WATCH: Emmitt Smith Returns to Cowboys in Pepsi TV Ad with Tom Brady
Many Dallas Cowboys fans have wondered how legends of the past would fit into the modern team's plans. PepsiCo offered an exclusive, if not humorous, look at such a concept in a television advertisement set to dominate the NFL-branded airwaves in the coming weeks.
In the latest campaign from Lay's and Pepsi, entitled "Unretirement," Cowboys legend Emmitt Smith appears as one of several former NFL superstars who swap soda for shoulder pads along with Dan Marino, Randy Moss, and Jerry Rice. While taking in a Sunday of watching football from the couch (and chowing down on the latest that Lay's has to offer), Marino suggests that the quartet "unretire(s)," to which Smith, proudly displaying Pepsi's new can design, responds "Why not?"
PepsiCo
To the tune of Eminem's "Without Me," the four stars take the field in the modern NFL, much to the delight of Lay's/Pepsi-armed fans. Their returns go predictably awry: Smith, the NFL's all-time leading rusher, falls asleep while awaiting entry on the Cowboys' bench while Marino's trouble reading his play wristband leads to a delay of game penalty against Josh Allen. The four eventually return to the couch, causing Smith to declare "I'm good right here, bro."
The advertisement ends with Smith engaging in the "Griddy" with Rice before recent retiree Tom Brady takes over the coda in self-parodying fashion.
"Unretirement?" Brady, who delayed his retirement by a year to play with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last season, remarks to former teammate and fellow departee Julian Edelman. "Who'd be dumb enough to do that?"
Even at age 54, Smith probably could've earned some snaps if he was on the Cowboys' roster for Sunday's opener against the New York Giants: Dallas (1-0) was on the right side of a 40-0 shellacking at MetLife Stadium, one that saw Smith's latest successors score three times on the ground. Tony Pollard earned two six-pointers while KaVontae Turpin capped off Dallas scoring in the final period.
