Sunday, May 5, 1996

Emmitt with a new team - Class of '96

GAINESVILLE, Fla. - The last time Emmitt Smith drew this kind of crowd at the University of Florida was at news conference six years ago to announce he was leaving school early to enter the NFL draft.

Saturday was an even happier occasion: He finally graduated.

"I'm just as thrilled about this accomplishment as I am about any other accomplishment I have achieved over the past six years," he said.

In what has been a troubling offseason for the Dallas Cowboys, one of their biggest stars shone brightly by making good on a promise to his mother that he would complete his degree in public recreation.

Patrick Bird, the dean of the College of Health and Human Performances, rattled off scores of names during the two-hour commencement, then paused when Smith climbed the stairs to the stage with a Super Bowl smile.

"Emmitt J. Smith," Byrd announced, and the Class of '96 rose at once with applause that wasn't as raucous as a full house in Texas Stadium, but meant just as much to Smith.

"It made me nervous," he said. "It's one thing to be accepted for your athletic ability. It's another thing to be standing in an academic arena, to walk across the stage and to be recognized for your academic accomplishment. It was special to hear that cheer."

Smith held 58 school records when he left Florida at the end of his junior season and was drafted in the first round by the Cowboys, who were coming off a 1-15 season.

He was the NFL rookie of the year in 1990, led the league in rushing the next three years and is the only running back to rush for more than 1,400 yards for four straight years.

Smith also has three Super Bowl rings and was named most valuable player of the 1993 Super Bowl, the same season he was the league's MVP.

Returning to college for 8 a.m. classes, term papers and final exams wasn't easy. But Smith made a deal with his mother, and it took only one offseason of golf and basking in the glory to remind him.

"I looked back at how much time I wasted enjoying myself when I could have spent the whole semester back at school," he said.

He returned every spring after that, even though two Super Bowl seasons cut into his time. But he got through his marketing and writing classes, and needed only to finish an internship this year to meet his requirements.

As he was preparing for the commencement, he considered the next wave of underclassmen who declared their availability for the draft. He recalled how many times he had heard athletes say they could always go back and get their degrees.

He wondered how many actually did.

"I'm proud to say I'm one individual who went back and got mine," he said. "It doesn't matter how long it takes you. This is a great day for me, my family and for people across the country who have aspirations of doing something they want to accomplish."

Most of his classmates at Florida, who crowded the aisles for high-fives when he returned to his seat, will be hitting the pavement in search of jobs in education, finance, engineering.

Smith plans to use his degree as leverage when he talks to teen-agers about staying in school.

"It's going to send a positive message," he said. "Now I have the opportunity to speak with conviction and have these kids look me in the my face and say, 'Hey, he did do it.' And I have the proof to show it now."

Maybe not for long. Smith says he has heard rumblings that his mother wants to hang the diploma on the wall in their Pensacola home.

"That's not going to happen," Smith said. "I'll make a photocopy of it and she can put that up on her wall, but I'm going to keep the original with me."

That's what he has done with the 118 footballs from every touchdown he has scored in the NFL. Why should his diploma be any different?

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