Emmitt Smith of the Dallas Cowboys

Emmitt Smith by Mudge Studios for Trading Cards Mag '93

I did a lot of freelance sports art back in the early '90's. Football was one of my favorite sports to illustrate. Most of the assignments that  Mudge Studios got at the time revolved around doing caricatures of the prominent athletes playing at the time. In 1993 there were not too many superstars hotter than Emmitt James Smith III. 

Emmitt was about five years younger than myself- so I really enjoyed following his spectacular career. Emmitt came out of the University of Florida program to be drafted in the first-round of the 1990 NFL Draft by the Dallas Cowboys. It didn't take long for Emmitt Smith to find success with his new team. The Cowboys would go on to win their first Championship only a couple of seasons later. Emmitt is known for his countless accolades as one of the Greatest Running Backs to have ever played. To this day Emmitt holds the record for career rushing yards at 18,355 and career rushing TDs at 164, Emmitt was a Pro Bowler, All-Pro and NFL rushing leader for multiple seasons. Of course Emmitt is also known for his contribution in winning three Super Bowl Championships with the Dallas Cowboys. RB Emmitt Smith, Quarterback Troy Aikman and WR Michael Irvin were known as the "Triplets" during that historic Super Bowl run. The list of career spot lights goes on and on- not to mention those that Emmitt also accrued during his college days. 

Emmitt Smith Caricature by Mudge Studios for Reebok 1990's

Emmitt played for 15 seasons and was the first of the 1990 draft to be inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2010. Emmitt Smith certainly had a remarkable career as an athlete, but I also remember at the time that Emmitt was also a fine upstanding human being- someone that the kids could really look up to as a role model. Thank you Emmitt for all of your years on the Gridiron. Oh, and as the Reebok tee above reads... "Nice to Meet You."

Forgot that I had this Super Bowl XXVIII MVP Emmitt Smith pin. Mudge Studios was hired to do a series of acrylic portraits of many of the sports stars of the NFL, MLB and NBA during the 1993 and 1994 seasons for use on stamp pins- like the one you see above. I must have well over 50 of these pins, but unfortunately they all yellowed with age. Must have been a chemical that was used during the manufacturing process. Anyway, it was nice to back in time and revisit the memories I have of those that played the game twenty years ago.