Smith’s legs remain robust

Emmitt Smith said he never lost confidence during his awful first season in Arizona, yet he was amused at televised accounts of his performance in last Sunday’s season opener.

“I saw ESPN and saw Stuart Scott say ‘Emmitt Smith came out of retirement,’ ” Smith said Thursday. “I thought that was pretty funny. I got a kick out of that one.”

Smith gained 87 yards in 16 carries, including an 11-yard touchdown run, in last week’s 17-10 loss to the Rams in St. Louis — easily his best game since signing with the Cardinals after 13 seasons with Dallas.

He showed some of the slippery moves that made him the NFL’s career leading rusher — largely because the Arizona offensive line finally gave him a little room to run.

“I always knew the old man had it,” offensive tackle Anthony Clement said. “We had to get it done up front first. Once we got it done up front, he was able to do his thing.”

Smith has gained 17,505 yards in his career, but only 256 — by far his career-low — came last year, when the Cardinals struggled to a 4-12 record and he missed six games with a shoulder injury.

Still, he came back to fulfill the second half of the two-year, $7.5 million contract he signed with Arizona.

“You know what? I’m a firm believer that if you don’t believe in yourself, no one else will,” Smith said. “And I’m a firm believer that you’re going to always have someone out there who doubts you. So if I continue to listen to people who doubt me, I’d never believe in myself. I’ve got a lot of self-confidence.”

Not long after new coach Dennis Green took over this year, he chose Smith as the starting running back. Since then, Green has been impressed with Smith’s work-ethic and leadership.

“I think the frustration for him were those three 5-11 years at Dallas, and last year when he got a clean shot and got hit right in the shoulder and broke his collar bone,” Green said. “He knows he can still play, and what I’ve seen has convinced me that he can still play.”

Picture Gallery on the right … for now

Robert Gallery’s future is certain to be at left tackle, but for the time being he’ll have to settle for playing the right side for the Oakland Raiders.

Gallery, the second overall pick in the NFL draft, will make his first start Sunday against Buffalo. He replaces third-year player Langston Walker, the right tackle in Oakland’s season-opening loss to Pittsburgh.

“It’s what I came here to do,” Gallery said. “I’m glad they decided what they’re going to do. Now I’m ready to play. I was going to be ready to play if I was starting or not, but now I know I can go out and play.”

Doctors operate on Rogers’ collarbone

At Allen Park, Mich., Detroit Lions receiver Charles Rogers had surgery on his broken collarbone, an injury that ended his season early for the second consecutive year.

“A plate with eight screws was placed on his clavicle over the old fracture and the new fracture,” Lions coach Steve Mariucci said. “He’ll play through the first season with the plate, then they’ll evaluate.”

Rogers, the No. 2 overall pick in the 2003 draft, was injured going for a pass in the first quarter of Detroit’s 20-16 win at Chicago on Sunday.

In five games last season, he caught three touchdowns passes before breaking his collarbone in practice.

League slaps fine on Broncos

The Denver Broncos have been fined $950,000 and will lose their third-round pick in next year’s NFL draft for circumventing the salary cap between 1996-98, the league announced from New York.

The penalties were levied following an agreement involving the league, its union and the team.

The violations included agreements between the team and several players to defer salary payments with interest and an agreement not to waive a player before a certain date. Both raised issues with accounting for the salary cap.

In addition to the penalties against the team, the NFL said an agent for a former player agreed to donate $100,000 to charity. Neither the agent nor the player was identified.

Union pioneer Lindquist dies

Leonard Lindquist, who helped NFL players form their first union and served as the first general counsel of the NFL Players Association, died at 92.

He died Sept. 10, the union said.

Lindquist became involved with NFL players in 1969. He was the lead negotiator when the players signed their first collective bargaining agreement with the league a year later.

“The NFLPA truly would not be the organization it is today without his vision and leadership,” said Gene Upshaw, the organization’s executive director.

Lindquist was the founding partner of Lindquist & Vennum law firm. He was a nationally renowned labor mediator and arbitrator and was active in civil rights.

Alexander still questionable

If Seattle Seahawks running back Shaun Alexander had his way, he’d play Sunday against the Buccaneers.

“Yeah, I definitely think I’ll play,” Alexander told Tampa Bay media members in a conference call on Wednesday. “I don’t ever think I won’t play.”

Alexander, who is nursing a bruised right knee, did not practice Thursday and is still listed as questionable on the injury report.

Maurice Morris took most of the snaps with the first team Thursday. He will be the starter if Alexander can’t go Sunday at Tampa Bay.

“We’re not going in with the attitude that Shaun is not going to play,” running backs coach Stump Mitchell said.

“But, I’ll tell you what: Maurice makes everyone’s job a whole lot easier. If Shaun can’t play, we don’t feel as if we can’t win this ballgame.”

Coach Mike Holmgren said earlier this week that Alexander could practice today. If he does, chances are he will play.