Top Emmitt Smith Cards to Collect
On the Mount Rushmore of NFL running backs, you have the obvious names: Jim Brown, OJ Simpson, Walter Payton, Barry Sanders, and Adrian Peterson, but the greatest of them all is Emmitt Smith. No other running back was the iron man that Smith personified – missing just 11 games in his 15-season career – with six of those missed in his penultimate season after he broke his shoulder.
Smith was the ultimate workhorse back who could do anything and outrun every rusher of his era – he was, after all, the cornerstone of the Dallas Cowboys dynasty that won three Super Bowls. But Smith wasn’t just a grinder who could rack up yards and rarely miss games. He is the only running back ever to win a Super Bowl championship, the NFL MVP, lead the league in rushing, and be the Super Bowl MVP in the same season.
Regarding individual accomplishments tied to a player’s longevity and consistent ability to demolish his competition, Smith is second in NFL history only to Jerry Rice, the only (non-QB) who has scored more touchdowns than him. Of course, Smith also dominated the golden era of Topps football cards, and there are a plethora of pulls, old and new, that honor his greatness, which you need to collect.
Top Emmitt Smith Cards
2023 Topps Composite #315 Emmitt Smith Midnight Refractor
Player info
• three-time super bowl winner (XXVII, XxVIII and XXX)
• led the league in rushing four times
Set info
• 4oo base card set with sub-sets of iconic topps brands such as Allen & Ginter, midnight, finest, and more
card back
• vitals, career stat totals, and a short career bio filled with impressive factoids (smith has more seasons with 10+ rushing TDs than anyone in history)
1993 Topps Football #173 Cowboys Leaders
Player info
• 1992 super bowl winner (XXVII)
• Smith led the league in 1992 in rushing yds, rushing tds, and avg rushing ypg (107.1)
Card info
• 660 card set
• black gold insert set with gold parallels
card back
• A total recap of the 1992 cowboys stat leaders for passing, rushing, receiving yds, receptions, tds, scoring, sacks, and ints, with smith leading in rushing (1713) and tds (19)
1999 Topps Finest #130 Emmitt Smith Gold Refractor
Player info
• Holds the record in career rushing yards with 18,355
• all-time leader in rushing attempts with 4,409
Card info
• exclusive 175 card set
card back
• a recap of his 1998 year in which he made the pro bowl for the seventh time – the most ever by a cowboys player at the time, and passed Marcus Allen with 125 rushing tds
2003 Topps Pristine #14 Emmitt Smith Die-Cut Gold Refractor 1/150
Player info
• 2003 was smith’s first season in Arizona and the penultimate season of his career
• most games in a season with a rushing touchdown (15)
Card info
• 149 card set with six parallels, including refractors, gold refractors, and four press plate colors
card back
• Vitals, 2002 stats with the Cowboys and his career total stats, as well as a writeup of his breaking of water payton’s rushing record in 2002 (he scored his 150th TD on the same drive)
1996 Topps Football #121 Emmitt Smith 1000 Yard Club
Player info
• led the league in ’95 with 1773 yds rushing and 110.8 ypg
• led the league in ’95 25 touchdowns
Card info
• 440 card set
• 15 other 1000 yard club members
card back
• his entire 1995 stat box
1990 Topps Traded #27T Emmitt Smith RC
Player info
• Taken by the cowboys with the 17th pick of the first round of the 1990 draft and won NFL Offensive Rookie of the year
• rushed for 937 yards and 11 tds his rookie year
Card info
• 132 card set
• set featured rookies not in the sister 1990 football release and traded players
card back
• vitals, college stats, and a recap of his superb college career at Alabama, where he set a college record for rushing for over 1000 yards in 7 games
