Emmitt Smith's son still has a Cowboys connection with the Chiefs

TL;DR

E.J. Smith, son of NFL legend Emmitt Smith, signed with the Kansas City Chiefs instead of the Dallas Cowboys. This decision allows him to avoid the spotlight while pursuing a roster spot.

Key points

E.J. Smith is the son of NFL legend Emmitt Smith.
He signed with the Kansas City Chiefs as an undrafted free agent.
E.J. avoided the spotlight by not joining the Dallas Cowboys.

Mentioned in this story

E.J. SmithEmmitt Smith

Kansas City ChiefsDallas Cowboys

Emmitt Smith's son still has a Cowboys connection with the Chiefs originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

It probably makes sense that E.J. Smith didn't sign with the Dallas Cowboys as an undrafted free agent.

Emmitt Smith's son would've created the ultimate spotlight on himself by joining the team his dad spent most of his legendary NFL career with.

Instead, E.J. signed with the Kansas City Chiefs. It surprised some on paper, but avoiding that attention while grinding to seize an unlikely roster spot may very well have been the right move.

There's still a Dallas flavor to this, anyway.

The Chiefs' running back coach is DeMarco Murray.

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And believe it or not, Murray holds the Cowboys' single-season rushing record, having broken Smith's mark with a monster 2014 season.

Does that mean a whole lot at this point? Maybe not. But Murray built his career in Dallas, and now he's passing that on as an RB coach elsewhere. Maybe he'll have lessons to pass on to E.J. Smith.

E.J. surely has learned plenty from his pops already, anyway.

Now, it's up to him to make his own name.

He wasn't a big-time college player at either Stanford or Texas A&M. In his entire college career, spanning six seasons, he ran for just 969 yards total.

But this is a fresh start, and it's a chance for E.J. to see what he can do. Murray will be watching and teaching, even though neither of them are Cowboys right now. They're on a different team together.

Q&A

Why didn't E.J. Smith sign with the Dallas Cowboys?

E.J. Smith chose not to sign with the Cowboys to avoid the spotlight and pressure associated with joining the team his father, Emmitt Smith, played for.

Which NFL team did E.J. Smith sign with?

E.J. Smith signed with the Kansas City Chiefs as an undrafted free agent.

What is the significance of E.J. Smith's connection to the Cowboys?

E.J. Smith's connection to the Cowboys is significant because his father, Emmitt Smith, is a legendary player who spent most of his career with the team.