Emmitt Smith: I wanted to join Dan Marino on Dolphins in 1993, but Don Shula said no
Dan Marino never had much of a running game to support him.
But what if he had the NFL’s all-time leading rusher to hand off to?
According to Emmitt Smith, that could have happened.
Smith, making a guest appearance on "The Pivot" podcast with Ryan Clark, Fred Taylor and Channing Crowder, said when he was a restricted free agent in 1993, he offered to “help Dan get a championship” but was rebuffed by Dolphins coach Don Shula.
Smith said his offer was extended early in the ’93 season when he could not come to terms with the Dallas Cowboys. Smith had just finished a championship season in Dallas and led the league with 1,713 yards and 18 touchdowns but was ready to move on. He said he had a month to negotiate with other teams but never received an outside offer.
“I picked up the phone and called Don Shula myself and told him I wanted to come to Miami and play for Miami,” Smith said. “Because I knew Dan Marino didn’t have a running game.”
Smith said he told Shula, “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’s response was he wanted Shula to “just put something on the table” that would make Cowboys owner Jerry Jones say, “I cannot match it.”
Still, Smith said, Shula wouldn’t budge: “I can’t do that.”
Smith was incredulous.
“I said to myself, ‘Really?’ ”
Throughout his 17-year career, Marino was benefited by only one 1,000-yard rushing performance, by Karim Abdul-Jabbar, who had 1,116 yards in 1996.
During the seasons Smith referred to, Marino relied on workmanlike efforts by Mark Higgs and Bernie Parmalee.
Smith, meanwhile, returned to the Cowboys for the 1993 season and again led the league, finishing with 1,486 yards and again winning the Super Bowl along with Troy Aikman and Michael Irvin. He captured both the regular season and Super Bowl MVP awards.
Smith had 1,484 yards and led the NFL with 21 TDs in 1994, then led the NFL in both yards (1,773) and TDs (25) in another championship season in ’95, completing a four-year run of making All-Pro.
The catch, however, was if Smith did join the Dolphins in 1993, who’s to say how things might have turned out? Marino played only five games that year before injuring his Achilles. The Dolphins finished 9-7.
Dolphins reporter Hal Habib can be reached at hhabib@pbpost.com and followed on Twitter @gunnerhal.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Emmitt Smith offered to join Dan Marino on Dolphins. Don Shula said no
