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Emmitt Smith is the NFL's all-time leading rusher and three-time Super Bowl champion. H. Darr Beiser, USA TODAY, USA TODAY via Imagn Content Services, LLC

Cowboys' Micah Parsons will benefit from Jerry Jones' Emmitt Smith lesson

Originally posted on Dallas Cowboys on SI
By Richie Whitt | Last updated Aug 12, 2025 10:46 AM ET

Comparing the contract disputes of Emmitt Smith and Micah Parsons is as dissimilar as equating apples and, oh, I dunno, F16s. Though to be fair, Dallas Cowboys fans can thank Emmitt when Micah signs a new contract before the season and shows up in uniform September 4 against the Philadelphia Eagles.

Book it.

Because of what happened 32 summers ago, a Cowboys' star will never again miss a game because of a contract. Back then, it was the era of hard practices, Super Bowl trophies, and - for Jerry Jones - a lesson learned.

Drafted No. 17 overall in the 1990 NFL Draft, Smith held out of training camp as a rookie and didn't sign his contract until five days before the team's season opener. Jones broke the news - and unveiled his newly signed rookie - at the Cowboys' kickoff luncheon at the old Grand Kempinski hotel in North Dallas.

After that contract expired three years later, Jerry again butted heads with agent Richard Howell over Emmitt's value.

The running back had led the NFL in rushing two consecutive seasons and helped the Cowboys win Super Bowl XXVII. He wanted to be paid as the best running back in the league, around $4 million per season.

The Cowboys initially offered a four-year deal averaging only $2.5 million.

And so we waited.

As a Cowboys beat writer for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, it was the topic of camp. We knew Jerry coveted the spotlight, cherished drama and, surely, recognized Emmitt's worth. At each practice, preseason game and team event, we half-expected Smith to pop out off the proverbial cake.

In those days, the team spent camp not in the cool breeze of Oxnard, but in the 100-degree heat at St. Edward's University in Austin under hard-driving head coach Jimmy Johnson. And they often held two-a-days, in pads. 'Twas, to say the least, a different time.

Most in the media believed Emmitt was willing to miss a game to prove his point and get his money. Others - mainly former Channel 8 sports anchor Dale Hansen - were conviced Jerry wouldn't let that happen.

Hansen, the last radio color analyst to call a Cowboys' Super Bowl and the same guy head coach Barry Switzer punched on live TV in 1994, walked along the sideline during one practice, making $100 handshake bets that Smith would be signed by Week 1.

As with Micah, Emmitt's ordeal included an exchange of volleys in the media and, eventually, a trade request. The big difference: Without a contract, Emmitt stayed in Florida to work out by himself while Micah is with the team.

"He has another year on his contract. There is a distinct difference," Smith said at Monday night's gala in Los Angeles to promote a new Netflix documentary about Jerry and the Cowboys' 1990 dynasty. "The media never should have called me a holdout because I didn’t have a contract. I’m here to set the record straight.”

Emmitt won the battles and the war. The Cowboys started 0-2 without him, and after a 13-10 home loss to the Buffalo Bills in Week 2, team leader Charles Haley smashed his helmet through a wall at Texas Stadium and implored the owner to sign their star running back.

The next week, Jerry caved, signing Emmitt to a four-year contract averaging 3.4 million that made him the highest-paid running back in NFL history. The next day at practice at Valley Ranch, there was a dejected Hansen with 100 bills.

"I should put all this on Jerry's tab," Hansen joked. "I think he learned his lesson."