PRO FOOTBALL DAILY REPORT : AROUND THE NFL : Smith Is First Cowboy Voted MVP

Emmitt Smith of the Dallas Cowboys narrowly beat last year’s winner, Steve Young of the San Francisco 49ers, to become the Associated Press’ NFL most valuable player in voting by 81 national media members.

Smith, the league’s leading rusher for the third consecutive season, received 26 votes, while Young, the top passer in the NFL, had 21. Smith is the first Cowboy to win the award. He rushed for 1,486 yards this season, with nine touchdowns, and caught 57 passes, with one touchdown.

Only the third running back since 1980 to be selected MVP, Smith held out through training camp and the first two games of the season, which Dallas lost to Washington and Buffalo. The Cowboys (12-4) also lost at Atlanta when Smith suffered a bruised right leg.

With Smith available for an entire game, the Cowboys were 12-1.

Jerry Rice, selected offensive player of the year last week, was third in the MVP balloting with 15 votes. He was followed by Denver quarterback John Elway with 10.

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Buddy Ryan, defensive coordinator for the Houston Oilers, promised that he won’t offer any further public criticism of Oiler offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride.

“I am through discussing anything or anyone related to the Oilers except those things which pertain to my specific responsibilities as defensive coordinator,” Ryan said in a statement.

General Manager Mike Holovak met with Ryan on Monday, a day after Ryan’s latest derision of Gilbride.

“He’s not going to run over me the way he runs over some people,” Ryan told the Philadelphia Inquirer. “He’s a wimp. He’s got no business coaching in the pros.”

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Ernie Stautner, 68, the oldest position coach in the NFL, announced his retirement after three seasons as the Denver Broncos’ defensive line coach. Stautner said he had been pondering retirement “for about a year.”

RAIDERS

Shell Predictably Gets Point Across

Through much of the season, the Raiders’ offense struggled. And through much of the season, Coach Art Shell predicted that his team was ready to break out.

His powers of prognostication have been matched by his team’s sense of timing.

Faced with postseason elimination in the closing weeks of the season, the Raiders have come up with a bigger offensive performance in recent weeks, equaling or surpassing their season-high point total in four of the last five games.

The Raiders scored a season-high 27 points in beating the Seattle Seahawks in their 13th game, 27-23. They equaled that mark in their next game by defeating the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 27-20. After getting shut out by the Green Bay Packers in their 15th game, the Raiders edged the Denver Broncos, 33-30 in overtime. They beat Denver again in Sunday’s wild-card playoff game, 42-24.

If the trend continues, the Buffalo Bills could be in trouble in Saturday’s second-round playoff game against the Raiders.

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Shell said there is a good chance that receiver-returner Rocket Ismail will play Sunday against the Bills. Ismail was inactive last Sunday because of a sprained neck.