Smith may achieve his 11th straight 1,000-yard season

IRVING, Texas -- The only thing that motivates Emmitt Smith more than a milestone is people saying he can't reach it.

Smith goes into the Dallas Cowboys' season finale today against Detroit needing 56 yards rushing to reach 1,000 for an unprecedented 11th consecutive season.

Naysayers expected Smith's streak to end after he ran for only 9 yards on Thanksgiving, leaving him at 487 through 10 games. He needed to average 85.5 yards in the final six games, which might not seem like much for the NFL's second-leading career rusher -- except he'd gained more than that only once all season.

Then came his stretch drive.

Smith has gone over 100 yards in three of the past five weeks, hitting 128 and 126 the last two weeks. That put him on the cusp of a record that epitomizes sustained success almost as much as breaking Walter Payton's career rushing record, which he's on pace to do next season.

"If I'd quit when you said quit, then I guess it's over," said Smith, who is 611 yards from passing Payton. "But I believe that all things are still possible."

Sharing record with Sanders

Smith and Barry Sanders are the only players to have 10 straight 1,000-yard seasons. Payton is the only other player to crack the magic number 10 times. He did it in an 11-year span, with the only interruption coming in the strike-shortened 1982 season.

There's no doubt the mark means a lot to Smith, who has kept the ball from all 158 of his touchdowns. He said as much three weeks ago in a brief conversation with backup Troy Hambrick.

"We were looking at some stats and he said, 'Boy, if I can get this 1,000 yards, then I'll be one of those elite once again,"' Hambrick said.

Smith will be going for it on Sanders' old turf, so he expects to be booed. Either way, the achievement likely will come with as much relief as joy considering the tumultuous season he's had.

Smith came into his 12th season without Troy Aikman or Michael Irvin for the first time. As the lone remaining Triplet, he became the locker-room spokesman by default and the player every defense was geared to stop.

He likes to say it's been that way for years. The difference this time was the Cowboys had no passing game. Dallas kept throwing quarterbacks into the starting lineup to see who'd stick, using four in a five-week span.

Early on, Smith lobbied for third-year QB Anthony Wright over rookie Quincy Carter, saying the team needed experience. He hit that theme again in November when he questioned whether management was more interested in evaluating youngsters or winning games.

Some people branded Smith a whiner, adding he's looked more like an old Emmitt Smith than the Emmitt Smith of old.

There was evidence, too, starting with the first drive of the season, when he was thrown for a 3-yard loss on third-and-goal from the 1. Smith ran outside on that play instead of charging up the middle, a trend that continued for weeks. He was no longer hitting small holes hard or waiting for them to crack open. He seemed determined to find running room on his own, and usually couldn't, often losing 1-on-1 battles in the open field.

Critics took another knock at him when a knee injury kept Smith out of consecutive games for the first time in his career. He's breaking down, they declared.

Emergence of Hambrick

Also working against him was the success of Hambrick, a jovial second-year player who spent most of last season on the practice squad.

Hambrick has 570 yards, the most ever by one of Smith's backups, and his average of 5.1 yards per carry leads the NFL. Smith is averaging 3.9, nearly a half-yard below his career figure. Both have two touchdowns.

With Dallas already in a youth movement, outsiders suggested they split time. There was even grumbling that Smith should retire or be cut. Although Cowboys owner Jerry Jones let Aikman go last offseason, there's little chance he'd drop Smith when Smith is so close to Payton's record.

And Smith isn't going anywhere on his own.

"I don't anticipate this will be my last game. I don't plan on leaving," said Smith, who has four years remaining on a six-year contract with upcoming salaries of $6 million, $7 million and $10 million twice.