Dan Marino is one of the greatest quarterbacks in NFL history to never win a Super Bowl. Emmitt Smith, it turns out, wanted to help Marino and Miami win a title back in 1993, but not all parties involved were on the same page.
During an appearance on “The Pivot” podcast with Ryan Clark, Channing Crowder and Fred Taylor, Smith revealed that he was interested in joining the Dolphins when he was a restricted free agent in 1993. The Hall of Famer said he offered to “help Dan get a championship.”
It was Dolphins head coach Don Shula that nixed any potential contract offer.
In 1992, Smith led the NFL with 1,713 yards and 18 touchdowns en route to a Super Bowl win for the Cowboys. Early in the 1993 season, Smith was having trouble agreeing to a new contract with the Cowboys. He had a month to negotiate with other franchises, and was hoping a deal that would send him to Miami would get done.
“I picked up the phone and called Don Shula myself and told him I wanted to come to Miami and play for Miami,” Smith recounted on the podcast. “Because I knew Dan Marino didn’t have a running game.”
Here’s how that conversation went, according to Smith:
“‘I want to help you and help Dan get a championship. I said, ‘Bring me back to the state of Florida.’ He said, ‘Well, I don’t know if I could make that offer.’ He said, ‘If I do make this offer and you don’t come, all my other players will see what I put on the table for you and it’s going to mess up my chemistry.'”
Smith responded by saying that he wanted Shula to “just put something on the table” that Cowboys owner Jerry Jones couldn’t match, but no offer ever came. Smith never received an offer from any team during the period, other than the Cowboys.
Smith had the right idea in trying to help Marino, because during his 17-year Hall of Fame career, the QB never really had much help in the running department. In fact, Abdul-Karim Al-Jabbar was the team’s only 1,000-yard rusher over the course of Marino’s career, as he rushed for 1,116 yards in 1996.
Meanwhile, Smith remained with the Cowboys and led the NFL yet again with 1,486 rushing yards the next season. The Cowboys won another Super Bowl and Smith won Super Bowl MVP honors in Super Bowl XXVIII as he rushed for 132 yards and a pair of touchdowns in a 30-13 win against the Buffalo Bills.
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