Tragic Loss: Emmitt Smith involved in car crash that Leads to…..
Emmitt Smith ripped Florida for eliminating all DEI roles. Here’s why the NFL legend spoke out.
Emmitt Smith probably wasn’t the first NFL legend you expected to stick his neck out as such a powerful voice for DEI – diversity, equity and inclusion – as opposition intensifies on many fronts.
During a wide-ranging interview with USA TODAY Sports, Smith, 55, passionately doubled down on the scathing statement he issued in March that denounced the elimination of DEI programs at his alma mater, the University of Florida. The school’s action was prompted by a controversial state law passed in 2023 that bans Florida’s public universities and colleges from any spending on DEI.
Smith’s position comes from the thinking that this huge issue is way bigger than himself.
“When I see them destroying DEI for the sake of politics…it’s not even common sense,” Smith said. “This is just sheer out of spite and sheer power.
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At the end of the day, this country was built on people fighting for what is right for everybody, not just a select few. And with that fight, and with the University of Florida being as visible as it is, it irked me. To the fullest. Because I remember the time when our president at the university would stand up and say, ‘Nah, we’re the University of Florida. We’re going to be here a lot longer than you, (Gov.) Ron DeSantis; a lot longer than you, Jeb Bush; we’re going to be here a lot longer than any other governor that tries to push something of this magnitude down the throats of so many Americans and so many Florida citizens.’ To me, that’s a problem.”
What compelled the former Dallas Cowboys star to issue his statement?
“One, being an alumnus and having contributed as much as I did on the football field and to walk away with a University of Florida degree and feeling I’m a part of the university from afar, and still at heart, I was extremely disappointed,” said Smith, who has flourished in the real estate business in the 20 years since his NFL career ended. “Because when I was in college, and everywhere I’ve been, they always talked about leadership…and how we needed to become leaders – especially athletes.”
If that doesn’t provide the sense that one of the Gators’ most famous figures is rather steamed with his school, just ask him to reflect what it might have been like if college football players during his era in the late 1980s had received money from the type of name, image and likeness (NIL) agreements now allowed in college sports.
“Bro, I want my reparations right now from the University of Florida,” Smith said. “I want to send their (expletive) a bill. I want interest on mine. Because I know one thing: When I was in that stadium – and I hate to talk about myself, but the system has forced me to talk about it because we couldn’t get NIL (payments) – running up and down that field with Cedric Smith leading the way with my great offensive linemen blocking for me, when you looked up in those stands you saw a whole lot of E. Smith jerseys up there. E. Smith 22s. You can look at the old videos and see how many jerseys were walking around. And I didn’t receive one red cent
So, let’s not talk about dismantling DEI at a time I think DEI happens to be a consequence of NIL. You get one, they take the other one away. It’s strategic.”
Smith’s attempt to connect the between DEI and NIL is a bit of a stretch when considering that the overwhelmingly majority of people affected by DEI extends way beyond athletics – a point that Smith makes himself.
Then again, don’t stop him. He’s on a roll. And it’s no wonder that the three-time Super Bowl winner suspects there’s some connection, considering that for the two highest-revenue college sports, Black athletes represented 54% of Division 1 basketball players and 48% of D-1 football players in 2023, according to an NCAA database. Then there’s the apparent movement to eliminate the spirit of DEI on so many levels. Florida is hardly alone. At least 30 states have introduced or passed legislation to restrict or regulate DEI initiatives. And last year, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a landmark ruling that restricted race-conscious college admissions.
