I rarely if ever respond in this forum, I've retired to being a lurker. But I don't understand the criticism of Emmitt Smith, he was being inducted into the NFL HALL OF FAME, not the college hall of fame. I watched the speech and felt nothing but admiration for someone who appears to have done everything right in his life.
He's married to the mother of his children. He came back to UF to get his degree. He has not blown his him money and appears to have been successful in the business world. He has not been arrested or accused of anything remotely controversial. He by all accounts has been a model citizen on and off the field. He is one of TWO former Gators in the HOF. Now on one of the biggest days of his life, a day when you saw how much he cared about the game and his teammates, people want to be critical of him because he failed to mention UF....please, give the man a break....he could be going into the HOF as a dirtbag like Lawrence Taylor, OJ Simpson, etc.... Love and appreciate his achievements and that he played at UF, don't get caught up in petty details in the overall picture IMO. Thanks of listening, I will now go back to my normal life, lurking Stephen Manuel ________________________________ From: Keith Baldwin <ke...@baldwinnc.com> To: gatortalk@googlegroups.com Sent: Sun, August 8, 2010 10:08:53 AM Subject: RE: [gatortalk] Emmitt's diss of GatorNation Terri: Going through the internet message boards - you are not the only one upset. I'm not a big NFL or Dallas Cowboys fan - so I do not follow many of the Gator players in the NFL. What I am hearing is that a lot of the players on the Galen Hall team - but not Spurrier teams - still have hard feelings about the way things were handled. Shame that we can't all stick together. -----Original Message----- From: gatortalk@googlegroups.com [mailto:gatort...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Terri Sent: Sunday, August 08, 2010 12:03 AM To: GatorTalk Subject: [gatortalk] Emmitt's diss of GatorNation God Bless Emmitt for being inducted tonight in the NFL Hall of Fame- I am so proud of him and happy for him and in awe of his dedication and love of Christ, and family- Did he not have the most beautiful smile when ESPN interviewed him before the ceremony? Did I not put my Saturday plans on hold to wait over 2.5 hours for his turn to be proud when he mentioned the GATOR NATION tonight at his induction speech?????? Well I waited for naught and so while still feeling proud and happy for him and his family, I have not been so disappointed in a long, long, time and frankly SHOCKED that he could mention his high school coaches helping his pro-career and just SKIP his college career - not ONE mention of any Gator teammates, coaches, professors or fans that helped him launch a most successful NFL career - are we supposed to believe there wasn't one gator or memory worthy of a mention? Not ONE mention of the loyal support of the gator nation? I wonder how much that gator woman in the audience @ Dayton spent being there for Emmitt to only be dissed in a way no other college was dissed this evening. Throughout the years, I can't tell you how many times I would feel so bad for Emmitt thinking back to his different OC's at UF and the whole debacle with Galen Hall, which gave Emmitt an interim coach and chaos his last year at Florida. A year didn't go by that I didn't lament at least once that he never beat our three great rivals --- Auburn, Georgia and 1/2assu..which, by the way has now been 23 years of yearly feeling bad for him. I believed him in his bio when he said my beloved SOS didn't want him at UF for his senior year and being sad for him. There's not a year that goes by that I don't think of being at his first game in Miami in 1987 where we lost but he wowed us when Hall finally put him in the game - we wished they had put him in earlier. At this link [3:00 mark,] is Emmitt Smith's first carry for Florida--ironically, in a game against Michael Irvin's Miami Hurricanes. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tLXNDieUdsw Even with his chaotic college career, Emmitt was still the second all- time leading rusher for the Gators, and he was elected into the 2006 College Football Hall of Fame. A year doesn't go by that I don't think of my mom and dad going to Tuscaloosa for the first time and being so excited @ seeing UF freshman running back Emmitt Smith leading the unranked Gators to a 23-14 upset in Birmingham, & rushing for a then school-record 224 yards in his first collegiate start. I still enjoy listening to audio clips of Emmitt's historic day in Alabama. A year doesn't go by that I don't think of being in Auburn for his last shot at beating Auburn and seeing the hopeless situation he was in with our predictable game plan [run Emmitt left; run Emmitt right with an inefficient QB at the helm] and with all that, STILL seeing we should have won if not for the refs @ Auburn and remembering the shi$$y Auburn fans throwing beer bottles at him. It always haunted me. I still remember entering Florida Field [not yet named the Swamp] pregame UF/1/2ASSU 1989 and seeing us wear blue jerseys and orange pants [or vice versa] for the fist time...of remembering going against a great 1/2ASSU team with no weapon but Emmitt and still almost beating them..I loved him for giving every game his all and for being what I thought was a true gator. My biggest thought as I walked out of the stadium after that devastating loss was remembering how sad I was that Emmitt didn't beat fsu. I still remembering being so excited at SOS coming back to UF the following season while at the same time feeling sad that Emmitt wasn't coming back. I still remember experiencing the disappointment of him being drafted late yet still being so happy that he was drafted by the cowboys I remember spending my Sundays watching pro games I was not a fan of just so I could cheer for Emmitt. I still remember the ONE bright spot of the 93 1/2assu game in the swamp was seeing our beloved Emmitt on the sideline for the first time. What Gator doesn't remember with pride Emmitt's Super Bowl championships and record- breaking games and years in the pro's? What Gator doesn't remember the anger when we thought he wasn't getting the recognition he deserved or the contract he deserved? I can tell you the only reason and the ONLY time I watched Dancing w/ the Stars was when he was on it. I can tell you I proud I was when I watched Emmitt's sister receive Emmitt's inductee award into the RING OF HONOR. The above is my background for my energy devoted to this rant. Emmitt holds 58 school records at UF - and yet there's NOT ONE PLAYER OR COACH OR PROFESSOR OR FAN that propelled him to mention his college years in his most memorable evening? The only time he came close to mentioning UF was when he talked about getting his degree for his mother - HELLO, Emmitt, where did you get your degree? Did the Gator Nation cheer for you? [YES] Were we proud of you? [YES] We aren't privy to what happened to Emmitt while at Florida or what the recent UF administration or coaching staff might have done to warrant his shocking behavior tonight - YET, Emmitt has NO doubt of the love and loyalty and pride the Gator Nation has for him - so I feel this is a stab in the back from 22 to the GATOR NATION. I was in Orlando @ the USC/UGA Citrus Bowl game in 1987 when Emmitt was introduced as the Florida Player of the year. At the time, my marriage was winding down. When my USC Trojan husband saw Emmitt being introduced at halftime of that game [as the nation's highest- rated running back and Florida's player of the year], I declared that he would be a Florida Gator. He looked at me with his southern California condescending air and said, "Emmitt will never choose Neil Anderson over OJ in recruiting him to a school. Why would anyone chose UF over USC??? Just a couple of weeks after that we separated so I had great joy when Emmitt chose UF over USC. If you didn't know he played division one college football, listening to his speech tonight you would think he went straight from high school to "America's team." America's team might outnumber the GATOR NATION - but no group of people have been more loyal to him or now are more frustrated and feeling such mixed emotions than the Gator Nation. I say mixed emotions as after all, tonight wasn't about the gator nation; it was about Emmitt ==so while my admiration of him has not diminished, I go to bed very sad and disappointed that our beloved Gator Great has no such love, loyalty or respect for us. -- GATORS: ONE VOICE ON SATURDAY - NO VOICE ON SUNDAY! 1996 National Football Champions | 2006 National Basketball Champions 2006 National Football Champions | 2007 National Basketball Champions 2008 National Football Champions | Three Heisman Trophy winners: Steve Spurrier (1966), Danny Wuerffel (1996), Tim Tebow (2007) - Visit our website at www.gatornet.us -- GATORS: ONE VOICE ON SATURDAY - NO VOICE ON SUNDAY! 1996 National Football Champions | 2006 National Basketball Champions 2006 National Football Champions | 2007 National Basketball Champions 2008 National Football Champions | Three Heisman Trophy winners: Steve Spurrier (1966), Danny Wuerffel (1996), Tim Tebow (2007) - Visit our website at www.gatornet.us -- GATORS: ONE VOICE ON SATURDAY - NO VOICE ON SUNDAY! 1996 National Football Champions | 2006 National Basketball Champions 2006 National Football Champions | 2007 National Basketball Champions 2008 National Football Champions | Three Heisman Trophy winners: Steve Spurrier (1966), Danny Wuerffel (1996), Tim Tebow (2007) - Visit our website at www.gatornet.us
