by Gina Scarpa

 

This Friday, NBC will unveil its latest reality program, Who Do You Think You Are. Each week, a different celebrity will be taken on a journey to explore their family history, including Matthew Broderick, Lisa Kudrow, Spike Lee, Sarah Jessica Parker, Susan Sarandon, Brooke Shields and Emmitt Smith. In NFL legend Emmitt Smith's episode, airing March 12, he travels to Virginia and Alabama to uncover the truth about a family rumor that he has white ancestry. Today, Emmitt spoke to RealityWanted and reporters in a press conference call about the dramatic story he uncovered and his experiences on Who Do You Think You Are.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: What made you want to go through the process of discovering your family roots in front of America?
A. Emmitt: Number one, it's been a long time since I've been to a complete family reunion. Obviously, football activities run throughout the summer. When this opportunity presented itself, I thought it would be a great way to connect back to my family heritage and take a journey that I thought would be very exciting and eye awakening.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: What will fans, and all the viewers, get out of watching your episode of What Do You Think You Are?
A. Emmitt: I think they'll get a sense of, truly, some of the hurt and pain that I was able to feel, especially when you start thinking about loved ones who are mistreated during the darkest time in American history. That, in itself, is moving because I think the message, for me, was that we do have as African American people to take full advantage of opportunities and open doors with the great deal of humility and take it to a whole another level. We do add value to this nation that we live in and our ancestors also added value. Some of that value went unnoticed, unrecognized by some people, but times have changed. The legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. is starting to happen and has happened. We just need to continue to move the ball forward to make this nation better.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: Do you think that people need more reality tv like Who Do You Think You Are, where you're not looking to win a million dollars or get your fifteen minutes of fame?
A. Emmitt: To me, I think so. I believe so. I believe when you take this show and you take the new show that's out, Find My Family... those are great feel good shows. I love them. They're taking real people and connecting real people's life stories with so many broken families in this country. We know that with the divorce rate as high as it is, kids not knowing who their siblings are, nobody wants to talk about some of the ugly things. Hopefully, that's what people get out of this. There's so much negative going on. How about some positive going on to balance out the negative stuff? That's what this show brings to the table.

 

Q. How did you become a part of the show? Did you say yes immediately?
A. Emmitt: Yes, I was approached and I think I did give an immediate yes. This is something I wanted to do. It gave me a great opportunity to give back to my past. I missed so many family reunions over the years due to football, trying to become the best athlete I possibly could. This gave me the opportunity to stay connected to my family.

 

Q. How much did you know about your family before doing the show?
A. Emmitt: I knew not as much as I know now, let me put it that way. At that time, I could've gone back probably to my grandparents. I couldn't go back to my great grandparents, even though I heard their names mentioned, and I couldn't go back any further than that.

 

Q. Were you nervous about what you might find out about your family?
A. Emmitt: I wasn't because whatever I found out, it wasn't going to affect me and the way I think right now. What it was going to do was either make me better or make me drive harder to press towards the mark of something greater than where I am today. It wasn't going to make me regress.

 

Q. Did you feel that sense of connection when you made the journey, like this is where you belonged?
A. Emmitt: No I didn't. What I really got was when I had an emotional moment when I realized the significance of that area. I started to put pieces of the puzzle together and feel like my ancestors started to cry out when I was putting those pieces together. It started to rain and it was coming to fruition that this is significant and this is how I came to be. I had an emotional connection like my ancestors were crying out saying, "I once was lost but now am found." I felt like I was on a journey to release those souls so that they could rest in peace completely.

 

Q. There was that rumor that there was white ancestry. Did you find out if there were any?
A. Emmitt: No. The owner of my slave ancestor may have been the father of Mariah (my great-great grandmother).

 

Q. Were you surprised to find out that you had white ancestors?
A. Emmitt: We're connected by our love and who we are as people. We're connected by blood. We all have the same blood. That much I've always believed. I wasn't completely shocked. I wasn't completely overwhelmed that I had a white ancestor but the thing that really bothered me the most was just the way that my white ancestors treated my people.

 

Q. What do you think will surprise people the most about you?
A. Emmitt: Probably how emotional I really am as a person. For some reason, most people probably have never seen an athlete that is supposed to be this gladiator truly get emotional. They probably would be completely shocked by how connected I am to knowing my manhood. I'm passionate and I'm sympathetic and empathetic also to the feelings of others. Those are some things that people might see.

 

Who Do You Think You Are premieres March 5 at 8/7c on NBC.

 

(Image courtesy of NBC)

 

 

Follow Gina at twitter.com/ginascarpa

 

For more Who Do You Think You Are links, visit SirLinksALot.net