Keynotes

Emmitt Smith is the National Football League's all-time leading rusher, a three-time Super Bowl champion, and a member of the 2010 class of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

A first-round pick in the 1990 NFL Draft, Smith was the cornerstone of the Dallas Cowboys' offense for 12 seasons. The eight-time Pro Bowler was the first player in NFL history to rush for more than 1,000 yards in 11 consecutive seasons and on October 27, 2002 he surpassed Walter Payton as the NFL's all-time leading rusher. Smith finished his 14-year career with 18,355 rushing yards and led the NFL in rushing four times; he was the league MVP in 1993, MVP of Super Bowl XXVIII and helped guide the Cowboys to three Super Bowl titles. His 175 total touchdowns rank second in NFL history.

Smith played his final two NFL seasons with the Arizona Cardinals (2003 and 2004) before signing a one-day contract in February 2005 so he could officially retire as a Cowboy. In September 2005, Smith was added to the Cowboys Ring of Honor with former teammates Troy Aikman and Michael Irvin. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2007 and was enshrined into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in August 2010.

Smith previously served as an NFL Network studio analyst in 2005 and also appeared as a guest college football analyst during Fox's "BCS National Championship" pre-game coverage in January 2007. Smith also worked for two years as an in-studio analyst on ESPN's "NFL Countdown". Smith's post-career television experience also includes winning the third season of ABC's popular primetime reality show "Dancing with the Stars" in the fall of 2006, and a feature on NBC's "Who Do You Think You Are?" in the Spring of 2010. In 2012, Smith was asked back to Dancing with the Stars to participate on their All-Stars season.

A native of Pensacola, FL, Smith fulfilled a promise to his mother and took classes during his NFL off-seasons in order to earn his bachelor's degree in public recreation from the University of Florida in 1996. Smith remains active in various charitable organizations and also serves as president of SmithCypress Partners, a joint-venture partnership, and is CEO of ESmith Legacy, Inc, both based in Dallas. Smith's involvement in the community has led to him being recognized as the 2012 Dallas "Father of the Year," an honor that awards those who are both pillars of their communities and devoted dads. Emmitt lives with his wife Pat in Dallas, Texas with their five children.

Andy Papathanassiou became NASCAR’s first pit crew coach when hired by Hendrick Motorsports in 1992, as an original member of Jeff Gordon’s Dupont #24 race team. Prior to racing, Andy attended Stanford University on a football scholarship and started four years on the offensive line. He graduated with his Bachelor’s in Economics and Master’s in Organizational Behavior. His philosophy and views as an outsider to NASCAR ultimately shifted the paradigm of how pit crews recruit, select and develop team members. Previously, pit crews were comprised of mechanics who devoted little time to practicing pit stops - relying instead on their vast, individual knowledge of car building and racing experience. Andy employed an athletic mindset and problem-solving approach, which centered on practice and repetition, coaching and review, innovation, and process improvement. Collectively, he calls this philosophy, Over the Wall™. Over The Wall thinking changed the paradigm of how all NASCAR teams select, train, and compete. After a 30-year racing career, with over 250 wins and 16 series championships, Andy speaks, conducts experiential events, and consults around high-performing teams, transformative leadership, culture, paradigms, disruptive thinking and athletic mindset.

Sharing the same proven strategies that athletes use to perform at a world-class level, Alan
Stein, Jr. helps companies improve organizational performance, create effective leadership,
increase team cohesion and collaboration, and develop winning mindsets, rituals, and routines.

In his keynote programs and workshops, Alan shares real-world lessons, illustrated by powerful stories, so that every audience can immediately put new ideas into action. He has a passion for helping organizations create high-performance cultures, and his clients include American Express, Pepsi, Under Armour, Starbucks, Charles Schwab, Orangetheory Fitness, and numerous college athletic programs such as Penn State Football and UConn Men’s Basketball.

An acclaimed basketball performance coach, Alan spent 15 years working with the highest performing athletes on the planet (including NBA superstars Kevin Durant, Stephen Curry, and Kobe Bryant). He transfers that knowledge to reveal how leaders and teams can utilize the same approaches in business that elite athletes use to perform at a world-class level.
The strategies from Alan’s books, Raise Your Game and Sustain Your Game, are implemented by corporate teams and sports teams around the country. His inspirational words are featured on a 12-foot mural outside the Penn State Football Training Center, so that players run past it on the way to practice every day.