DALLAS — Former Cowboys running back Emmitt Smith carried a message of encouragement to the students of Bishop Dunne High School.
"The bottom line is doing your best, believing in yourself, and doing your best," Smith told the students. "At the end of the day, if you don't believe in yourself, no one else will."
He also offered a challenge to earn a trip of a lifetime.
"You will have a chance to go this year's 2010 induction in the Hall of Fame with me and my family and get to hang out for the weekend with a lot of celebrities."
So how can the students win the trip? First and foremost, contestants have to be from high schools in North Texas. It’s a great way for some lucky teenager to enjoy the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio.
It's certainly the trip of a lifetime for Emmitt Smith, and that's what he wants students to write about in an essay contest, "My lifetime dream and how I plan to achieve it."
The presentation can also be a video, music or even art, but all the ideas have to be submitted through Pat and Emmitt Smith Charities.
"I'm not so artsy with videos and stuff, but I love writing, so I’ll definitely do an essay," said Bishop Dunne student Alex Dean.
"I'll probably just say something about how he's already put me on the fast track to where I want to go in my own dreams, and some of my future aspirations," said Daniel Pipkin, who was the student responsible for Smith coming to the Bishop Dunne campus.
"I'm here to try and encourage kids," Smith said. "To go the Hall of Fame in 2010 and hang out with me, little old me, and enjoy yourself and get a chance to be around some of the other celebrities, to see who these people are, these are real, real human beings, that have a unique talent, just like every man on this planet has a unique talent. Discover yours and make it happen."
And with words like that, it's hard to go wrong.
Entries will be accepted from April 5-26, 2010. A panel of judges will evaluate the entries. The winner will be announced at the inaugural Emmitt Smith Celebrity Invitational Golf Tournament on May 15 at the TPC Craig Ranch in McKinney. Smith will name the winning student at the tournament's awards and ceremony that afternoon.
E-mail griba@wfaa.com
