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Emmitt Smith memorabilia collection, new eBay auction tell story of historic NFL career
When Emmitt Smith was selected in the first round of the 1990 NFL Draft by the Dallas Cowboys, his father had some sage advice for his record-setting son.
“He told me, ‘Son, keep everything that you have because you never know your place in history,’” Smith recalls his father, Emmitt James Smith II, telling him.
Little did they know that Emmitt Smith III would become the greatest running back in NFL history, rushing for a record 18,355 yards and scoring a record 164 rushing touchdowns over his 15-year Hall of Fame career.
Smith followed the advice of his father, who passed away in February, and kept nearly every artifact, every piece of equipment and every memorabilia item he collected during his legendary career. He now shares those historic items with fans and collectors through multiple sports collectible businesses he owns and through a new, unique partnership with eBay.
“Little did I know that I would have the opportunity, would I have the longevity to play in the National Football League for 15 years,” Smith said in an exclusive interview with Sports Collectors Digest. “Fortunately for me, I was able to play for 15 years and do the things that I was able to accomplish and take his message and keep everything that I had, touchdown footballs, jerseys, helmets, cleats, gloves, other artifacts that I have collected over the years, high school helmets, high school jerseys, college helmets, college jerseys, awards and everything else, I kept all those things.
“When you look up at the end of the rainbow, now you are sitting here as the all-time leading rusher who has done something that no other man in the history of the game has done and your stuff becomes very valuable along the way. It’s like, ’Wow, here’s some meaning to what you are doing.’”
Smith now markets and sales his own memorabilia through multiple outlets, including Notable Live, a digital engagement platform that offers fans and collectors immersive experiences with athletes and teams, and the PROVA Group, a real-time digital authentication company. Smith co-founded and owns both companies and uses them to not only market and sale his memorabilia, but to offer fans unique engagement experiences and opportunities.
“You know you are not going to hold on to all these items and people value these items a lot more than you do, so why not go ahead and release it now? Why wait ’til when I’m dead?” Smith said. “Why not release it now and give people very unique experiences around these items where they can hear me talk about the meaning and the purpose and what happened and what transpired with me carrying this football in that particular game or that jersey or that helmet?
“All these things that I have kept have a story around it, and they are not going to tell the story by themselves.”
In 2018, Smith and fan Mike Antonucci co-founded Notable Live, a unique platform that provides fans unparalleled access to notable athletes and their memorabilia. In January, the company partnered with eBay to provide engagement opportunities for fans and collectors and to host live memorabilia auctions.
Notable and eBay opened a new auction on April 18 that features 15 unique items from Smith’s personal memorabilia collection, including game-used footballs, jerseys, awards and more.
“We’re excited to connect eBay’s community of enthusiasts with memorabilia from Emmitt Smith, a legend of sport,” said Mayank Hajela, eBay’s director of collectibles. “Our partnership with Notable Live demonstrates our commitment to delivering unique and authentic experiences for sports fans and collectors.”
For Smith, partnering with eBay, which has 134 million buyers and 17 million sellers worldwide, made sense for his mission and collectible companies.
“When you have a company like eBay that has [134 million] users and buyers on their platform and you have notables that have very unique items that you can get, especially when you are dealing with a world of authentication where people are questioning whether or not these are of value and how they hold their value and where they come from, having a company like eBay and Notable and PROVA do authentication is one of those things that intrigued me and made this partnership work and worth pursuing,” Smith said.
“The one thing I have always wanted my fans and followers and viewers to have is something that is authentic from me, or authentic period, because over the years I have seen so many things that have been placed out in the world that have been in question.”
One of the most unique and valuable items in the auction is the game-used football from when Smith surpassed 18,000 yards rushing. Smith broke Walter Payton’s all-time rushing record of 16,726 yards in October 2002, and later became the only player in NFL history to rush for more than 18,000 yards.
“It is a rare item,” Smith said. “No man in the history of the game has ever rushed for more than 18,000 yards, and I was the first. It’s the first of its kind. I’m not going to say it’s the last of its kind, but it’s definitely the first of its kind, and that makes this ball very unique, very rare and very scarce. And the way that I protect these balls that I have collected over the years is another indication of how rare it is.
“For someone to bid on this item, they are bidding not only on history, but they are bidding on something that the marketplace cannot duplicate.”
The auction, which runs through April 29, also features an autographed trading card, a football and a silver coin commemorating Smith’s NFL rushing record.
Other key memorabilia items include:
• A 1992 game-used football from career receiving touchdown #2 on 11/26/92 against the Giants.
• 1993 game-used football from career rushing touchdown #46 on 11/17/93 vs. the Giants.
• 1994 game ball presented for Smith’s 229-yard performance on 1/2/94 (Smith LOA) vs. the Giants.
• 2003 game-used Arizona Cardinals red uniform pants.
• 2004 game-issued Arizona Cardinals #22 white road jersey.
The auction also includes several special awards presented to Smith, including his: 1995 NFL Alumni (Dallas Chapter) “The Pat Summerall & John Madden All Time Dallas Cowboys Team” award; 2007 Florida High School Athletic Association All-Century Football Team plaque; and his framed 1989 Kodak All-American Team certificate.
Smith estimates he has accumulated more than 1,500 memorabilia items during his career, including many from his youth, high school and college career at the University of Florida.
“There are so many more items that I have, trophies from when I was 8 years old, all the way up through my career of football, things that are tied to my youth years, things that are tied to my high school years, as well as my college years,” he said.
“I’m starting to release these things into the marketplace because they are very unique and very rare. It is not that often that you have an opportunity to collect their stuff that goes that far back.”
Smith’s personal collection, accumulated thanks to that sage advice from his late father, tells the story of his place in history as one of the greatest football players of all time.
“It’s a clear indication of the caliber player I was then and the caliber of football player I became,” he said. “This is part of my history … and my DNA goes all the way back to when I was 8 years old and you can see the evolution of a man and of a player and what kind of player he became over time. … It validates that what I have done in my career has not been a joke and it wasn’t by happenstance, it was a man who was destined to do great things and was able to do it.”
Jeff Owens is the editor of SCD.
