FRISCO — Tyron Smith sat down on Wednesday and prepared to do something that he knew he had to do. He first thanked everyone in attendance inside the Dallas Cowboys‘ headquarters in Frisco.
“Your support and guidance throughout my career have meant more than I could ever put into words,” Smith said.
Fittingly, that last part of his thank you is where the challenge for Smith lied. Retiring as a member of the Cowboys on Wednesday, approximately 14 years after Dallas selected him in the first round? He knew it was time. Putting into words a career that included so much success and moments? That would be a lot more difficult, he prefaced.
“As you all know, I’ve tried avoiding,” Smith, tightly holding his printed out sheet of papers, said before a slight chuckle, “I’ve always tried avoiding giving speeches in front of large groups, so bear with me today.”
For the next eight minutes, Smith chronologically told his football story. He told the story about a football career that got off to a late start, thanks to his local Pop Warner league in southern California declaring him too big to play with kids his age. He talked about the time he missed a draft meeting with another team so he could stay longer on his visit with the Cowboys. He talked about all the people that helped him on his journey, and the people he met along the way.
“While I regret never winning a Super Bowl, I feel like I’ve already won with the family I’ve built both on and off the field,” Smith said.
Smith’s proclaimed discomfort with public speaking proved to be unwarranted on Wednesday. He offered insights, and induced a few laughs from those on hand. His own acknowledgement of his disinterest in speaking, however, was a reminder that Smith’s career was never about words. It was never about him being heard. Smith’s career, and his eventual path to the NFL Hall of Fame, was about being seen and, more importantly, felt.
Smith finished his career with eight Pro Bowl selections and five All-Pro selections, including two First-Team nods. He was named a member of the 2010s All-Decade team alongside his teammate, Zack Martin, who sat at the very same table and announced his retirement just a couple months ago. Smith was one of the most decorated and dominant offensive linemen of his time, despite only playing in full four seasons.
Battles with injuries, in many places, were consistent. So was his ability to consistently play at a high level.
“Everyone sees how big he is and how cut up he is and his arms and all that, but when you really watch him move, and the consistency in which he moves, is pretty amazing,” Martin said about Smith. “If you look at his [pass block] set from when he was a rookie, or when he was in his third year, to now it’s going to be very similar looking, which is hard to do, because of you go through courses of how you feel and different ways you move, but he think he’s been able to be that consistent presence whenever he’s out there.”
Sometimes it can be hard to capture an offensive lineman’s greatness. That’s not the case for Smith. His impact was felt — literally.
NFL Hall of Famer DeMarcus Ware felt it early. Ware was already a seasoned pro by the time the Cowboys drafted Smith ninth overall out of USC. The two were teammates, but in practice they were bound to be opponents. The battles the two would wage would become well known practice tales. But it was one of their firsts that stuck out to Ware.
Smith threw his signature blocking move — a punch — during a walkthrough with Ware, who wasn’t too thrilled.
“I told him … ‘Listen, if you ever punch me again, it’s going down,'” Ware recalled. “There was no off switch. His hands, when they hit you? It was almost like it stopped your heart.”
Smith’s punch would be felt by many opponents and teammates over the years. Dante Fowler, both a teammate and opponent of Smith, told The Dallas Morning News that getting punched by Smith was so impactful, that it felt like his soul was being removed from his body. Another former teammate told The News that it felt like a defibrator shock. Current Cowboys safety Juanyeh Thomas posted on X that he hasn’t breathed the same since Smith hit him.
The Cowboys, to a certain extent, haven’t been the same since Smith arrived, either. Before Smith, the last offensive lineman the Cowboys selected in the first round was back in 1981 when they selected Howard Richards. Thirty years later, and for the first time under Jerry Jones‘ ownership, the Cowboys selected Smith — a 20-year-old who played mostly right tackle for the Trojans.
One of the people who pushed the selection of Smith the hardest was former Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett, who was in attendance for Smith’s retirement press conference.
“I can remember Jason had a real affinity for changing our pattern of not drafting [an offensive lineman] that high … We usually thought it was going to be a pressure player or a corner of that nature,” Jones said. “And [Smith] just had such a promise and then his character was work. He was so proud of it, as young as he was.”
Smith worked out so well for the Cowboys that they ensued they wouldn’t wait another thirty years to draft an offensive lineman in the first round. The Cowboys drafted two more in the next three seasons: Martin and Travis Frederick. They’ve also drafted two in the last three years, as well: Tyler Smith — a two-time Pro Bowlers already — and Tyler Guyton, who’s tasked with being the eventual long-term replacement for Tyron Smith.
With Smith, the Cowboys had the foundation to build an offensive line that would lead Dallas to a lot of success. Ultimately, it couldn’t lead the Cowboys back to a NFC Championship, let alone a Super Bowl.
Jones called it a “tragedy” that Smith, along with Martin and other former and current Cowboys in attendance, never had a chance to surpass that threshold.
“But that doesn’t take away from the fact of what you accomplished in the NFL, Tyron,” Jones said. “And the respect you see in this room. It was an honor to have you say … you were a Dallas Cowboy in your career. And I want to be the first one to shake your hand when you go into the NFL Hall of Fame.”
Ultimately, Smith didn’t need to speak much during his career. His performance, and the words of others, were enough.
