Category profile
- Dominance
- 84
- Peak
- 88
- Longevity
- 88
- Honours
- 86
- Statistics
- 90
Career timeline · Touchdowns per season
| Season | Touchdowns per season | Share of career |
|---|---|---|
| 1990 | 937 | |
| 1991 | 1563 | |
| 1992 | 1713 | |
| 1993 | 1486 | |
| 1994 | 1484 | |
| 1995 | 1773 | |
| 1996 | 1204 | |
| 1997 | 1074 | |
| 1998 | 1332 | |
| 1999 | 1397 | |
| 2000 | 1203 | |
| 2001 | 1021 | |
| 2002 | 975 | |
| 2003 | 256 | |
| 2004 | 937 |
Data sources
- NFL
- Pro Football Reference
- Olympics.com
Figures come from public records and are normalised per sport. See the methodology for category weights. Method
Why Emmitt Smith ranks #15 in American Football
Emmitt Smith ranks 15th among American Football athletes on GOAT Rank and 405th of 1063 across every sport in the index. The published GOAT Score of 86.9 is the weighted result of five verified category scores: Dominance 84, Peak 88, Longevity 88, Honours 86, Statistics 90. Those categories are normalised against the full American Football reference universe of 378 records, not a shortlist, so the position reflects the whole sport rather than a handful of famous names.
The record covers 1990–2004 with 15 documented competitive seasons. The strongest single season in that series is 1995, which sets the Peak component at 88. Statistics is the defining strength of the profile at 90 out of 100, and it carries 15% of the final score. The underlying career record includes career rushing yards 18355, super bowl titles 3, mvp awards 1, rushing titles 4.
Immediately ahead sits Walter Payton on 87.6, a gap of 0.7 points. Directly behind is Johnny Unitas on 87.2. The position moves whenever the verified record moves: new titles, new seasons or a corrected source all feed straight back into the same formula, and every change is dated on this profile.
Emmitt Smith GOAT Score explained
- Dominance84/100 · weight 25%
- Measures how far Smith stood above the field while competing. Scored 84/100 against the full American Football cohort.
- Peak88/100 · weight 20%
- Rates the best sustained stretch of the career, centred on 1995. Scored 88/100.
- Longevity88/100 · weight 20%
- Rewards staying at that level over time: 14 years of competition and 15 recorded seasons. Scored 88/100.
- Honours86/100 · weight 20%
- Counts documented titles, majors and awards in the verified record. Scored 86/100.
- Statistics90/100 · weight 15%
- Normalises the raw career numbers against everyone in the sport reporting the same metric. Scored 90/100.
Top Smith comparisons
Emmitt Smith — frequently asked
- Is Emmitt Smith the GOAT?
- Not on the current data. Emmitt Smith ranks 15th in American Football with a GOAT Score of 86.9, behind Tom Brady on 97.2.
- What is Emmitt Smith's GOAT Score?
- 86.9 out of 100. It is the weighted sum of Dominance 84 (25%), Peak 88 (20%), Longevity 88 (20%), Honours 86 (20%), Statistics 90 (15%), computed from the verified career record.
- Where does Emmitt Smith rank all time?
- 405th of 1063 eligible athletes in the cross-sport index, and 15th within American Football.
- Emmitt Smith vs Walter Payton: who ranks higher?
- Walter Payton, on 87.6 against Emmitt Smith's 86.9 — a margin of 0.7 points.