Emmitt Smith Says NFL’s Product Hurt by Rule Changes, Coaching Tendencies

The Hall of Fame running back criticized the way football is played in the 2020s.

Hall of Fame running back Emmitt Smith’s playing career did not end that long ago. For instance, his last year (2004) was Seattle Seahawks tackle Jason Peters’s first year, and Peters is still active.

However, the former Dallas Cowboys and Arizona Cardinals running back believes the game has drastically changed in the two decades since he hung up his cleats. The reason, anathema to Smith: pro-passing rule changes.

In a Super Bowl week conversation with SI, Smith railed against rule changes in recent years designed to boost offense—and specifically the passing game.

“The rules of the game (favor) the offense a lot,” Smith said. “It favors the offense a lot and it’s not as supportive of defensive players. Pass interference, roughing the quarterback, roughing the passer and all those kinds of stuff. That part has lessened the value of the game in my opinion.”

To Smith, the way the game is coached from the top down has contributed to what he sees as its depreciation.

“Offensively, coordinators are enamored with the passing game. The league itself has shifted itself to a pass-happy league,” Smith said. “They are adapting to the abilities of the players that are growing up in these systems—at the collegiate level, at the high school level, and even at the Pop Warner level now. Everybody wants to throw the ball.”