If there is one thing that stands out about the 1992 Score Football card set, it's the unique design.
The full-color borders were common for Score products of the day and the nameplates across the top scream "early 90s."
Take one glance at this set and there's no question it's a Score product...
The 550-card checklist wasn't overbearing compared to some of the larger sets in 1992 from Pro Set, Topps and Upper Deck.
But it did leave room for some of those classic "oddball" subsets that Score was known for, which we'll get to later.
In terms of the players, you won't find any big-time rookie cards in the set, but you will see plenty of big-name stars.
Overall, it's a straightforward and simple set.
And in this guide, we'll take a look at the 12 most valuable.
Let's jump right in!
1992 Score #1 Barry Sanders
Estimated PSA 10 Gem Mint Value: $40
And just like that, it all turned for the worse.
The Detroit Lions fell off a cliff a year after the franchise's first NFC Championship Game.
Detroit went 1-4 to start the 1992 season, and all those losses came by one score.
It was a sign of a more pressing problem: an offensive line that busted as soon as the chips were on the table.
The Lions finished at 5-11, the franchise's eighth losing campaign in nine tries.
Even the immortal Barry Sanders' best efforts were wasted by Detroit's imploding front five.
Sanders had his worst season to date, yet it was still an elite performance compared to the rest of the league's running backs.
The 24-year-old halfback rushed 312 times on the year for 1,352 carries and nine touchdowns, good for a career-worst 4.3 yards per carry.
The second-team All-Pro also nabbed 29 receptions for 225 yards and a score.
Imagine what he could have done with a halfway competent O-line.
1992 Score #65 Emmitt Smith
Estimated PSA 10 Gem Mint Value: $40
The 1992 Dallas Cowboys were as complete a Super Bowl champion as we've ever had.
Dallas placed in the top five of the league in passing yards (5th), rushing yards (5th), passing yards allowed (5th), rushing yards allowed (1st), points for (2nd), and points against (5th).
The Cowboys were opportunistic, deep, and relentless all the way through a 52-17 Super Bowl XXVII beatdown of the Buffalo Bills.
Without First-Team All-Pro running back Emmitt Smith, all facets of the Cowboys' game might have been much weaker.
Smith controlled time of possession all year long, opening one-on-one coverage for the team's wideouts and keeping the defense fresh.
The 23-year-old won his second consecutive rushing title (1,713) and led the NFL in rushing touchdowns (18), touches (432), and total skill-position TDs (19).
He gained over 2,000 yards from scrimmage for the first time and finished third in both the NFL MVP and Offensive Player of the Year races.
1992 Score #528 Barry Sanders
Estimated PSA 10 Gem Mint Value: $35
The "Little Big Men" subset highlighted five players (Steve Broussard, Dave Meggett, Darrell Green, Tony Jones and Barry Sanders) who, though they may have been among the shortest players in the league, produced big results.
Of the five, Sanders stood tallest at 5'8".
The reverse of the card mentions that Sanders possessed incredible running instincts, mobility, and quickness that were a nightmare for opposing defenders.
It also mentions that he was the best running back in the league and destined for the Hall of Fame.
Even with only three seasons under his belt by the 1992 season, Score wasted no time in calling Sanders a future Hall of Famer.
It was that clear.
I think the concept of a "Little Big Men" subset is a bit unusual out of context but it was pretty much on par for the kinds of things Score was known for back then.
1992 Score #413 John Elway
Estimated PSA 10 Gem Mint Value: $30
The Denver Broncos and star quarterback John Elway had a chance to salvage a wrecked 1992 season with a season-ending win over the rival Kansas City Chiefs.
It was a perfect storm for Denver.
Kansas City head coach Marty Schottenheimer came into the game 1-9 against Elway, going so far as to joke that the legendary signal caller had a voodoo doll with his name on it.
Elway scorched the Chiefs in the season's first meeting with two touchdown passes in the game's final two minutes.
He wasn't so clutch in the second one.
Kansas City's defense scored three touchdowns in a 42-20 rout, sacking Elway six times and forcing two interceptions.
The 32-year-old QB was bombarded all day long and managed just a 50% completion rate (16-for-32).
It was a fitting end to a brutal season.
Elway missed four games with a bruised right shoulder, all resulting in backbreaking losses.
1992 Score #4 Steve Young
Estimated PSA 10 Gem Mint Value: $25
Steve Young never accepted his position as a backup.
His insistence on being the #1 QB in San Francisco remained a constant during his four years behind Hall-of-Famer Joe Montana.
It led to a tense working environment as head coach Bill Walsh's promises of a starting job were delayed by Montana's week-to-week heroics.
"I don't know that they liked each other very much, but they were always very respectful," late San Francisco Chronicle insider Lowell Cohn once said.
In 1992, Young finally held the reins as the guy by The Bay.
With Montana out with a throwing elbow injury, the 31-year-old took flight en route to a dominant victory in the league's MVP race.
Young led San Francisco to their fourth NFC title game in five years and topped the league in completion percentage (66.7%), passing touchdowns (25), yards per attempt (8.6), and passer rating (107.0).
The 49ers finished 14-2 for the franchise's third 14-win campaign in four tries.
1992 Score #10 Thurman Thomas
Estimated PSA 10 Gem Mint Value: $25
Both the 1991 and 1992 Buffalo Bills rode a #1 ranked rushing offense to a Super Bowl berth.
Both times, they were undone by that same ground attack.
Superstar running back Thurman Thomas won MVP honors in 1991 with a league-best 2,038 yards from scrimmage.
However, it all came undone in the Super Bowl as Thomas netted just 40 yards (13 rushing) in a 37-24 loss to Washington.
The '92 campaign was more of the same.
Thomas led the NFL in yards from scrimmage for a fourth consecutive season (2,113) to finish fifth for Offensive Player of the Year.
Buffalo wore down opponents with Thomas' elusive yet bruising work as both a rusher (1,487 yards, 9 touchdowns) and receiver (626 yards, 3 touchdowns).
It was a winning recipe.
That is, until the Super Bowl.
The Second-Team All-Pro once again disappeared in the year's biggest game, rushing for just 19 yards on 11 carries.
Dallas forced one Thomas fumble and held him to 29 yards overall in a 52-17 drubbing.
1992 Score #50 Warren Moon
Estimated PSA 10 Gem Mint Value: $25
Warren Moon made a gutsy comeback in 1992, only to fall victim to the ultimate "Comeback."
Moon fractured his upper left arm in a Week 11 win over Minnesota, costing him five games down the stretch.
Houston held firm in his absence with a 3-2 record, securing a playoff berth just in time for their star QB to return.
The 36-year-old returned for part-time duty in a 27-3 Week 17 win over Buffalo.
He ended the year with his fifth consecutive Pro Bowl nomination, completing 64.7% of his passes for 2,521 yards with 18 touchdowns against 12 interceptions.
Everything lined up perfectly for a Wild Card rematch with the Bills.
And it all looked even better early in the third quarter with Houston up 35-3.
That's when history kicked in.
Moon went from unstoppable to completely ineffective as Buffalo completed what was then the biggest comeback in NFL history, 41-38 in overtime.
1992 Score #20 Derrick Thomas
Estimated PSA 10 Gem Mint Value: $20
Derrick Thomas had a nose for the ball, and that nose dislodged a ton of fumbles during the 1992 NFL season.
Coming off of two First-Team All-Pro seasons in a row, the 25-year-old linebacker regressed as a run-stopper.
However, he made up for it with his downhill pass rushing and ability to target the ball from any tackling angle.
Thomas extended his career-opening streak of double-digit sack seasons to four (14.5) and forced a league-high eight fumbles.
He recovered three miscues, with one going back for a touchdown.
With the four-time Pro Bowler terrorizing opposing quarterbacks at will, 10-6 Kansas City finished second against the pass and fifth in overall defense on their way to a playoff berth.
The problem, however, was their weakness against the run.
Kansas City was gashed for 192 ground yards and two scores in a 17-0 Wild Card Round loss to division champion San Diego.
1992 Score #25 Reggie White
Estimated PSA 10 Gem Mint Value: $20
Reggie White wasn't just a wrecking ball on the field but off of it as well.
The Philadelphia Eagles defensive end was the lead plaintiff in a groundbreaking 1992-93 antitrust lawsuit that granted players the long-overdue option of true free agency.
The class-action suit by the NFL Players Association ended a two-decade push-and-pull between the organization and the league's owners.
White was the perfect face for the cause.
He was the most impactful defensive player in the league and among the game's most recognizable personalities.
He posted double-digit sacks (14) for an eighth consecutive season in '92, ending the year as the only player in history with more sacks (124) than games played (121).
The 31-year-old was the lynchpin of a 7th-ranked Eagles defense and a key reason why Philadelphia reached their fourth postseason in five years.
It was another brilliant effort, and months later, White got his bag in the league's first taste of real free agency.
1992 Score #30 Ronnie Lott
Estimated PSA 10 Gem Mint Value: $20
The drop-off for Ronnie Lott was sudden.
A multi-time First Team All-Pro and four-time Super Bowl champion with the San Francisco 49ers, Lott was essentially forced out of SF in 1991.
San Francisco left the Hall-of-Fame safety open for Plan B free agency and was unwilling to offer him more than a budget one-year deal due to his age and list of ongoing injuries.
Lott declined to settle for less, instead signing a two-year, non-guaranteed deal with the Los Angeles Raiders.
The first year went great.
Lott posted the second-highest interception total of his career (8) to notch his tenth Pro Bowl appearance and sixth All-Pro First Team nod.
The second year was a different story.
Lott looked worn down at points during his twelfth NFL season and posted just a single interception for the first time in his career.
His prime was over, abruptly as it was.
1992 Score #40 Michael Irvin
Estimated PSA 10 Gem Mint Value: $20
Michael Irvin was the playmaker that extended the Dallas Cowboys’ 1990s dynasty to the edges.
A polarizing personality and electric receiver, Irvin was the #1 option for three Super Bowl winners in four seasons.
The first of those titles came in 1992 and saw Irvin at his very best.
The 26-year-old Florida native earned his second Pro Bowl spot and a Second-Team All-Pro nomination, pulling down 78 receptions for 1,396 yards and seven touchdowns.
He posted six 100-yard games, including a 210-yard explosion in a Week 3 win over the Cardinals.
With Irvin as their leading option in the air by far, Dallas finished fifth in passing and second in points per game.
The motor kept on running in the postseason.
Irvin tallied 18 catches (on 24 targets) in three games for 288 yards and two touchdowns.
Both scores came in a Super Bowl XXVII beatdown of Buffalo, propelling quarterback Troy Aikman to game MVP honors.
1992 Score #399 Howie Long
Estimated PSA 10 Gem Mint Value: $20
The core of the 1992 Los Angeles Raiders defense was old in football years.
However, they were young in performance.
A weak Raiders offense let down a stalwart D that finished top ten in yards allowed (9th), first downs allowed (9th), passing touchdowns allowed (1st), and rushing yards per attempt (2nd).
Los Angeles finished 7-9 on the year, yet would have been near the bottom of the league standings without Howie Long and the rest of the defensive attack.
It was a remarkable return to form for Long after four injury-plagued seasons from 1988 to 1991.
The 32-year-old defensive end made his seventh Pro Bowl team and collected nine sacks, his highest output since making the All-Pro First Team in 1985.
Long also played in all sixteen games for his first full season since that same '85 campaign.
Although he didn't have the same speed and explosiveness as in years past, he was still an elite force.
1992 Score Football Cards In Review
Though I like the design and there are plenty of Hall of Famers in the set, one of the biggest disappointments is the lack of any big-name rookie cards.
Some of these guys like Steve Bono, Leon Searcy, and Darryl Williams went to a Pro Bowl here and there, but none of them ended up in Canton.
Along with the stigma that cards of this era were overprinted "junk", the lack of any key rookie cards means this set will remain overlooked for years to come.
Don't get me wrong, a pure collector will find plenty of reasons to enjoy the set, namely the long list of superstars and nostalgic value throughout the checklist.
But the casual collector won't give the set the time of day.
Like most sets of the era, Score included several different subsets to boost collector interest:
- Draft Picks (#476 - 514)
- Crunch Crew (#515 - 519)
- Rookie of the Year (#520 - 523)
- Little Big Men (#524 - 528)
- Sack Attack (529 - 533)
- Hall of Fame (#535 - 537)
- 90 Plus Club (#538 - 547)
The "Crunch Crew", "Little Big Men" and "Sack Attack" subsets are exactly the kind of subsets that you'd expect from a Score product of that period.
They were always looking for creative angles to boost collector interest.
If anything, they certainly helped Score stand out among the crowd, even if by a little bit.
Overall, this set is memorable for its unique design, star power, and hints of early 90s nostalgia.