By EssentiallySports,Landon Holifield

Copyright yardbarker

Derrick Henry was only seven when he stumbled onto the move that would become his trademark. Playing Pop Warner, tall and lanky for his age, he saw a defender closing in. Instead of juking or spinning, he stretched out his arm and shoved the kid straight into the turf. That simple stiff-arm turned into his calling card, the move defenders dread to this day. Since 2017, Henry has racked up 64 stiff-arms on rushing attempts, 36 more than anyone else in the league. But this time, his technique helped him surpass Emmitt Smith’s record – the one that drew attention from Troy Aikman himself.

During Monday’s game between the Ravens and the Lions, Derrick Henry broke one of Emmitt Smith’s records, but Troy Aikman didn’t miss a beat to throw shades at him. He distinguished Henry and Smith’s record-breaking career. Aikman shared an interesting take on the Monday night football broadcast. “For as many years as Derrick Henry has been a bell-cow back in this league, he’s just barely eclipsed the 50% mark on Emmitt’s total career carries,” as posted by Landon Holifield on X.

Henry is in his 10th year in the NFL and has recorded 2,582 carries in his career, while Smith took 15 seasons for the Dallas Cowboys and Arizona Cardinals to record 4,409. The environment Aikman established is reflective of the reliability and quantity that defined Smith’s career. Smith had 18,355 rushing yards, 515 receptions for 3,224 yards, and 175 total touchdowns. He won eight Pro Bowls, one Offensive Rookie of the Year, one MVP, one Super Bowl MVP, and three championships before being inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2010.

During his last season, he generated 937 rushing yards. However, on the other hand, Henry has been tremendous; the point of reference is only to illustrate that the year-after-year greatness of Smith sets the bar so high that relatively few have been in close proximity. Aside from raw carries, Emmitt Smith’s productivity was unmatched.