One-on-One with NFL Legend Emmitt Smith following YMCA Inspiration Breakfast

As seen in Boca Magazine

LISTEN: EMMITT SMITH ON THE PAIGE KORNBLUE SHOW

When Emmitt Smith answers a question, he does so with heart, a personal story and often a motivational message.

The National Football League’s all-time leading rusher, three-time Super Bowl champion and Dancing with the Stars champion recently led the way at the March 1st YMCA of South Palm Beach County’s Inspiration Breakfast.

Emmitt was the headliner and no doubt, the MVP.

And you could say I held the clipboard and helped with the game plan - serving as moderator.

Following the event, Emmitt sat down with me to elaborate on some of his messages about football, life, finding your purpose, dancing, mentorship and the YMCA.

PAIGE: What are your takeaway messages for those who couldn’t make it to this year’s YMCA Inspiration Breakfast?

EMMITT: I like to draw nuggets of exploration; giving a person a chance to hear what I have to say and look at their own life, see what lines up in it, and see where the areas of opportunity or challenge might be for them to expand or to think differently. I think oftentimes we become limited in our thought process because of our background, our upbringing, our limits in our communities… but just to challenge people to to get outside of their comfort zone and to develop a process where you see more than just what's in front of you and have the ability to see the consistency of it and challenge oneself to improve.

PAIGE: You're able to jump in on interviews left and right, and you have throughout your life and career. There was one interview with Dr. Phil I was listening to and one of the lines stuck with me that ‘Emmitt Smith did not become Emmitt Smith by accident, but on purpose.’ Talk about that purpose, those visions and dreams you've had since you were a young boy…

EMMITT: Life is about purpose. Finding your purpose and pursuing your passion and your dreams. Without purpose, I don't think you'll have passion for what it is that you're doing. I think understanding what your purpose is can help propel you to continue to push and drive and explore things that will help support what it is that you're trying to do. You will seek out wisdom in areas that will help you continue to grow. Football was part of my purpose… but football was not the end of my purpose. It was just an extension of a bigger purpose, which is being obviously the best person that I can possibly be, the best father that I can possibly be, one of the best leaders that I can possibly be and to inspire others to their own level of greatness. Athletes, to me, are fertile ground for learning and I've taken it to heart to continue to try and learn from people that are doing things and going places and even those that are not… understanding why, what's holding them back, what are the limitations, what is defining them? And if there's a chance to help them get out of that mode, then let me just share my life, because where I began was humble beginnings and I had to overcome challenges myself. People think athlete’s lives are easy, but they’re not. That's why we put over 10,000 hours into our craft.

PAIGE: Same with dancing champions, right?

EMMITT: Yes! Same as journalists too! You put in that time to master that skill of asking questions and communicating certain things and talking to your people and bringing them into the room. That is a skill set that has taken time. Somebody inspired you in that path. Just like my path has been inspired by the folks that I saw come before me and I don't think that would ever, ever change.

PAIGE: There are so many records and so many things that we could rattle on in a great way about your resume. Overall, how do you look at your career? How do you look back now?

EMMITT: I am ecstatic about my career. And also even when folks said that I would not be, I had to look at my career and analyze what I was able to accomplish and how I was able to get there and what I had to go through to get there. Just to reaffirm or remind myself ‘you have what it takes.’ Because when you have folks saying, ‘Oh, he's not big enough, not fast enough, he is going to fall flat on his face. You can't handle the pressure of the National Football League and his body is just going to give out.’ When you have folks saying that you have to go back in and look at it differently. I tell my kids this ‘when things get hard sometimes and people are saying things about you and you have to overcome something, go check your library of life. Because in your library of life, I can promise you there was an obstacle or two or three or four or 20 that you had to overcome. And now you’re faced with this and what people are saying about you, what makes you think that you cannot do the same thing if you overcame those? You can overcome this too.’ And oftentimes we discount those obstacles that we've already defeated.

PAIGE: Why do you love to support the YMCA of South Palm Beach County?

EMMITT: I think this is the training ground for the future. If children are truly our future organizations like the YMCA and the Salvation Army and other great organizations, that are doing things to transform young people’s lives at an early age and and affording them the opportunity to expand their minds… the earlier, the better. It's a tremendous organization. It is the right support and is the right thing to do. Here in America, I just think that we just need to do a better job of focusing on what is the right thing to do and why. Why are we doing it and what's the right thing to do and what makes sense? We are arguing over things that are irrelevant. In order for you to know me, I’ve got to get to know you. In order for you to know me, you have to get to know me. In order for that to happen, we have to sit down. We have to have a conversation. We have to appreciate the differences between us. We don’t have to argue about them - even though there might be something we can and should argue about. But after we get done arguing, let's hug it out and move on. That's the way that's the way football was.

The annual YMCA of South Palm Beach County Inspiration Breakfast raises funds for

YMCA programs for youth, teens, families and seniors.

YMCA of SOUTH PALM BEACH COUNTY