Smith Takes Money To Run: $48 Million For Eight Years

Emmitt Smith, twice involved in contentious hold-outs with the Dallas Cowboys, received a $48 million eight-year contract Monday, including an NFL-record $15 million signing bonus.

“I learned from the last two times,” owner Jerry Jones said. “I made some mistakes. And I learned from them.”

The contract will run until Smith is 35, past retirement age for many running backs but not, perhaps, for the man who this year should become the youngest runner to reach 10,000 yards.

Smith, who was in the final year of his contract, has rushed for 8,956 yards in just six seasons.

“It’s going to be a test to see how I feel in another eight years,” he said. “I think I still have a lot of run left in me.”

But the deal does ensure no more holdouts. Smith refused to come to training camp his rookie year and settled just before the first game of the season.

Then he missed the first two games of the 1993 season, which the Cowboys lost, before Jones realized he had miscalculated his running back’s resolve and quickly settled.

“No deal is ever easy,” Smith said. “Things went wrong the first two times. Egos got involved. But Jerry did the right thing this time.

“I didn’t want the whole elephant. I wanted to leave room for Jerry to bring in other players.”

Jones wouldn’t say how he manipulated the salary cap to make the deal. But he said he doesn’t think he’ll have the problems with the league he had last year, when he had to restructure Deion Sanders’ $35 million deal because the league objected.

“I think the NFL will be excited about it,” Jones said.

Jones will get a $500,000 rebate from the NFL on the salaries of suspended Michael Irvin and Shante Carver he can use in the deal. Smith will count $3 million against the salary cap this year.

“This is going to cost us so much I may have to stop construction on my house,” Jones said.

Jones has been paying big bucks for his star players.

Quarterback Troy Aikman signed an eight-year deal worth $50 million that included an $11 million bonus. Sanders signed a seven-year contract worth $35 million, including a bonus of $13 million last September.

Smith had challenged Jones to “do the right thing.”

“Jerry did the right thing,” Smith said. “All of his words became reality today. I had a lot of faith in Jerry.”

Smith has been the NFL’s leading rusher four times and has been the NFL MVP and a Super Bowl MVP.

“We’re happy Emmitt is going to be with the Cowboys as long as he plays the game of football,” Jones said.

“I believe if you start something you finish it,” Smith said. “I played all my football at one high school, at one college (Florida), and I wanted to play all my professional football for the Dallas Cowboys.”

Smith’s new agent, Eugene Parker, met secretly with Jones and his son, Stephen, to complete the agreement.

“I didn’t want anything to leak out,” Smith said. “And that was hard for me to do because it’s hard for me to shut my mouth.”

Coach Barry Switzer said “Emmitt Smith will be one of the greatest players to ever play the game. I’m damn happy.”

“Will you play tonight?” a smiling Switzer asked Smith about the New England exhibition game, which began 4 hours after the news conference announcing the contract.

“No,” said a smiling Smith, who usually doesn’t play until the last two preseason games.