Tyron Smith delivers emotional tribute to $240,000,000 QB at retirement press - “You’ll always be QB1"
Tyron Smith - one of the best offensive tackles of the 2010s - was reported via the NFL website to call time on his playing career on Tuesday. A day later, he arrived at his former team - the Dallas Cowboys - to give his final message, including a tribute to the man he had protected for so long.
After signing a one-day deal, the multiple-time All-Pro and Pro Bowler appeared on Wednesday in Texas to give the media a retirement press conference. One of the people whom he mentioned and thanked was long-time fellow Dallas Cowboy Dak Prescott:
"One of the best teammates I ever had. Dak cares deeply about everyone in the locker room, and he's more than a teammate. He's a lifelong friend. And I'll always have your back. You'll always be QB1 to me."
Smith played with the New York Jets in 2024, the same year Prescott signed a record-breaking, four-year $240-million contract. He is a member of the 2010s All-Decade Team.
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones praises Tyron Smith as OT confirms retirement
Dallas owner Jerry Jones - who was present when Tyron Smith announced his NFL retirement as a Cowboy - had some positive parting words for Smith.
"We won't have a player, ever, with the Dallas Cowboys… that shares better credentials on how they came, how they worked, how they used their background to work, and what they accomplished and meant to the team."
The octogenarian also apologized for failing to reach the NFC Championship Game, let alone the Super Bowl, in the tackle's thirteen seasons. Nevertheless, he continued praising him:
"But that doesn't take away from the fact of what you've accomplished in the NFL Tyron, and that doesn't take away from the respect that you see in this room."
Jones had never drafted an offensive lineman since buying the franchise in 1989. But that all changed with Smith, who went ninth overall in 2011. Since then, four offensive linemen have gone to the Cowboys in the first round, the latest being his presumptive successor - Tyler Guyton - in 2024.
It was something that the owner acknowledged:
"It changed our way of thinking about taking that [round] one pick and using it on an offensive lineman, and he did that."
Overall, Tyron Smith played 9,961 snaps in 171 games (all starts). Injuries plagued him beginning in 2016, the first time he missed at least two games.