Friday, July 31, 1998

Emmitt Smith dancing a new step

By Jim Reeves

Knight Ridder Newspapers

WICHITA FALLS, Texas -- Emmitt Smith is doing what he does best, charging straight ahead while TV crews do a spry backstep across the field, trying to stay ahead of him.

There's no juking and jiving for Emmitt on this hot July morning, no run to daylight. This is pure, bow-your-neck-and-growl power football.

For the media entourage trying to keep up, it's move or get trampled.

For a man who's just spent two-hours plus in practice, Smith has remarkable energy, most of it generated through the smile on his face and the spring in his step.

"How do you think I look?" he's asking a couple of reporters who are flanking him as he blasts straight toward the retreating boom mikes and minicams. "Don't I look like I'm running good to you?"

Sure, Emmitt. Absolutely.

So what are we supposed to say? Sorry, Emmitt, you look more like Granny crossing the street against the light?

Actually, Smith "has" looked good in the first two weeks of camp. Then again, if you can't look good now, you might as well pack it up and find a shady spot by the pool.

That's why Friday night's first preseason game at Texas Sauna/Stadium carries a bit more intrigue than your normal, everyday who-cares NFL exhibition.

This will be the first test under fire of the Cowboys' new Chan Gailey offense, their first chance to gauge where they're at and how far they have to go.

"This," guard Nate Newton sighs, "will tell us how much harder we're going to have to work."

No one is quite sure what to expect.

"It's like being a fighter pilot," Emmitt says. "You get in the simulator and you fight in the simulator. Then you take what you learn in the simulator and in the classroom and put it in the jet. This first game is our jet."

They have been cleared for takeoff ... if the engines don't stall.

Whether you're one of those fans out there braving the heat or whether you'll be in the recliner with a glass a lemonade, keep your eyes glued to No. 22 in the quarter or so that he's in the game. This may be Emmitt Smith like you've never seen him before.

We'll reserve judgment on whether that's good or bad.

At times, this offense will ask Smith to clamp down on his natural instincts in order to read the defense.

"Overall, it helps me become a much more patient back," is how Emmitt puts it. "In the past I've been so accustomed to power football, to hitting the hole and taking everything that I see, and really just going at it. This offense allows me to let things develop a little bit, set things up a little bit more.

"I'm used to setting up blocks once I get down the field, but not really letting the play fully develop and reading the defense and letting them think I'm doing something, then doing something else. In that regard, this offense allows me to do that as well as being a straight downhill runner."

It's a chance to show his versatility, to prove that he's an all-around back, that has put the spring back in Smith's step this summer.

"You've only seen one style out of me, but I have confidence I can succeed in this as well," Smith says. "I'm a runner who's not that fast, but I got vision, I got some shakes.

"The thing I've never really had to do was be patient. I took what I saw. But in this offense I need to be a little patient on some of the plays and I think that will help me as a running back. If I can better myself in being patient on some plays, then convert back to what I do, then that shows my versatility and that only helps my game."

The multiple-sets that Gailey's offense utilizes, the chance to run different plays, the opportunity to maybe actually surprise defenses for a change has Smith and the Cowboys eager to play against someone other than themselves.

"What we have to do as an offense is attack, attack, attack, and run block," Smith says, "and then be consistent with all that. The last one's going to be the toughest this first year. If we can master that one fairly quick, plus stay healthy, we'll be OK."

He says that with a twinkle in his eye. This, you see, may indeed be the old Emmitt. Like a favorite jewel, he's coming back in a brand new shiny setting.

(c) 1998, Fort Worth Star-Telegram

Visit the Star-Telegram on the World Wide Web: www.startext.net; www.arlington.net; and www.netarrant.net.

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services.