NFL Hall of Famer Emmitt Smith has had some well-documented struggles with speaking the English language in the past.
Calling penalties "pelaties," accusing a team of carousing the football and insisting that Eli Manning had been given a "rice" of passage were some of his more memorable gaffes from his ill-conceived stint as an ESPN talking head, but we can assure you that they are a decidedly small sample of his awe-inspiring gibberish.
Smith's eternal struggle with public speaking followed him to the World Series of Poker on Thursday, where he was given the task of uttering the opening line of the day, "Shuffle up and deal."
Andrew Feldman, of ESPN.com's Poker Blog described the misstep:
The final starting day of the 2010 main event began with everyone standing and applauding as Emmitt Smith was introduced. "How 'bout them Cowboys," was shouted from the tables, and Smith replied in kind, then looked out at the crowd, proclaimed his excitement and let out, "Shuffle up and play!" A good laugh echoed through the room before Smith grabbed the microphone again and said, "Shuffle up and deal!" Smith then headed over to his table, sat down for action and began his Day 1 just like every other player in the room with hopes of main event glory.
Smith didn't fare much better when he finally arrived at his table, shuffled up and played. He was eliminated after only a few hours, bringing an end to a rough day in Vegas. But hey, it's not all bad for the former Cowboy. He's rich, he's famous, and his wife looks like this:
In the words of Lil Jon, "Damn Shorty."
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