Card of the Day: 1990 Score Supplemental #101T Emmitt Smith RC - The NFL Rushing King's Key Update Rookie
Today's Card of the Day is the kind of Junk Wax-era rookie that refuses to behave like junk. The 1990 Score Supplemental #101T Emmitt Smith rookie card has the production-era baggage collectors know well, but it also has the one thing a football card cannot fake: the NFL's all-time rushing king on a key rookie issue.
Smith's resume does not need hobby inflation. He finished with 18,355 rushing yards, won three Super Bowls with Dallas, earned the 1993 NFL MVP, and entered the Pro Football Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2010. For a generation of collectors, he is not just a Cowboys icon. He is the statistical endpoint every running back after him has been chasing.
The Card
The regular 1990 Score football release is everywhere. The Supplemental set is different. PSA's CardFacts description notes that the 1990 Score Supplemental football set was released through Score's dealer outlets and sold only as a complete set. Card backs carry the "T" suffix, and PSA identifies Emmitt Smith #101T as one of the anchors of the checklist alongside Junior Seau #65T.
That matters because Smith has multiple rookie-year cards, but the Supplemental #101T has always felt more like the focused collector copy. It is cleaner, scarcer in context, and tied to the update-set format that became a familiar part of the modern rookie-card chase.
PSA Population Report
| PSA Grade | Population | Value |
|---|---|---|
| GEM-MT 10 | 803 | $1,300 |
| MINT 9 | 5,400 | $155 |
| NM-MT 8 | 5,111 | $65 |
| Total Graded (All Grades) | 11,947 | — |
* Population data as of June 29, 2026. PSA population counts are dynamic and increase as more cards are submitted for grading.
Why It Still Works
The headline number is not the total population. It is the gap between demand and condition. More than 11,000 PSA-graded copies exist, which is exactly what collectors expect from a key 1990 football card. But only 803 have reached PSA 10, putting the gem rate at about 6.7%.
That is where Junk Wax gets interesting. High print runs create complacency, and complacency creates condition problems. Cards were handled, boxed, stacked, slid into binders, and treated like unlimited inventory. Three decades later, gem mint copies of the right players can still separate themselves.
The Verdict
CASE #0130 verdict: the 1990 Score Supplemental Emmitt Smith rookie is not rare in the vintage sense, but it is important in the football-card sense. It captures a first-ballot Hall of Famer before the records, before the rings, and before the league's all-time rushing list became his permanent property.
