Greatest Hall of Fame Speech of All Time

f that… john randle’s was better… emmit took all of 22 min

john randles closing line: Thanks for making a small town kids’ dream come true

screw the gators

Nah, fuck John Randall’s clown car. Shut the fuck up and ball.

Emmitt might be the most complete back ever. He wasn’t the best pure runner by any stretch but when you combine everything that is needed to be a complete back (running, blitz pick-up, receiving, durability, toughness, vision), I’m hard pressed to think of another one who is better across the board.

All I know, is when he got to the Moose, the mold count in my house went up 50 fold.

Emmit was lucky . . . He could save his tears for the teammate tribute.

The guys I feel for are Walter Payton and Barry Sanders who cried real tears while wondering when the next block would come against defenses that paid cursory attention to the threat of a pass.

Watching guys who can run in those conditions is as entertaining as it gets . . .Right up there with Riverdance.

MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSE!!!!!

Emmitt might be the most complete back ever.

A great runner, yes. But nowhere near the most complete back. Payton could block and catch better.

I was a hardcore Cowboy hater back in my childhood; as such, I was an SF bandwagoner. It also didn’t hurt they had a left-handed Steve Young, my favorite player.

Anyways, I hated the Cowboys with a passion but always loved Moose Johnston. What a lead blocker. Kudos to Smith for masturbating Moose down the feel.

I never agree with the Barry over Emmitt talk. Barry was as likely to get you -2 as 25+. Only he didn’t understand (or care) about the game situation. He would and did lose yardage on 3rd and 2s, trying to get the home run. The Lions started replaceing him in goalline and short yardage siutaions for much of his career. That is not indicative of the greatest of all time. And Barry’s support has been way undersold. Sure he was on some crap teams, but he also played on some offensively dynamic ones as well.

“Smith wasn’t the best running back of all time.There’s something to be said for that.”-DIRECT quote from the author.

Amen.

As for that ‘94 game vs. the Niners, it might have helped if you didn’t go down by 21 before a single glass of Chardonay was poured in the stands.

I did gain a measure of respect for that chapped lipped closet dwelling Aikman though. The Niner DL beat the shit out of that sap, but he kept getting up.

Oh gawd. I wasn’t going to interrupt the Cow wanking, but if we are going to play the IF game then note that if Houston doesn’t pull off the greatest choke in NFL history at Buffalo, Dallas likely loses that year’s Super Bowl. Houston was the only team with a winning record against that era’s Cowboys, for some reason they had ya’ll’s number.

Enough with the OIlers would have beat them crap. I am the biggest Oilers fan ever, and that Buffaloe/OIlers game was a wild card game. On the road no less. They would have had to win two road games to get there. Not only that, but winning record against the Cowboys? They played once every three years back then…

Barry Sanders played for a team which run and shoot offense much of the time. There might have been some years when their passing attack was weak, but there were many years the Detroit receivers were catching close to 100 balls a year. There was some focus on Barry of course. He was Barry, but it wasn’t like everybody could just key in on him. I remember several playoff games where Green Bay built their game plan on stopping Barry, and they did just that easily. I like Barry Sanders. He was a great RB. But let’s not minimize what Emmit Smith did. He was the focal point of the offense. He opened everything else up for the others, not the other way around.

I think you’re remembering preseason games.

1991 – Houston 26, Dallas 23
1992 – DNP
1993 – DNP
1994 – Dallas 20, Houston 17
1995 – DNP
1996 – DNP

How again did the Oilers “have the Cowboys’ number” in that era?

Emmitt Smith never quit. He just finally ran out of gas. Barry flat out quit in his prime because his dumb ass Daddy told him to.

Oh, and you really want to know what made this a great speech? It was the only time Emmitt ever said anything I could understand.

I remember the time a reporter asked Emmitt why he played the game. I’ll never forget his response. He said, “just to get in that endzone and see em all go crazy.”

Maybe it’s just me or because I was a kid growing up in Texas, but when he was in the game, I thought we would never lose.

‘97 OIlers in Titans jerseys (same damn team) beat Switzer’s Cowboys, making them 1-1 vs Switzer and 1-0 vs JJ. But they also beat Dallas in ’88 and ’00.

I’d say winning 4 of 5 meetings in 13 years qualifies, including 2-1 during the heart of the Cowboy’s last Super Bowl era. No other team had a winning record against the Cowboys during either stretch, correct?

The Oiler choke at Buffalo was a wildcard game, but then Buffalo made it to the Super Bowl as a wildcard that year so not sure why anyone is certain the ‘Just a wildcard’ Oilers wouldn’t have if they had somehow held on to beat the Bills. Buffalo followed up Houston with blowouts of unimpressive Pitt and Miami teams, the Oilers had a good shot at doing the same. Buffalo proved repeatedly that they were a bad matchup against the Cowboys, but 2-1 or 4-1 suggests Houston would have made it a better Super Bowl, with a shot at winning.

And again, all of that is only in response to someone playing the “IF” game.

Is this why the Hall tries to keep out Cowboys. That was right up there with The Playmakers speech. How in hell do you try to follow one of these guys?

“You tell everyone or anyone that has ever doubted, thought they did not measure up or wanted to quit… You tell them to look up, get up and don’t ever give up.”

That speech was awesome. The pro game hasn’t been the same since the Cowboy dynasty was destroyed by free agency. I do feel for the poor owners, right!

It’s appropriate to thank the people that made the career of the ‘all time leading rusher’ in NFL history’. If he didn’t deserve time, I don’t know who does. I am glad Johnston was recognized. He deserved it.

Now, Hook ’em, Horns!