Cris Carter's rookie card shows him in an Eagles uniform, the team that cut him a year later. The Minnesota Vikings claimed him off waivers for $100, and he retired second in NFL history in both receptions and touchdowns. PSA has graded 6,027 copies of the card, and 946 of them are Gem Mint 10s.

The card is #72 in the 1989 Score football set. PSA's record for it carries both the rookie and Hall of Fame designations. Carter is shown mid-stride in Philadelphia's white road uniform with No. 80 across the chest, against a blurred stadium background. The Score logo sits in the top corner, his name runs in yellow capitals on a blue bar along the bottom, and "WIDE RECEIVER" is printed beneath it, next to an Eagles helmet.

A Supplemental Pick Who Scored on His First Catch

Carter grew up in Middletown, Ohio, and left Ohio State with the school record for receptions, 168. He never played his senior season. Before it began he had secretly signed with the agent Norby Walters, and when the contract came to light he was ruled ineligible. The Eagles took him in the fourth round of the 1987 supplemental draft.

His first NFL catch was a 22-yard touchdown against the St. Louis Cardinals. He caught only five passes as a rookie, but two of them were touchdowns. In 1988 he scored six times on 39 catches. In 1989, the year this card was issued, he caught 45 passes for 605 yards and led the Eagles with 11 touchdowns. That is the stretch that produced the line that stayed with him: "All he does is catch touchdowns."

Cut, Then Claimed for $100

Philadelphia released him after the 1990 preseason, and Minnesota claimed him off waivers on Sept. 4, 1990, for $100. Carter has since said that Eagles coach Buddy Ryan cut him because of his alcohol and drug use, and he credits Ryan with helping him turn his life around.

In Minnesota he became, in the Hall of Fame's words, "one of the game's most prolific pass receivers." He led the Vikings in receptions for ten straight seasons, from 1991 through 2000. Beginning in 1993, he put together eight straight 1,000-yard seasons and made eight consecutive Pro Bowls. In 1994 he caught 122 passes, then an NFL single-season record, and in 1995 he caught 122 again, with career highs of 1,371 yards and 17 touchdowns. He led the league in touchdown catches three times.

He left the Vikings after 2001, then played five games for the Miami Dolphins in 2002 before retiring for good. He finished his 16 seasons with 1,101 receptions, 13,899 yards and 130 touchdowns, second in NFL history in both receptions and touchdowns at the time he retired. He was named to the NFL's All-Decade Team of the 1990s and entered the Pro Football Hall of Fame with the Class of 2013.

PSA Population Report

PSA GradePopulationValue
PSA 10946$65
PSA 92,298$10
PSA 82,498$5
Total Graded (All Grades)6,027—

* Population data as of October 18, 2026. PSA population counts are dynamic and increase as more cards are submitted for grading. Values are PSA Price Guide figures.

A Population Built at the Top

Almost everything PSA has graded of this card sits at PSA 8 or higher: 5,742 of the 6,027 straight-graded copies, or about 19 in every 20.

The top three grades are close together. PSA 8 is the most common grade, but only by 200 copies over PSA 9, and the 946 Gem Mint 10s amount to roughly one copy in six.

Below the eight, the count falls away fast:

  • PSA 10: 946
  • PSA 9: 2,298
  • PSA 8: 2,498
  • PSA 7: 214
  • PSA 6: 51
  • PSA 5: 18
  • PSA 4: 1
  • PSA 3: 1

No copy has been graded PSA 2 or PSA 1. PSA has also issued 60 half grades, 56 of them PSA 8.5, along with two qualified PSA 8s, and no copy has been encapsulated Authentic.

Verdict: the receiver Philadelphia cut retired second in NFL history in receptions and touchdowns, a Hall of Famer from a $100 waiver claim. His rookie card almost never appears in PSA's population below a 7: nineteen of every twenty graded copies are PSA 8 or better, and 946 of them are Gem Mints.