Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, January 11, 1994 TAG: 9401110121
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: From Associated Press reports
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The running back, selected the NFL's MVP on Monday in voting by 81 national media members, narrowly beat last year's winner, Steve Young of the San Francisco 49ers. Smith, the league's leading rusher for the third straight season, received 26 votes; Young, the top passer in the NFL, had 21.
Smith is the first Cowboys player to win the award.
"It's a great honor because it means you've done what you're supposed to do and done it as well as anyone," said Smith, who has won three consecutive rushing titles. He ran for 1,486 yards this season, with nine touchdowns, and caught 57 passes, one for a touchdown.
He is the third running back since 1980 to be voted MVP.
Smith held out through training camp and the first two games of the season, which Dallas lost to the Washington Redskins and the Buffalo Bills. The Cowboys (12-4) also lost to the Falcons at Atlanta when Smith bruised the quadriceps in his right leg. With Smith available for an entire game, the Cowboys were 12-1 this season.
After Dallas' first two defeats, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones couldn't put together a $13.6 million contract fast enough. The players were mad at Jones, coach Jimmy Johnson was angry and the fans were incensed.
"You could see the difference on the field from the first time we played the Redskins," Jones said.
In his four NFL seasons, Smith has rushed for 5,699 yards and 50 touchdowns. He has caught 189 passes.
Young passed for 4,023 yards and 29 touchdowns, leading the league with a 101.5 rating. He overcame a thumb injury that hampered him early in the season and, in one five-game mid-season stretch, led the 49ers to 190 points.
San Francisco receiver Jerry Rice, selected the NFL's offensive player of the year last week, was third in the MVP balloting with 15 votes. He was followed by Denver Broncos quarterback John Elway with 10. Dallas quarterback Troy Aikman was next with three votes.
Running back Marcus Allen of the Kansas City Chiefs and quarterback Warren Moon of the Houston Oilers received two votes each, and quarterback Phil Simms of the New York Giants and wide receiver Sterling Sharpe of the Green Bay Packers received one each.
Smith joined an illustrious collection of running backs selected MVP, including Jim Brown of the Cleveland Browns, the first MVP in 1957. Paul Hornung, Jim Taylor, Larry Brown, O.J. Simpson, Walter Payton, Earl Campbell, Allen and Thurman Thomas were other running backs chosen MVP.
In other NFL news:
\ RYAN IN TROUBLE AGAIN: Buddy Ryan, summoned by the Houston Oilers front office for the second time in a week, promised to stop publicly criticizing offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride.
"I am through discussing anything or anyone related to the Oilers except those things which pertain to my specific responsibilities as defensive coordinator," Ryan said.
General manager Mike Holovak met with him Monday, a day after Ryan's latest blast against Gilbride appeared in the Philadelphia Inquirer.
"He's not going to run over me the way he runs over some people," Ryan told reporter Jay Searcy. "He's a wimp. He's got no business coaching in the pros." Gilbride, he said, "should be selling insurance."
Ryan punched Gilbride on the sideline during the Oilers' nationally televised game with the New York Jets on Jan. 2. That prompted his first trip into the front office, for a talk with owner Bud Adams.
Ryan said he thought the Inquirer interview was not for publication.
"I regret my comments that appeared in yesterday's Philadelphia Inquirer," Ryan said in a statement. "Any remarks that were made were spoken off the record to a friend of mine who is a sports writer for that publication.
"I am sincerely sorry that it was made public and I regret any embarrassment that it has caused the Houston Oilers."
Inquirer executive editor James Naughton said: "My understanding is that Jay Searcy had two interviews with Buddy Ryan during which Ryan did ask that some comments be off the record. That request was honored. What was published was not off the record."
Gilbride said Ryan's comments wouldn't affect his preparations for Sunday's playoff game against the Kansas City Chiefs.
"It's one more in a series that started when Buddy was first hired," Gilbride said. "I didn't see at the time what useful purpose any of this made.
"It does not contribute to the bonding or melding of any of this team and the development of anything positive. There is no feud. It's been a one-way attack and me just trying to defend what we do - what's best for our football team."
Keywords:
FOOTBALL
by CNB