Cowboys great Emmitt Smith calls out team for failing to reach Super Bowl in last 30 years: 'Crying shame'

The Philadelphia Eagles winning two Super Bowls, including February's, only adds to the frustration.

"I'm sick of hearing 'Go Birds.' I'm always asking, 'Where are you going?' You still got a long way to go to get to us."

It is true the Cowboys have more titles than the Eagles, who have two. But those two have come in the last seven years. The Eagles won their first in 2018 before defeating the Kansas City Chiefs in February. 

But Smith feels like three decades of not making it back to the NFC championship, let alone the Super Bowl, used to be unthinkable.

"That part bugs me," he said of Eagles fans taunting him about the Cowboys' drought. "It bugs me because in my heart I truly believe our organization should be contending for an NFC championship and even a Super Bowl at least once or twice every decade because every team recycles every decade. 

"For us not to be there over the last 30 years is a crying shame."

The Cowboys looked like a team destined to make a playoff run during three straight 12-5 seasons from 2021-23. However, Dak Prescott & Co. lost two wild-card games in 2021 and 2023, and they fell in the divisional round to the San Francisco 49ers in 2022. 

The Cowboys have not made it past the divisional round since they won it all in 1996, a season in which Dallas went 12-4 and Smith rushed for 1,204 yards with 12 touchdowns. 

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has been adamant in saying he'll do whatever he can to make the roster or coaching staff better. But he has been criticized this offseason for his hiring of Brian Schottenheimer as the team's new head coach after letting Mike McCarthy go. 

McCarthy had led the Cowboys since the 2020 campaign. But after a 7-10 season in which Prescott's campaign ended early due to a hamstring injury, they parted ways. 

The Cowboys haven't been too aggressive in free agency, and all eyes will be on the 2025 NFL Draft next week when they pick 12th overall in the first round.