NFL player Emmitt Smith discovers ancestors were slaves

American football legend Emmitt Smith was reduced to tears as he traced his family’s history during a new US TV show.

The Dallas Cowboys great discovered that he was descended from slaves and a white slave-owner in the US premiere of Who Do You Think You Are?

Smith shed tears as he stood by the unmarked site of his great-great-grandfather’s grave, on the outskirts of a white cemetery in Burnt Corn, Alabama.

“I am glad I do not have his heart. And I am glad he never got to know me,” an emotional Smith said when he found out he was a descendent of a white slave-owner.

Smith was told that he was 81 per cent African and that his ancestors were originally from the region of Benin, on West Africa’s infamous Slave Coast.

In the programme, Smith visited Africa with his wife to trace his slave roots.

He said: “This has been such a powerful journey for me and I feel like my eyes have been opened wide.

“I feel good, I feel like I have been cleansed. History is my story now.”

Other celebrities slated to be taking part in the show are former Friends star Lisa Kudrow, Sarah Jessica Parker and hubby Matthew Broderick, director Spike Lee, and actresses Susan Sarandon and Brooke Shields.

Source: Splash News