Consider this Smith’s second rookie campaign. Now, rather than chasing
Walter Payton
and
Jim Brown
, he’s set his sights on other models: Staubach, of course. But also
John Elway and
Magic Johnson, two other former athletes who found business success after the cheering had long faded. “All three ARE champions and all have names and credibility,” he says. “That’s a natural segue for me.”
Beyond that trio, Smith is also guided by the example set by Cowboys owner
Jerry Jones
, the oil and gas baron who’s reportedly worth $1 billion. “He took minerals from the earth and turned them into liquid cash,” Smiths says. “He turned that into owning the Dallas Cowboys. Then he purchased a large tract of land and created Starwood [master-planned community in Frisco, Tx.] and developed a whole residential neighborhood. He made $50-to-$90 million on that transaction alone. Brilliant.”
Smith says he was disappointed when Jones released him after hiring
Bill Parcells
in 2003 but understood the owner may have made the decision because the new coach “needed to do what he needed to do.”
“Even though I was disappointed, I knew [Parcells] couldn’t come on and try to whip the team into shape and if something went wrong the media would come running to me…He did not need that cloud over his head.”
In fact, Smith now says he was “looking forward” to playing for Parcells. “I knew he was bringing what we needed,” he says. “Discipline and character. I was going to be his biggest advocate. But we never had the opportunity to do it. We never discussed it.
“I was disappointed because I couldn’t play for…,” and Smith leans forward and pauses here, “…my team.”
With his new path set, could Smith see himself one day owning the Cowboys?
“I’d love to work that out,” he says. But I don’t think Jerry would ever sell.
“To be honest, the team I’d like to own is the Arizona Cardinals.”
Why?
“There’s nothing but upside there. From a business perspective, that is the team to own because there’s nothing but upside, top to bottom.”
Smith says he once asked Cardinals owner William Bidwell if he’d ever thought about selling the team. “He said, ‘No,’” Smith says. “But I’d love to call him back one day.”
In 2005, Forbes magazine valued the NFL franchise at $673 million.
One aspect of Smith’s mission is to bring his team -- his real estate team -- to underdeveloped urban areas. He says black neighborhoods need better public facilities, structures on par with those often found across town. He cites some areas of Dallas where local high-school teams practice inside football facilities and stadiums laid out with SporTurf, the leading synthetic, grass-like playing surface. “You won’t find that in too many black neighborhoods,” he says. “To be able to give back in that kind of effort is something I am looking to do. I have those kinds of
dollars and can do those kinds of things.”
“That is my motivation and to me the biggest life lesson I can possibly teach a youngster aspiring to become a quote-unquote superstar.
“I see a superstar as
Bill Gates, who has the world on Microsoft Windows. Or
[Oracle founder] Larry Ellison or
Warren Buffett.
“Better yet, Russell Simmons is someone we can better identify with. Even Master P was brilliant in his own right. He had the vision.
“I have the vision and now I have to execute. That comes with practice, winning and losing and evaluating your losses and seeing what mistakes you made. Think beyond the fundamentals and see how you can help people along the way.”
Just as long as they do not ask him to dance.
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