Kansas City Chiefs’ rookie running back E.J. Smith had imagined the moment before. But when he finally came down the hill at Missouri Western State University and onto the Chiefs’ training camp practice fields, the journey required to get there made the moment mean something more.
“It was a dream come true,” Smith said Monday following practice. “It was a long road to get here, but I’m very grateful for the opportunity. Just through all the obstacles that made me become the person who I am today in order
to prepare me for this opportunity.”
Smith knows better than most what an uncomplicated path to the NFL can look like.
His father, Emmitt Smith, starred at Florida, where he rushed for more than 1,300 yards as a freshman and went on to a dominant three-year college career totaling 3,928 rushing yards. He earned All-American honors and SEC Player of the Year before the Dallas Cowboys selected him with the 17th overall pick of the 1990 NFL Draft.
The rest became NFL history: three Super Bowl championships, a league MVP award, eight Pro Bowls, the NFL’s all-time rushing record and eventually a gold jacket in Canton.
E.J.’s road to an NFL training camp looked nothing like it.
“Y’all know who my dad is,” Smith said. “He was a first-rounder. I’m an undrafted guy, so my path is already different from his.”
E.J. grew up with one of the most recognizable surnames a running back could carry. His father didn’t simply play the same position — he became the standard by which generations of running backs have been measured.
But Emmitt’s message to his son wasn’t to follow him. It was to find his own way.
“Just as a kid, my dad always told me, you know, build my own legacy,” E.J. recalled. “It’s my life, and so making the best out of it.”
That philosophy would become increasingly important as E.J.’s football career unfolded.
His college journey stretched across six seasons, beginning at Stanford before finishing at Texas A&M. Instead of the steady climb toward the NFL that his father experienced, E.J.’s career repeatedly stopped and restarted.
Smith said Monday that he endured approximately four injuries during his college career.
One of the most significant came at Stanford in 2022, just as it appeared he was beginning to emerge. Smith opened the season with a career-high 118 rushing yards against Colgate and had 206 rushing yards and three touchdowns through Stanford’s first two games.
Then his season was over.
Rather than view those setbacks as something that derailed his path, Smith now sees them as part of what made reaching Kansas City possible.
“I wouldn’t say it changed it,” Smith said when asked how the injuries affected his NFL journey. “I feel like it molded the person who I am today.
“I went through about four injuries throughout my whole college career. And so it just made me show more perseverance, made me more resilient, and it prepared me for this moment, for this opportunity.”
That opportunity was never guaranteed.
Smith finished his college career at Texas A&M without the résumé that once made his father a first-round selection. When the 2026 NFL Draft ended, Smith’s name had not been called.
His father’s NFL journey began with the Cowboys trading into the first round to select him.
His began with a phone call after the draft. On the other end was a familiar voice.
Chiefs running backs coach DeMarco Murray had recruited Smith coming out of high school. Years later, Murray was offering him an opportunity to continue his career in Kansas City.
“Coach DeMarco called me right after the draft,” Smith recalled. “It was awesome to hear him. He recruited me out of high school, and so just hearing his voice, talking to him, knowing that he’s going to be my running back coach, I was really excited for the opportunity.”
The Chiefs officially list Smith as an undrafted rookie entering his first NFL season.
That designation might represent another stark contrast with his father’s journey, but it also places E.J. exactly where his father’s advice prepared him to be: building something of his own.
For Smith, making an NFL roster now requires embracing more than carrying the football.
As an undrafted rookie, every practice rep matters. So does every special-teams assignment, block and opportunity to demonstrate that he can contribute somewhere.
Smith believes versatility and effort can separate him.
“They love hard workers here,” he said. “Guys that grind, hustle every play, show great effort. And so I believe that I’m that guy. Wherever they need me to be utilized, I’m there and I’m ready for it.”
“A lot of people didn’t think I would be here today,” Smith continued. “Just through the amount of injuries I went through in college and everything of that nature. And so just being out here, being able to practice with these guys and getting better every day, it’s a blessing for sure.”
E.J. Smith isn’t trying to recreate his father’s road. He couldn’t if he wanted to.
One arrived as a first-round pick with expectations of becoming a franchise running back. The other arrived undrafted, fighting for every rep and searching for any role that could keep his NFL opportunity alive.
Two running backs. One family.
Two very different roads to the NFL.
And after everything it took E.J. Smith to reach the bottom of that hill in St. Joe, he’s finally getting the chance to build the legacy his father always told him should be his own.
