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Emmitt Smith 1993 & 1994 Jim Thorpe Trophy NFL MVP Awards
A special offering from NFL All-Time Rushing Leader & Hall of Famer Emmitt Smith's personal collection - his two (2) Jim Thorpe Trophy NFL MVP awards, voted on by NFL players and awarded by the Newspaper Enterprise Association. Hunt Auctions estimated one of these trophies awarded to Brett Favre to be worth $100,000 - $200,000. Collectable is offering two Emmitt Smith trophies for $114,000. Smith was awarded the NEA NFL MVP in 1993 and 1994; however, he is only recognized as the official NFL MVP in 1993. Shareholders in this offering will have an opportunity to interact with Emmitt Smith via a live digital event on Saturday, January 9th. Emmitt Smith became Collectable's first Athlete Ambassador in 2020.
114,000
Market Cap
44,000
IPO
20
Share Price
“I may win, and I may lose, but I will never be defeated.’”
-Emmitt Smith
In his 13 years with the Dallas Cowboys and his two years with the Arizona Cardinals, Emmitt Smith set NFL records with 18,355 yards and 164 rushing touchdowns. Along with Troy Aikman and Michael Irvin, Smith helped lead the Cowboys to three Super Bowl victories. The University of Florida graduate appeared in six Pro Bowls, was named to four All-Pro squads, and won an NFL MVP, a pair of Jim Thorpe MVPs, and one Bert Bell Award. Currently, he’s involved with a number of successful businesses, among them Collectable Technologies.
ABOUT THE ASSET
You are purchasing shares of Emmitt Smith’s 1993 and 1994 Jim Thorpe MVP trophies from his personal collection.
Given between 1954 – 1997 and considered by some as more impressive than the NFL MVP Award, the Jim Thorpe Award (a.k.a., the Newspaper Enterprise Association NFL MVP) was voted on by NFL players and awarded by the Newspaper Enterprise Association.
COMPARABLES
According to Hunt Auctions, Brett Favre’s 1996 Thorpe trophy has an estimated price range of $100,000 – $200,000.
ATHLETE TIMELINE
EMMITT SMITH: MVP FOR LIFE
By Alan Goldsher
My three big sports memories from 1993:
Led by Frank Thomas, Robin Ventura, and Jack McDowell (Wow!) my beloved Chicago White Sox snuck in to the ALCS.
Led by Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen and Horace Grant (Double wow!) my beloved Chicago Bulls won themselves an NBA title.
And led by Troy Aikman, Emmitt Smith, and Michael Irvin, (Triple wow!) the Dallas Cowboys—who I loved, but not quite as much as I loved my beloved Chicago Bears—beat the tar out of pretty much the entire NFL, and ultimately earned themselves a Vince Lombardi Trophy.
With those Bulls and Sox teams, it was easy to identify the Alpha—M.J. and The Big Hurt, respectively—but with those Cowboys, not so much. Aikman was as rock-solid and dependable as they came, arguably the most reliable quarterback of his era. Irvin was the flashy pass catcher, a trash-talking force of nature who was feared by defensive backfielders throughout the league.
But for my money, the man who stirred the Cowboys drink was the indefatigable ball-carrier, the rock amongst rocks, the man who did all the heavy lifting, the quiet, determined Alpha himself, Emmitt James Smith III.
Smith’s 1993 regular season numbers across the board were outrageous, but my personal favorites were 106 (that’s rushing yards per game), 5.6 (that’s rushing yards per carry), and 3 (that’s how many games he missed).
And three is the magic number.
Think about it: The dude won the MVP even though he played three less games than the runner-up, Steve Young. The fact that he nabbed the award while managing just 9 rushing touchdowns speaks volumes. If that’s not the stuff of supreme Alpha-ness, I don’t know what is.
To celebrate the IPO-ing of Emmitt’s 1993 and 1994 Newspaper Enterprise Association Most Valuable Player trophies, Collectable’s first brand ambassador sat down with me to discuss his magical 1993 season, what his MVP hardware means to him, and a certain shoulder…
ALAN GOLDSHER: Before we dive into the 1993 season, tell me about the NEA Award, and why it’s so special.
EMMITT SMITH: The cool thing about that one is it’s voted on by the NFLPA players reps, and it’s not just a regular trophy—it’s the Jim Thorpe Trophy. It’s not as well-known as the NFL MVP, but for players, it’s just as meaningful. When guys on other teams give you love like that, it’s next-level special, because they know. They get it.
A.G.: The NEA award was given between 1955 and 2008, and you’re one of only four players to have won them in consecutive seasons.
E.S.: Really? Who were the other guys?
A.G.: Peyton Manning, Brett Favre, and Earl Campbell. Earl actually won it three times in a row. That’s some good company right there.
E.S.: You’re not kidding. That’s some great company.
A.G.: Now let’s talk about 1993, which I think was your greatest year. You missed the first two games of the season, and you had to sit for most of a game in the middle of the year. In a 16-game season, that’s a notable amount of stopping and starting. How were you able to blend in so seamlessly without the prescribed amount of practice?
E.S.: During those years, our teams were on the same page across the board. This was our fourth year together, and the level of communication was strong. We had a whole lot of offensive continuity both on the field and on the sidelines, so it wasn’t like I was ever starting from scratch. Any one of us could go out of the lineup for a few games, and we’d rarely miss a beat.
A.G.: After missing those first two games, did you have any inkling it would be an MVP season?
E.S.: Well, every year I would write down my goals – some individual goals, some team goals. The individual goals would go hand in hand with the team goals. So, being named MVP was a goal, and that went right along with striving to win the Super Bowl. Achieving these goals was not something I did by myself. We had an incredible group of football players and teammates, and the success we achieved was from all of us coming together truly as a team.
A.G.: It seems like that was one of the hallmarks of those Cowboys squads.
E.S.: One hundred percent. When folks talk about our offense, they usually talk about me, Troy, and Irv, but think about it: Our unit was stacked. When defenses have to also deal with guys like Moose Johnston, Alvin Harper, and Jay Novacek—and that’s some All-Pro talent right there—well, suffice to say that a guy like me gets a whole lot more holes to run through. And sometimes those holes got big.
A.G.: And that offensive line of yours was sick.
E.S.: Sick. Nate Newton, a beast. Erik Williams, a beast. Mark Tuinei, beast. Mark Stepnoski, beast. Kevin Gogan, beast. And you can’t sleep on Novacek as a blocker. Without them, there’s no way I even sniff an MVP award.
A.G.: That season, you had a career-high in receiving yards with 414, and it again bears mention again that you did it in just 13 games. How do you account for that?
E.S.: Again, I’ll give credit to my teammates. Our downfield blocking was on point. Alvin and Irv didn’t get nearly enough credit for their blocking skill. Plus, if I remember correctly, I think I racked up a lot of yards in those Philly games.
A.G.: You did, but that was mostly on the ground. You personally did horrible, horrible things to the Eagles defense that year. In your first game against them, you racked up 237 rushing yards, then in the rematch, 172. That’s 409 yards against a single team. Some running backs today call 409 yards a good season.
E.S.: (Laughs) I guess we had Philly’s number. They had a pretty solid defense, too. Clyde Simmons was there, Seth Joyner, Eric Allen, Andre Waters…good players. Sometimes, the matchups just work in your favor. Those games were close, though.
A.G.: It’s not like the Eagles were a bad team. They finished 8-8.
E.S.: Yeah, man, it was just one of those things. Like I said, sometimes you have a team’s number, and sometimes, they have yours. But we always got hyped for NFC East games. I think that year, we won all of the divisional games that I played in.
A.G.: I actually looked it up, and you indeed did. Might that have had something to do with how you fared in the MVP voting?
E.S.: It’s definitely possible. At the time in the NFL, there weren’t nearly as many games on national television, and we were on national TV a whole bunch. And I’d bet that a lot of our national games were the ones against the NFC East teams. If that was indeed the case, I guess that means more of the voters got to see me play against the East, so yeah, maybe those division games played a role with the MVP thing.
Watch This
Take a deeper dive
EXCLUSIVE EMMITT
Mr. Smith talks to Collectable about the Thorpe trophies
THE EAGLE HASN’T LANDED
Smith crushes the Philadelphia Eagles
SMITH VS. SMITH
Emmitt and Stephen A. discuss the Cowboys/Giants rivalry
A.G.: Do any of the regular season games stand out?
E.S.: The last game of the season, in New York, against the Giants.
A.G.: The shoulder game?
E.S.: Yes, the shoulder game. People forget that was a good Giants team, and that game was for the division title, a must-win. We went up by 13, then they caught us, and we won it, 16-13 in OT.
A.G.: Indeed. But the most memorable thing, of course, was that you played the second half with a separated shoulder. How did you fight through the pain? If I twist an ankle, I’m down for at least a week.
E.S.: You block it out, focus on mind over matter. You go about your business. You look in the eyes of your teammates and keep going for them.
A.G.: But the trainers knew it happened.
E.S.: They sure did. They tried to sit me at halftime, and they tried to sit me after every series in the second half, and they tried to sit me during overtime. I wasn’t having it.
A.G.: So at no point did you consider shutting it down.
E.S.: Absolutely not. I’d already missed three games, and I wasn’t missing the rest of this one, what with the division on the line. I couldn’t let my guys down. I know any of them—Troy, Irv, Alvin, Moose, whoever—would’ve done the same thing. That’s the way we were. I know it sounds corny, but we were all for one, and one for all. I remember Nate and the entire O-line all but carried me back to the huddle after I got tackled. That was special. That’s what true teammates do.
A.G.: It still astounds me that you had 32 rushes and 10 receptions, about half of which came while you were theoretically in massive amounts of pain.
E.S.: (Laughs.) It astounds me, too. Whenever I see clips from that game, I’m always like, “Emmitt, man, what were you thinking?”
A.G.: I’m sure that game clinched you the MVP award.
E.S.: Maybe. It’s certainly possible. Like I was saying, back in the day, nationally televised games were a big deal when it came to that kind of thing, and that game in particular got a lot of coverage, both when it happened, and in the days following.
A.G.: I actually watched that game live TV, sitting in the apartment of a Giants fan. He was freaking out, naturally, and I told him to sit back and enjoy the Emmitt ride.
E.S.: I appreciate that. Did he enjoy the ride?
A.G.: Not even a little bit. So does that shoulder ever hurt?
E.S.: Whenever I see clips from that game, it does. (Laughs.)
A.G.: How did you feel when you heard about winning the MVP?
E.S.: It was surreal. Again the Super Bowls are the big reward, but whenever I look at my MVP trophy—both the NFL and the NEA—I do feel a quiet sense of pride.
A.G.: It absolutely does make sense. Where does these MVP awards rank among your career highlights?
E.S.: Well, I take pride in my team accomplishments over anything, but these MVPs—as well as being inducted into the Hall of Fame— it’s humbling to be in a really, really special group of athletes. And I will tell you, I’ll always cherish that ’93 season, and not just because of the awards. I played with an amazing group of guys—not just amazing football players, but amazing people—and we were all pulling together as one. Seriously, it wasn’t about numbers. Troy never thought about numbers. Sure, Irv wanted his touches, but if he caught 15 balls and we didn’t win, he’d be pissed. For me, 100-yard games were great, but as they say, it don’t mean a thing without that ring.
Dig Deeper
Take an even deeper dive
THE LEGEND BEING LEGENDARY
Smith’s career highlights
ONE, TWO, CHA CHA CHA
Emmitt on Dancing With the Stars
GOLDEN JACKETS AND TEARS
Smith’s Hall of Fame speech
