What's Tyron Smith Think of His Cowboys 'Legacy'?

Tyron Smith has been All-Pro twice and a Pro Bowler eight times and he makes sense as a future Hall of Famer. But the Dallas Cowboys lineman cares little about his "legacy.''

It has become a familiar sight now, 11th-year All-Pro left tackle Tyron Smith trudging out to practice in that physical imposing frame, revealing very little about himself in words, his elbows strapped up with specially-designed braces that look to be about the size of pickup-truck bumpers.

Tyron reveals himself in his actions, which include a valiant rehab process last year, an unselfish willingness to change positions and a semi-scoff at the idea of concerns about his "legacy.''

"I ain't thinking about that," he said recently at camp. "[I will] just keep going until I can't no more, honestly. I'm just thinking about winning for the team, that's it."

That echoes what Tyron, now 32, has said to us a few times in the last few years. "I'll go 'til the wheels fall off,'' is how he often puts it.

Of course, his critics - citing the fact that the likely future Hall of Famer has played only a combined 17 games in the last three seasons - might argue that those "wheels'' are already wobbling. Smith's counterpunch to that?

"I'm as healthy as I've ever been," Smith said. "I feel great and just getting back into the groove of everything and cleaning up everything."

Smith takes understated pride in being part of an offensive line that at times during his career, working with another elite talent in Zack Martin, has been among the best in the business. He helped at right tackle last year but is now back at his usual left tackle spot after having taken a pay cut (his $13.6 million was sliced in half) to play in the 2023 season.

And maybe after the 2023 season, he'll consider his "legacy'' ... and maybe his post-football future. But for now?

"As a whole group, we're improving every day," Tyron said of work in Oxnard, which is finished now as the team moves to Seattle for a Saturday night preseason game before coming home to Frisco. "We ... have things we have to work on, but it's just the beginning right now. We have to take it day-by-day."

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Mike Fisher
MIKE FISHER

Mike Fisher - as a newspaper beat writer and columnist and on radio and TV, where he is an Emmy winner - has covered the NFL since 1983 and the Dallas Cowboys since 1990, is the author of two best-selling books on the Cowboys.