NFL legend Emmitt Smith joined Sports Illustrated and explained why while Dak Prescott is having a career season, Patrick Mahomes is currently the NFL MVP favorite, and why he's not a fan of sports gambling.
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00:00 I'm Robin Lundberg, joined now by NFL legend Emmitt Smith,
00:02 who's here with us on behalf of Bud Light.
00:05 And Emmitt, I know you got this commercial
00:07 with Peyton Manning.
00:08 You had a lot of success in your career,
00:10 but is there any quarterback you wish you could have taken
00:12 just a few snaps with that you didn't play with?
00:15 - Probably Tom Brady and maybe Patrick Mahomes.
00:18 I don't mind taking a snap from Peyton Manning.
00:20 I took a Bud Light from him,
00:21 so why not take a snap from him as well?
00:24 But yeah, there's a few.
00:26 There's a few out there.
00:27 Dan Marino would have been one too.
00:29 - There you go.
00:30 Now, the team you did play with is playing well,
00:33 and their quarterback is playing well.
00:36 What do you make of the emerging Dak Prescott MVP campaign?
00:40 - Well, again, it's still a little early to tell.
00:45 And I think everyone's fan favorite right now
00:49 is Patrick Mahomes.
00:51 No matter how well Dak Prescott plays,
00:53 if it's down to him and Patrick Mahomes,
00:55 most people gonna vote strictly Patrick Mahomes anyway.
00:59 But Dak Prescott has definitely emerged
01:02 and brought his name right into the forefront.
01:04 But you have to remember this,
01:05 and I think Dak understands this.
01:08 Early on, they were trying to throw him underneath the bus,
01:11 all because of a loss to the 49ers and the way we lost,
01:15 but also just trying to throw him under the bus,
01:17 trying to run him out of town.
01:18 Now all of a sudden, he's the darling of town.
01:20 So he understands that being in this threshold
01:25 and being at this level and playing for the Dallas Cowboys
01:27 comes with a lot of ebb and flows and swings.
01:30 And he's just trying to manage those swings
01:32 and win as many games as he possibly can.
01:35 I believe in his whole heart,
01:37 he would rather win an NFC Championship game
01:40 and have an opportunity to go to Super Bowl
01:42 than to become a MVP.
01:43 - If it was Patrick Mahomes and Dak,
01:46 who are you voting for?
01:48 - I'm voting for my guy, Dak Prescott.
01:50 That's me, personally.
01:52 And I'm being biased.
01:52 I'm gonna tell you right now, I'm voting for my guy.
01:54 It is what it is,
01:55 because I wanna see him become an MVP.
01:57 I wanna see him become a champion.
01:59 Just like I wanna see the whole team
02:00 become exactly what they're desiring to be.
02:04 I want them to experience what my teammates
02:07 and I have experienced,
02:08 and that's going to the Super Bowl
02:09 and winning the Super Bowl.
02:10 But in order to do that, they have to play well.
02:13 - I saw not too long ago,
02:15 you had said you would hold off
02:17 on giving him a long-term deal.
02:19 Have you changed your tune on that at all
02:20 in regards to Dak?
02:21 - No, no, I still feel the same way,
02:25 because at the end of the day,
02:27 we're just a little bit over halfway into the season,
02:33 and there's so much more football to be played.
02:35 And oftentimes, the conversation is not even about him.
02:39 It's the conversation is really for fans to get involved.
02:43 And so, talk radio can have someone to call in
02:45 and have these different conversations about.
02:47 And so, for Dak, I think he just need to keep his head down,
02:51 stay focused, continues to rise up,
02:54 and the contract talk would take care of itself.
02:57 - You mentioned at the top,
02:58 when we were talking about the Bud Light commercial
03:00 you did with Peyton Manning,
03:01 Tom Brady would be somebody
03:02 you would have wanted to play with.
03:04 He recently said that the level of play in the NFL
03:07 is mediocre.
03:08 What do you make of those comments?
03:09 - I don't disagree.
03:11 I think when you start looking at some of the
03:14 personified, rough in the past hits,
03:16 when you start looking at what they're asking kids
03:20 and athletes to do in terms of not shot blocking
03:24 in certain areas,
03:25 and yet they wanna talk about protecting players,
03:28 and you got guys that are straight up
03:30 bull-rushing players and so forth.
03:32 I mean, it is very hypocritical.
03:34 The game itself is very subjective.
03:36 And then when you incorporate the gambling aspect of it,
03:40 and you have these humans making these human errors,
03:43 and everything becomes subjective.
03:45 I mean, you just giving people
03:47 that probably never played the game an opportunity
03:49 or a job to sit here and evaluate something
03:52 that they never ever participated in at this level.
03:56 And I think it's just not right.
03:59 I think it's decaying the game,
04:02 and not to mention,
04:04 I think the quality of play has gone down,
04:08 and has gone down.
04:09 - You would get rid of sports gambling?
04:11 - It should never be in the game, period.
04:14 It shouldn't be,
04:17 I mean, if you're gonna gamble,
04:20 the league itself should not allow it to happen.
04:22 If you don't want players to be gambling,
04:23 don't be letting everyone else gamble on it.
04:26 If you're gonna play fantasy football,
04:27 play fantasy football.
04:29 That's fine.
04:30 That's fine.
04:31 But if you wanna start talking about all the odds bets,
04:33 and everything else,
04:34 and you got guys taking knees and kicking field goals,
04:38 and it's just at the right number,
04:39 it just doesn't look good.
04:41 - All right, Bud Light,
04:42 tell us about the work you're doing,
04:44 the commercial spot,
04:45 and then the chance fans have to win a Super Bowl ticket.
04:48 - Yeah, I'm thrilled to be teaming up with Bud Light,
04:50 in this new campaign,
04:52 to show how easy it is for fans to enjoy Bud Light,
04:54 during the football season.
04:55 And what Bud Light is trying to do,
04:57 is engage with fans.
04:59 And during the post season,
05:00 they're gonna be giving away a lot of tickets,
05:02 I mean, tons of tickets,
05:04 to fans to be able to give them a chance,
05:06 to go and have a very unique experience,
05:08 during the playoff,
05:09 to see some of their favorite football teams play.
05:11 And 21 plus fans,
05:14 will get a chance to go to the Super Bowl,
05:15 to watch the big game.
05:17 You know, and that's awesome.
05:19 And for Peyton Manning and myself,
05:21 we had a blast shooting the commercial.
05:23 And if you need more information,
05:25 on the campaign itself,
05:27 just go to BudLight.com/EasyToScoreSeat.
05:32 Well, BudLight.com/EasyToScoreSeat.
05:37 Score a seat, I should say,
05:38 score a seat, remember that,
05:40 score a seat.
05:41 - We'll get the text put in there for you,
05:43 I mean, I believe it starts December 1st,
05:45 fans can scan QR codes as well.
05:47 We really appreciate the time.
05:49 - No, thank you guys and enjoy.
05:51 (upbeat music)
05:54 (electronic music)