I've Never Been a Big Fan of Emmitt Smith

I've always found him very arrogant, even more so since living up here the past five months. This takes the cake, though.

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dallas/cowboys/stories/012903dnsposherrington.bf7e.html

<font size=5><B>For Emmitt, Hall induction isn't necessarily price-less </B></font>
01/29/2003 <I>

America is a great place to live, and not just for the available real estate. No one dictates where you worship. They can't hover over you in the ballot box or forbid you to write a letter to the editor or generally prevent you from making a fool of yourself, which keeps TV in programming.

For more than 200 years we have held these truths to be self-evident. And just the other day we learned this, too:

No one can make you join a Hall of Fame, either.

Emmitt Smith will not join former NFL players Michael Carter and Joe Washington and Bobby Joe Conrad and Texas swimming coach Eddie Reese at the induction ceremonies for the Texas Sports Hall of Fame next month.

According to a spokesman for Smith's agent, Emmitt will keep a promise and escort his 7-year-old daughter to a school dance the same night as the ceremonies.
Bravo for Emmitt. Nice to hear that a professional athlete really means it when he says he wants to spend more time with family members, which usually means as long as they can make his tee times, anyway.

"If I had a 7-year-old daughter," said Steve Fallon, executive director of the TSHOF, "I'd let that take priority, too."

But the TSHOF has rules, too. And here's the sticky part: You don't show up for the induction ceremonies in Waco, you don't get in.

So Emmitt was in, sort of, and now he's out. The good news is that he goes back on the ballot next year, when yours truly and a panel of sports writer types can vote him in again.

Next time, maybe we can avoid the issue of "appearance fees," which is how all this mess started.

History: On Dec. 11, Fallon attempted to contact Emmitt to tell him the good news. As he feared, it was no good going through the Cowboys. Got to go through the agent, AMG Sports of Irving, the same group that handled the marketing of Emmitt's run for the record.

Maybe you noticed. Not for nothing was Emmitt changing jerseys every time you looked over at the bench. Every time a milestone came up, the ball went off, to be deflated and tagged for authenticity by an AMG rep, with some of the proceeds going to charity.

Hardly seemed sporting, culling memorabilia from a 5-11 season. Sort of like setting up a souvenir stand at Little Big Horn. Still, this is sports as we now know it, and if the Cowboys are going to profit from Emmitt's run, you figure he has a right to cash in, too.

But the making of easy money gets to be a habit, and sometimes the mere sniff of green makes people a little crazy, as Fallon found when he contacted AMG and was told that Emmitt's standard appearance fee is $75,000.

"Because you're a non-profit organization," the rep said good-naturedly, "how does $25,000 sound?"

Hello ...?

"After I came back up off the floor," Fallon recalled, "I told him we've been inducting athletes in this state for 52 years, and this is the first time anyone has ever requested an appearance fee."

Two hundred forty-four inductees, to be exact, from Troy Aikman to Babe Didrikson Zaharias.

All kinds of athletes from all manner of sports. Boxers and bowlers and wild bull riders.

A Jitterbug and a Froggy.

A Pinky and a Pinkey.

A Bibb and a Big Boy. A Boody and a Botchey. A Bubba and a Buddy and a Bull and a Buster and a Bum.

A Who's Who of Cowboys. Lilly. Meredith. Landry. Gregg. Staubach. Schramm. Randy White. Mel Renfro.

Jimmy Johnson sailed in from the Keys two years ago, and Aikman last year, to a house even more crowded than the last pocket he occupied.

You hate to sound provincial, but it's a little daunting, sifting through Texas' legends and coming up with a class that doesn't require a venue the size of D/FW.

Hey, this ain't the Hoboken Hall of Fame.

Fallon relayed this point in more soothing terms to Werner Scott, Emmitt's agent, the day after he talked to the first AMG rep. Scott assured Fallon that it was a mistake, that the rep was new on the job and didn't recognize the significance of the TSHOF.

But, just for the record, he wanted a little information: How much money would they make off the event, and could they bring stuff to sell?

Fallon told him they planned to honor Emmitt, not incorporate him. The banquet isn't even a big fundraiser for the Hall. Fallon's first one in '97, they lost $800. He said it'll cost $60,000 to put it on this year, and last year's netted $37,000.

Anyway, as far as Scott knew, Emmitt's calendar was clear. Fallon told him if anything changed, to let him know as soon as possible, and maybe he could even re-schedule to accommodate him.

Sure thing, Scott said. And the next time Fallon heard from anyone at AMG was six weeks later, a little late to do anything about it.

Scott was unavailable for comment Tuesday, but an AMG rep said they got word of the scheduling conflict a month ago.

Moral: Come Feb. 12, Emmitt will be dancing in Dallas, and a swell time will be had in Waco, too.

AMG reps say they want to make everything right for next year, and Fallon says there are no hard feelings. As it turns out, getting a Cowboy running back in the Hall has never been a sure thing, anyway.

In '97, Fallon contacted Tony Dorsett about being inducted, and Dorsett told him he was already in. Fallon said, no, and, as executive director, he'd probably know.

Tony D insisted. He remembered the banquet, the award, the whole 99 yards. He reads this, he'll probably want an appearance fee, too.</i>

Funny how the recital didn't come up until after he got some bad press. I guess he'd be happy to miss it for $75,000 or $25,000.

 

The classy part really shows right there. I agree with the sportsmanlike and hardest working parts, even though I do feel he ran out of bounds way too often when he could've taken a hit and got a few more yards. Can't argue with the results though.

 

OK, well, if someone gives up $25,000, he'll be happy to skip it.

 

Why didn't he say that from the beginning? Why was his agent asking $75,000 then $25,000?

I don't think anyone would have a problem with Emmitt Smith if he originally said that he couldn't do it for this reason. But using his daughter as an excuse after asking for money is classless.