Is there any reason (aside from pure ceremony) that he would do this? Does it affect his place in the Hall of Fame if he retires as a Cardinal as opposed to a Cowboy?
I remeber when Phil Niekro retired, he signed a contract to pitch in one more game for Atlanta. It was an embarassment for him. Is Smith going to play a game for Dallas next year, or is this simply a meaningless one-day-in-the-offseason contract?
My understanding is that it’s just for the ceremony of it. Thurman Thomas did it with the Buffalo Bills a few years back, and I remember thinking how lame it was.
according to espn.com, it is a One-Day contract. For purposes of retiring as a Cowboy ONLY. Not to play any more games. MANY long time players do this. Why? Simply sentimental reasons. Eddie Murray of the Detroit Lions did the same thing, back in the early 90’s. I do not believe it has any relevant bearing on the HoF. I would amagine, the HoF would go primarily w/ said player’s most dominate team or said player’s preference.
That’s exactly it. It’s my understanding that when a player goes to the Hall of Fame, he’s memorialized in the last jersey he played for. Or owned, whatever. Emmit wants to be remembered as a Dallas Cowboy; the Dallas Cowboys organization wants him to be remembered as a Cowboy as well. Hence the one day contract. He ain’t gonna play for them again.
I think that Joe Montana had a similar loophole. He went in as a 49’er, not as Chief.
You don’t go in as anything (Cowboy, Chief, etc). You go in as a player.
However, he just wants max attention, like max blocking from his max line. In Arizona, any fanfare during the season, and all the ass-kissing ceremonies will pale in comparison to the oral sex he’ll get as a Cowboy doing his 16 plus week tour.
The Eagles have done this for many of their former players. Randal Cunningham, Clyde Simmons, and Seth Joyner to name a couple. While it didn’t make much news, back in December Brian Mitchell signed a one-day contract to retire as a Redskin.