LOOK: Dak Prescott pays tribute to Emmitt Smith record during press appearance

Current Dallas Cowboys star Dak Prescott paid tribute to Cowboys legend Emmitt Smith after their game against the Chicago Bears on Sunday. Prescott showed up to his postgame press conference wearing an Emmitt Smith hoodie — in honor of the 20th anniversary of Smith breaking Walter Payton’s all-time rushing record.

Dak Prescott wearing an Emmitt Smith shirt. Smith was at today’s game, the 20th anniversary of him breaking Walter Payton’s rushing record pic.twitter.com/Jg6qQb9I0Y

— Jon Machota (@jonmachota) October 30, 2022

Dak Prescott pays tribute to Emmitt Smith

Few players have made an impact on the NFL record books like Emmitt Smith has, and his status as a Cowboys legend does not go unnoticed with anybody around the organization. Smith was in attendance at Sunday’s game against the Chicago Bears and was honored for the anniversary of him breaking Bears and NFL legend Walter Payton’s all-time rushing yards record.

Smith remains the all-time NFL leader in the category, holding onto a record that many consider to be untouchable given the durability it would take to come close. With 18,355 total rushing yards in his career, Smith sits alone atop the entire history of great running backs. Walter Payton finished his incredible career with 16,726 yards, and the only active NFL player over 10,000 yards at the moment is Adrian Peterson with 14,918 — as he only rushed for 98 yards last season.

Prescott’s friend and teammate, Ezekiel Elliott, is the closest a Dallas player has come in a long time to measuring up to Smith’s lofty totals. Although he is third among active NFL backs with 7,829 yards, he would need to rush for over 1,000 yards for 10 more seasons to surpass Smith’s total. Smith crossed the 1,000-yard mark an NFL record 11 times in his career.

Adding to his legacy as a Dallas legend, independent of his NFL records — Smith is the all-time touchdown scorer in franchise history by an even wider margin. Smith accounted for 164 touchdowns scored in his 13 seasons with the Cowboys, a full 78 touchdowns ahead of fellow Cowboys legend Tony Dorsett. Dorsett is second all-time for the Cowboys with 86 total scores.

Elliott is currently tied for fifth in franchise history with 72 touchdowns, not even halfway to Smith’s franchise total in his seventh season.