Emmitt Smith Says He’s Gained ‘Empathy’ as a Family Caregiver

The legendary football player has been a caregiver since he was 9

Andre Ellington,

AARP

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Published November 26, 2025

NFL great Emmitt Smith has amazed millions of fans with his athletic skill as a running back for the Dallas Cowboys and Arizona Cardinals. The three-time Super Bowl champion was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2010 and holds the NFL record for the most career rushing yards ever.

Growing up, Smith played a very different role in his family: caregiver. He’s not alone. The number of family caregivers in the United States has increased to 63 million, representing a 45 percent rise over the past decade, according to a report by AARP and the National Alliance for Caregiving. Three out of five caregivers are women, while two out of five are men.

Smith, 56, discussed with AARP his journey as a caregiver and the challenges involved in not only accepting the role but also allowing others to care for him.

How has your experience as a caregiver impacted your life?

“Caregiving” is a very special word because it means that you have the ability, as an individual, to take care of another person’s life and you take on the responsibility of that.

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Caregiving began for me many years ago when I was a kid at 9 years of age — caring for my elderly grandmother, who could not walk. She was , confined to a wheelchair and was a paraplegic. She had lost use of all her limbs. As the older son in the Smith household, I had the task of staying overnight with her while my grandfather did his shift yard work. He worked from 11 p.m. to 7 in the morning, 7 a.m. to 3 in the afternoon or 3 p.m. to 11 p.m. at night. I had the duty and the role of being the caregiver.

As a child, you may not take [caregiving] seriously. You may ask, “Why me?” Why is this tapping into my sleep time? But at the end of the day, years later, the lesson that I learned about how to take care of people, how to think about people and the empathy that I gained throughout the entire process are things.... I can’t begin to put an educational value on it because empathy isn’t even taught in college. You have to learn that on your own.

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Tell a story of when you’ve had to receive care. How did it change you?

Receiving care is a different thing when you’ve always been on the caregiving side. You have to learn how to receive care.

As an athlete, you’re so busy trying to be there for your teammates, your family, your company and everybody. The reality is, to whom much is given, much is required. But we also have to learn how to receive, and receiving requires you to relinquish the power, relinquish the ego and learn how to appreciate the giver.

God blessed me with the talent to do things I have been able to do. The giver gave me that talent, and so my reward back to him is to honor that talent by maximizing it to the fullest extent of my potential. But I also have to learn how to be humble enough to receive care when necessary. That’s why you reach out to doctors to understand exactly what you’re dealing with, and they give you the proper information so you can make the proper decisions for yourself as well as for your family.

Care is one of those things that’s very delicate for people like myself who are always driven to take care of others. But at the end of the day, there comes a time when we may need to receive that care as well, and we have to understand when that time comes.

What do you say to men who are struggling to take on the role of caregiver? What advice do you have for them?

I would say to any man that’s struggling with caregiving, it’s kind of hard for me to see because a man’s mentality is truly to provide, whether it’s emotionally, physically, spiritually or financially. It’s in his nature — that’s why he goes out and hunts, and he’s going to work his behind off to do whatever he can to provide, especially if he has kids.

Now, for the man who has those responsibilities but chooses not to accept them, that’s immaturity. That’s someone I can never reach because they’re not ready for the message. This message is for those who are willing to humble themselves and move forward.

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