The NFL’s all-time leading rusher, Hall of Famer and anchor of the Dallas Cowboys’ hard-partying dynasty that won three Super Bowls in the ‘90s is celebrating the 30-year anniversary of his final Super Bowl win — which also happens to be the last time the Cowboys won it all — as well as the 20-year anniversary of winning the ABC reality-competition series “Dancing with the Stars.” Smith, 57, has partnered with AT&T, the official voting partner of the show, to connect with fans and revisit his time cutting a rug via a series of social videos. He also toasted his former win by participating in Super Bowl Night, dancing it up on the Oct. 13 episode alongside fellow DWTS alums/ex-NFL players DeMarcus Ware, Donald Driver and Danny Amendola. Smith dished to Variety about everything from “Dancing with the Stars” and the state of the Dallas Cowboys under owner Jerry Jones to the NFL’s domestic violence policy and running backs not getting enough respect.
The one thing I wanted to do was be me and not try to be something else. Most people don’t understand that running the football is almost like dancing — a portrait in motion. As a running back, I float in and out of defenses and run with a style and a flow that has grace but also has power, intensity and finesse in it, and dancing can be the same way.
If you dance the Paso Doble, that has grace, power, intensity and finesse in it, which is everything I had on the football field. It correlates mentally, but the technique requires a totally different thing. And athletes are used to being taught, preparing and going into the arena, so it’s a natural fit.
I understand and I can allow my mind to go there! But I have a family to go to, so for me, dancing was strictly dancing. However, the connection between my partner and I had to be spot-on.
The thing we did initially — and this is what I loved about dancing with Cheryl [Burke] — we’d established the boundaries before we even got there, and she was respectful, and I was respectful. I knew I had to have a connection with her that came across as real — like actors. So, when it came to the dance floor, me and my partner were connected and nothing outside of that routine and that dance floor mattered at that time.
I had to dust off a whole lot! We had to learn the routine and picked it up fairly quickly. It took some reps, but once you’ve got it, you’ve got it.
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