The members of Duck Dynasty got to meet Emmitt Smith at the 2014 Duck Commander Independence Bowl Luncheon on Saturday.
The NewsStar reports that Smith was the scheduled speaker to be interviewed at the luncheon. Hosted by Tim Brando at the Shreveport Convention Center, Smith spoke on quite a few subjects.
“God blessed me with a lot of things that I can’t even put my hands on,” said Smith, who wasn’t the biggest or the fastest running back. “But I was able to get small and run in tight places. I had the heart and determination… and part of that is because of my cousins back in Pensacola, Florida.”
One of Smith’s most memorable performances came in the 1993 regular season finale against the New York Giants.
Smith suffered a separated shoulder during the game, but he gutted through the injury to run for 168 yards in the win, which clinched the NFC East title. The NFL Network ranked that effort No. 4 on its Top Ten Gutsiest Performances list.
“My cousins always used to tell me that if you can’t play with pain, you can’t play the game,” Smith said. “That day, I repeated that over and over in my mind even as the tears rolled out of my eyes. The coaches told me to stand there and look like I was ready to run… but they kept calling my number, so what can I do?… My inner strength helped me go places that I didn’t think I could go.”
Smith also got to speak about the new sponsors and the region the game was in. Smith said the Duck Dynasty team, whom he knows, were part of the draw to speak at the luncheon, but another facet was supporting an event in this region.
“I don’t look at Texas as just being Texas, and Shreveport and Monroe being just part of Louisiana — I look at this as being our region,” Smith said. “I’m proud of the fact they thought about me and had given me the chance to come.”
The Shreveport Times is reporting, however, a civil rights organization is protesting the Independence Bowl’s relationship with “Duck Dynasty” patriarch Phil Robertson.
Eight people, led by Shreveport minister Artis Cash, held signs outside the Shreveport Convention Center this morning as Smith arrived to speak at the kickoff luncheon. Robertson’s Duck Commander company, the subject of Duck Dynasty, is the bowl game’s title sponsor.
Cash said the local affiliate of National Action Network, a civill rights organization founded by the Rev. Al Sharpton, will protest other Independence Bowl events and at the game.
Cash said the protest is driven by Robertson’s comments about African-Americans, gays and lesbians and President Barack Obama. In particular, Cash said he’s offended by Robertson’s comment that African-Americans were happy during slavery because they made up songs.
Cash and other protesters questioned why Smith would support an event involving someone they consider racist.
“Our goal is to demonstrate that this is not a good deal,” Cash said.