Kyle Moss said he wasn’t going to be as ignorant as usual, but failed miserably. To even suggest that Emmitt Smith doesn’t deserve the accolades he receives is ludicrous.

Smith plowed away for years to achieve the record. His consistency alone is worth the honors.

Moss suggests that the Cowboys are letting Smith run just to get the record. On the contrary, Smith is running for the Cowboys because he is the best offensive threat they have left. He attributes Smith’s health to pure luck. Walter Payton missed two games his whole career, similar to Smith’s longevity.

This can not be luck; it’s due to intense conditioning and the athleticism to avoid the big hits.

Finally Moss claims that Barry Sanders is a better back than Smith, owing to his higher yards per carry. But Wendell Tyler outranks Smith in this category by nearly the same amount. Who is Wendell Taylor? I don’t know either, which is why I don’t put much stock in this statistic.

Sanders led the league in negative yardage through most of the mid-’90s. If he hadn’t taken all those losses, maybe he would now be the NFL’s all-time leading rusher.

Sanders was taken out of the game when the Lions faced short-yardage situations because he could never be depended on to get the yards when they counted most. Smith carried the Cowboys to Super Bowls; Sanders carried the Lions to a lot of early playoff exits.

Emmitt Smith is the all-time leading rusher for good reason. He deserves the awards and honors he receives, and is definitely one of the top five NFL running backs ever, well ahead of Barry Sanders.

Paul Stanley

Junior

Materials Engineering