NFL great Emmitt Smith took to social media to announce the passing of his mother over the weekend. Mary Smith was said to have died on Saturday, November 26 while spending the Thanksgiving Day weekend with Emmitt, his wife, and her grandchildren in Dallas.
"I've lost many things in my life but nothing like the loss of my first love, my mother. My heart is truly aching at this moment because I will never ever hear her voice again," Emmitt wrote on Instagram on Sunday night.
"As we go through this period of adjustment as a family, I can hear her voice saying get up and get back in the game," he continued. During his adolescent years, Smith's mother played an instrumental role in helping initiate him into the game he'd eventually give 15 Hall of Fame years to. Emmitt's father, Emmitt James, was a star football player himself who'd play semipro ball in their hometown of Pensacola, Florida. But as was reported in a Dallas News feature in 2002, it was his mother Mary who signed young Emmitt up to play in a youth league at 7-years-old. It is said that up until that point, Smith mostly knew about the elder Emmitt's past through cousins and uncles because he'd refrained from speaking about it.
Smith's teammate, 3-time Super Bowl champion, Michael Irvin, also took to social media on Sunday, to share words of support for Emmitt. "Our hearts hurt 4 u & ur fam my brother, on the loss of ur Mother. We r lifting u guys up in our prayers. Love u brother," Irving tweeted.
Emmitt Smith is remembered as one of the greatest players in football history, having made 8 Pro Bowl teams and won 2 league MVP awards while amassing the most all-time career rushing yards [18,355], and the most all-time rushing touchdowns [164].
Source: instagram.com
