizona Cardinals and their long-suffering fans.
"Sure, there's always the risk with any player that expectations won't be met," Graves said. "But with Emmitt's track record, it's a good bet."
I just hope that in the end, it's Smith's still well-polished football skills that made Wednesday's move the right one for Arizona. And I hope that for the Cardinals, moving the yard marker is much more important and topical than marketing.
We're either going to remember this day as the moment when the second part of Smith's illustrious career began, or when he officially arrived at the beginning of the end. A page in history has been turned. He's a Cardinal now. Let's all hope that doesn't mean what it usually does.
PHOENIX -- I hope I'm wrong about this. I hope the Arizona Cardinals are getting Emmitt Smith's complete game and not just renting his name. I hope the guy who made No. 22 famous is about to embark on the best second act anyone anywhere has had in his NFL career.
I hope, for Emmitt's sake, the Valley of the Sun doesn't become the Valley of the All Done. I hope that at least one more time he shows us all he's capable of stepping up when everybody's expecting him to wind down.
But still, you wonder. When I heard that Smith and the Cardinals were the NFL's newest item on Wednesday, I had to fight off all of those old, sad visions of Johnny Unitas in San Diego, Joe Namath in Los Angeles and O.J. Simpson in San Francisco. (Come to think of it, maybe it's just a California thing).
After all, Jerry Rice went to Oakland two years ago and hasn't looked back yet. Maybe Emmitt, despite heading west, isn't heading into the setting sun.
Smith's stated goal is to go out on top. But the truth is, it's hard to figure out how he's making much progress going from the 5-11 Cowboys to the 5-11 Cardinals. From a Quincy Carter- and Chad Hutchinson-quarterbacked team to a Jeff Blake-quarterbacked team. Dallas has finished 5-11 for three consecutive seasons. Arizona has the league's territorial rights to the record.
I don't blame the Cardinals for trumpeting the signing of Smith to a two-year deal as a huge step forward for the long-downtrodden organization. It's not every day that you make room for the NFL's all-time leading rusher under your salary cap.
In Arizona this offseason, it has been tough to keep hope alive. Smith offers the Cardinals something to talk about besides the feat of losing both their starting quarterback (Jake Plummer) and best receiver (David Boston) without getting anything in return.
But all I know is that one day Smith didn't seem all that eager to become a Cardinal -- taking a patient approach to negotiations despite Arizona being his only free-agent visit -- and the next day the Big Red were calling a news conference to announce the Big Move.
It seems likely that Smith woke up recently and realized that the list of teams clamoring for his services was exactly one deep. It was Arizona, or maybe wait around until June for someone to lose a running back in minicamp. Who knows, it might have worked out in the end. But the spectacle of Smith going unclaimed on the market for three months or so would have been painful for everyone.
Nothing made me queasier about Smith becoming a Cardinal on Wednesday than hearing team officials' vague talk about how his "unique" contract creates "a partnership both on and off the field" with the team. There's obviously some marketing aspect built into the deal.
I understand perfectly that Smith and the Cowboys always have been a huge draw in Arizona, and that the acquisition will help sell tickets to the Cardinals' frustrated and apathetic fan base. Smith's presence unquestionably enhances the team's image both locally and nationally, and his addition might even induce folks, praise be, to fork over some cash to buy a piece or two of Cardinals merchandise.
No problem there. The football business is still a business. But unless Smith still can perform on the field like the Emmitt we've come to know -- a task that he'll need the help of his teammates to accomplish -- the marketing possibilities are probably going to fall well below projections.
At one point in Wednesday's news conference at the Arizona Biltmore Resort, site of this week's NFL annual meeting, Cardinals vice president Rod Graves even was asked if any part of Smith's contract was tied to ticket sales. "There is nothing in this particular contract about that," Graves said. "Thank goodness."
Amen to that. Before Graves shot down the idea of a ticket-sale clause, I got the mental image of Smith walking back and forth along Camelback Road, wearing a sandwich board that hawked Cardinals season-ticket packages. I know that's not what Arizona head coach Dave McGinnis meant when he said Wednesday that "Emmitt Smith is going to be a very valuable member of the organization."
The Cardinals deserve credit for going out and getting Smith. They've been chided for losing their two marquee players -- Plummer and Boston -- this offseason, so you can't blame them for looking to offset those subtractions with a big-name splash of their own. They needed to give their fan base something to get excited about, some reason to believe.
Even if the franchise's latest savior is a 33-year-old running back with 13 years of NFL wear and tear under his belt.
"You have to do something in this league to attain stature," McGinnis said. "And then, with that, comes respect. Respect from a lot of different avenues. This is nothing but positive for us."
He's right. From the perspective of today, Smith was somebody that still has a lot to offer the Arizona Cardinals and their long-suffering fans.
"Sure, there's always the risk with any player that expectations won't be met," Graves said. "But with Emmitt's track record, it's a good bet."
I just hope that in the end, it's Smith's still well-polished football skills that made Wednesday's move the right one for Arizona. And I hope that for the Cardinals, moving the yard marker is much more important and topical than marketing.
We're either going to remember this day as the moment when the second part of Smith's illustrious career began, or when he officially arrived at the beginning of the end. A page in history has been turned. He's a Cardinal now. Let's all hope that doesn't mean what it usually does.
