JOIN OUR WHATSAPP CHANNEL
Top 5 Career Rushing Leaders Featuring Emmitt Smith, Walter Payton and More
Check out the top five all-time rushing leaders in National Football League (NFL) history. See if your favorite running back has made it to the list. Read on!
Running backs play a vital role in the American football team's offense. Although the average career of an RB might last only for two and a half seasons, there are some unbelievable players to have made unbelievable records in the all-time list.
The record for rushing yards takes time to be broken, once made, in comparison to the records for passing and receiving yards. It is not easy for the players to surpass or even match some of the league’s greats from earlier.
Among the top five lists, these rushers have rushed for at least 10,000 yards and have left a great task for the active leading rushers, who would need to work hard to even come closer. Check the incredible record list below.
Emmitt Smith (18355)
Emmitt Smith holds the top stop and leads with 18,355 yards. The 55-year-old former football running back has held the record to his name since 2002 and no other player with more than 17,000 rushing yards in the regular season.
As per a report in Statista, the former Dallas Cowboys star has recorded 11 back-to-back seasons with at least 1,000 yards from 1991 to 2001. Emmitt, who also played for the Arizona Cardinals, only missed seven games in total, in the aforementioned period.
Smith, the constant scoring threat for others, led the league in rushing for four separate years which also involved one of his MVP season.
Walter Payton (16726)
Walter Payton, who played for the Chicago Bears for 13-long seasons comes in second place. Payton, who was nicknamed Sweetness, had 1,000 or more rushing yards for 10 seasons.
In a game against Minnesota in 1977, the 1975 draft pick rushed 275 yards! Payton, who passed away in 1999 on November 1, is known as one of the greatest players in American football history. He concluded his career in 1987 with a 4.36 rushing average record.
Frank Gore (16000)
Frank Gore, who played for 16 seasons in the league, the former San Francisco 49ers star ranks third in the list so far with 16,000 rushing yards, 3,985 receiving yards, and 99 touchdowns.
The 41-year-old is well recognised for his longevity in the league which is very rare for a position he played for.
Barry Sanders (15269)
Barry Sanders played for 10 seasons in the league, for Detroit Lions, and led the rushing yards not once, twice, or thrice but four times! The 55-year-old is recognised for his quickness and agility and is considered one of the iconic runners in the National Football League.
Adrian Peterson (14918)
The 2007 NFL Draft pick by the Minnesota Vikings additionally set the league record for most rushing yards counting to 296, in a single game as a freshman. The former Okhlama Sooners player, who played in the league for 15 seasons, became the first rookie to end as a runner-up for the Heisman Trophy balloting.
Alongside being one of the top five all-time leading rushers, he also holds the freshman rushing record with 1,925 yards which the former running-back achieved in 2004.
You May Like This
Latest Articles
