After appearing in Tempe once a year for the past 15 seasons, Emmitt Smith, the NFL's all-time leading rusher, will be playing eight games next season at Sun Devil Stadium.
This, after Smith signed to a two-year contract with the Arizona Cardinals on Thursday. The deal is worth between $7 million and $8 million.
"This is truly a tremendous opportunity with this young ballclub," Smith said at a press conference Thursday. "I want to help this team get back to the playoffs."
The 33-year-old Smith, who passed Walter Payton last season as the top rusher of all time, played 13 seasons in a Dallas Cowboys uniform before being let go by owner Jerry Jones in February.
When asked about the opportunity to show Jones he could still play when the two teams meet in a preseason game Aug. 8 in Tempe, Smith could only crack a smile and say, "that's all I have to say about that."
Smith has rushed for more yards against the Cardinals than any other team and has had some of his best games at Sun Devils Stadium.
"I'm looking forward to it, " Smith said of playing on the natural grass surface of Frank Kush Field, after playing 13 seasons on artificial turf in Dallas.
"We had a plan three years ago," head coach Dave McGinnis said. "That plan is on pace and it got a huge engine today. We are going to run the ball and what better way than with the best rusher of all time."
Smith has amassed four rushing titles, three Super Bowl rings, eight Pro-Bowl selections and league and Super Bowl MVP awards.
"I saw this as the beginning of something that can be very good, very soon," Smith said of the Cardinals. "This was definitely a football decision. As far as the business side, it just worked itself out.
"I got five offensive lineman that know how to play the game, there's a veteran quarterback [Jeff Blake] here and a veteran fullback [Joel Macovicka]. That's more than I had in Dallas [last season]."
Reach the reporter at christopher.gabel@asu.edu.
