Who Is The NFL Rushing Leader?

The current NFL rushing leader is Derrick Henry of the Tennessee Titans.

Emmitt Smith

Emmitt Smith is the NFL’s all-time leading rusher. He played for the Dallas Cowboys for thirteen seasons and retired as a member of the Arizona Cardinals. Smith is the only running back to have ever won a Super Bowl MVP award.

NFL Career

Emmitt Smith is a former American football running back who played for the Dallas Cowboys and Arizona Cardinals of the National Football League (NFL) for fifteen seasons. A three-time Super Bowl champion with the Cowboys, Smith is the league’s all-time rushing leader, having racked up 18,355 yards on 4,409 carries during his career. He is also the NFL’s all-time leader in rushing touchdowns, with 164.

Smith grew up in Pensacola, Florida and became the bio-son of James Smith and his wife Betty during his sophomore year of high school. He began his college football career at Florida State University before transferring to the University of Florida due to disciplinary issues. During his time at Florida, he helped the Gators win two SEC championships in 1987 and 1989, respectively. Following his collegiate career, Smith was drafted by the Dallas Cowboys in the first round of 1990 NFL Draft. He became Dallas’ starting running back during his rookie season after fullback Daryl Johnston suffered a season-ending knee injury in a preseason game. As a result, he won both the NFL Rookie Of The Year Award and NFC Rookie Of The Year Award that year.

During his career with Dallas, Smith helped them win three Super Bowls: XXVII (1992), XXVIII (1993), and XXX (1996). He was named to eight Pro Bowls from 1991 to 1998 and led the league in rushing four times: 1991 with 1,563 yards; 1992 with 1,713 yards; 1995 with 1,773 yards; and 1997 with 1,643 yards. In 2002, Emmitt Smith was traded to the Arizona Cardinals where he played for two more seasons before retiring as a player in 2004.

NFL Rushing Leader

Emmitt Smith is the NFL’s all-time leading rusher. He played for the Dallas Cowboys from 1990 to 2002, and is the only running back to ever win a Super Bowl MVP award. Smith is also a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

LaDainian Tomlinson

LaDainian Tomlinson is an American football running back who is currently a free agent. He was drafted by the San Diego Chargers fifth overall in the 2001 NFL Draft. He played college football at Texas Christian University. He is the NFL’s most prolific rusher of all time.

NFL Career

LaDainian Tomlinson was born on June 23, 1979, in Rosebud, Texas. He played football and ran track at University High School in Waco, Texas. As a running back for TCU from 1997 to 2000, Tomlinson became the school’s all-time leading rusher with 5,263 yards. He also set an NCAA Division I-A career record with 38 100-yard rushing games. The San Diego Chargers selected Tomlinson in the first round of the 2001 NFL Draft.

In his 11 seasons with the Chargers (2001–09), Tomlinson became the franchise’s all-time leader in rushing yards (12,490), rushing touchdowns (145), total touchdowns (162), and points scored (978). He also holds the single-season club records for rushing yards (1,815 in 2006) and total touchdowns (31 in 2006). His 28 rushing touchdowns in 2002 and 2003 were also NFL seasons records. In 2005, he was honored as both the Associated Press’ NFL Most Valuable Player and Offensive Player of the Year after leading the league with 1,815 rushing yards and 28 total touchdowns. In 2009, he signed a two-year contract with the New York Jets.

NFL Rushing Leader

LaDainian Tomlinson is the current NFL rushing leader. He is a running back for the New York Jets. He was drafted fifth overall in the 2001 NFL Draft by the San Diego Chargers. He played for the Chargers from 2001 to 2009. He then played for the Jets from 2010 to 2011. He is currently a free agent.

Walter Payton

Payton was drafted by the Chicago Bears in the first round of the 1975 NFL Draft. He played his entire career for the Bears from 1975 to 1987 and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1993. He set many records during his career, including most rushing yards in a season and most rushing yards in a career. Payton was also the NFL’s Most Valuable Player in 1977 and the Super Bowl XX Most Valuable Player.

NFL Career

Walter Jerry Payton (July 25, 1954 – November 1, 1999) was an American football running back who played for the Chicago Bears of the National Football League (NFL) for thirteen seasons. Payton was known around the NFL as “Sweetness”.

A nine-time Pro Bowl selectee, Payton is remembered as a prolific rusher, once holding records for most rushing yards in a career and most rushing yards in a season, although both records have since been broken. He was also versatile, and retired with 56 receptions for 1,852 yards and nine touchdowns. He retired second all-time to Jim Brown in career rushing attempts (3,838), third in rushing yards (16,726), and fourth in touchdowns (110). His record for career rushing touchdowns stood until 2002 when Emmitt Smith broke it. He is currently ranked fifth all time in career rushing yards and sixth all time in career rushing touchdowns.

In 1999, he was inducted into both the NFL Hall of Fame and the College Football Hall of Fame.

NFL Rushing Leader

In the National Football League (NFL), the record for most rushing yards in a career is held by Walter Payton, who had 16,726 yards from 1976 to 1987. Payton, a running back for the Chicago Bears, was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1993.