Lightly recruited, he accepted a football scholarship to the University of Washington in Seattle to play for head coach Don James.
[4] His most memorable play was the game-sealing 90-yard interception return for a touchdown as time expired in a 31–20 upset win at the Miami Dolphins in his rookie year, which earned him honors as AFC defensive player of the week.
Playing a majority of his games on Astroturf, he finished each of his three seasons with the Colts on the injured reserve list.
[6] The following season, he tore the patellar tendon in his right knee,[7] an injury that no previous NFL player had ever returned from.
In October 1994, he beat the odds and made his comeback at home against the team he had grown up following, the Seattle Seahawks.
Emtman continued to play, even though after the game, he could not close his fists due to nerve damage from the injury.