Emmitt Smith has collected enough football honors to fill a room. Three Super Bowl rings, an NFL MVP award, a place in Canton, and a rushing record that has stood for more than two decades.
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At 57, the former Dallas Cowboys running back is still receiving recognition for what he accomplished long before he became an NFL star. Friday brought another addition to that collection, this time in Atlanta, where Smith was inducted into the Georgia-Florida Hall of Fame.
Amid the ceremony and photographs with fellow inductees, two of his daughters found their own way to celebrate their father. Rheagen Smith shared an Instagram story featuring Smith holding his golden bust from the ceremony. Her message was short.
“Congrats Padre! Go Gators,” it read.
Her sister, Skylar Smith, posted another photograph showing their father laughing alongside other inductees.
“Georgia Florida Hall of Fame 2026 inductees, congrats Pops,” she wrote.
Neither daughter needed a long tribute. The photographs captured a happy afternoon for a father whose football achievements have been celebrated for years, while the messages gave the occasion a more personal touch.
Smith was among four former players inducted on October 30 at the Chick-fil-A College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta. Florida also honored former offensive lineman Maurkice Pouncey, while Georgia was represented by Andre Hastings and Brandon Boykin.
The Cowboys legend and Pro Football Hall of Famer has five children in his blended family. He married Patricia “Pat” Southall, a former Miss Virginia USA, in April 2000.
After 20 years of marriage, the couple announced in 2020 that they had separated and planned to divorce. During their marriage, Emmitt and Pat raised five children together, including three daughters.
Pat had one daughter from an earlier marriage, Emmitt had another from a previous relationship, and the couple welcomed a daughter of their own. The eldest of his daughters is Jasmin Page Lawrence.
Jasmin was born in January 1996 to Pat Southall and her then-husband, actor and comedian Martin Lawrence. She was still a young child when her mother married Emmitt Smith, who helped raise her alongside the other children in their family.
She attended Duke University and moved to Los Angeles to pursue acting. Ever since then, she has appeared in titles like Relatively Famous: Ranch Rules, Bad Boys for Life, and Family Time.
“We’re so glad we got to share in the fun and support your first cameo at the Bad Boys premiere last night! You always light up our lives!” Emmitt Smith wrote on Facebook in 2020, supporting her.
As for Rheagan, she also holds a special place in Smith’s life.
Born in November 1998, Rheagan is Emmitt Smith’s oldest biological daughter, whom he shares with his former girlfriend, Hope Wilson. Rather than following her father into football, she made her mark on the soccer field.
Rheagan played Division I soccer at Texas A&M, spending time as both a forward and midfielder. Emmitt took an active interest in her soccer career and regularly attended her matches to cheer her on.
“My father always pushed me to be the best player that I could be,” she said to The Battalion in 2020.
As for Skylar, born in 2003, she is Pat and Smith’s biological daughter and largely stays out of the public spotlight. She couldn’t hold herself back from celebrating her pop’s HoF achievement.
Most football fans associate Smith with the Cowboys’ dynasty of the 1990s. His college career, however, gave Florida plenty of reasons to celebrate him long before Dallas selected him in the 1990 NFL Draft.
Smith played for the Gators from 1987 through 1989, arriving in Gainesville as one of the country’s most highly regarded high school running backs. He made an immediate impression, rushing for 1,341 yards as a freshman and finishing ninth in the Heisman Trophy voting.
By the time he left Florida after his junior season, Smith had rushed for 3,928 yards and 36 touchdowns. He had also set 58 school records and earned first-team All-SEC recognition in all three seasons.
His final college campaign was his best. Smith rushed for 1,599 yards in 1989, earned consensus All-America honors and finished seventh in the Heisman voting.
Smith gave Florida fans plenty to remember from his college days, but the university got one important detail wrong in its announcement of his Hall of Fame induction on Friday.
The athletic department credited him with a 224-yard performance against Georgia. Smith actually put up those numbers against Alabama in 1987. In reality, Georgia was a far tougher opponent for the running back.
Across three meetings with the Bulldogs, he averaged 81 rushing yards and failed to score a touchdown. The numbers were a sharp contrast to his best performances elsewhere, largely because Georgia made containing Smith a priority.
The Georgia-Florida Hall of Fame has honored players, coaches and administrators connected to the rivalry since 1995. Smith belongs among them, even if his record against the Bulldogs was hardly spectacular.
Georgia’s defense often managed to limit his impact, but the attention it gave him showed just how seriously opponents took one of Florida’s greatest players.