Most Career Rushing Yards in NFL History

Source: Wikipedia

Most Career Rushing Yards in NFL History

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Key Findings

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Emmitt Smith leads in Career NFL Rushing Yards with 18,355.

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Average Career NFL Rushing Yards: 15,327 · median: 15,045.

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Gap: Emmitt Smith is 1.3× larger than Jerome Bettis.

About This Dataset

Most Career Rushing Yards in NFL History

NFL running backs ranked by total career rushing yards in regular season play according to official NFL records. Emmitt Smith's record of 18,355 career rushing yards stands as the all-time NFL benchmark — accumulated over 15 seasons primarily with the Dallas Cowboys, during which he won three Super Bowl rings and was named Super Bowl MVP, cementing a legacy as the most prolific ball-carrier in the history of American football.

Analysis

Emmitt Smith heads the table on 18,355, ahead of Walter Payton (16,726) and Frank Gore (16,000) in Career NFL Rushing Yards. 4,693 separates the highest figure (18,355) from the lowest (13,662) in Career NFL Rushing Yards. First and second are separated by 1,629, so the leader sits inside the field rather than apart from it. Places 3 to 8 are close together, spanning 16,000 to 13,662 Career NFL Rushing Yards.

Data Insights Below

Data Insights

Numbers, trends & sources behind this chart

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Data Points

8 categories · 1 year

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Top Value

18,355

Emmitt Smith

Career NFL Rushing Yards · All Time

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Metrics

Career NFL Rushing Yards

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Period

All Time

Single year snapshot

Methodology & source

Data source: Wikipedia
Coverage: 8 entities · 8 observations
Measure: Career NFL Rushing Yards
Last updated: 6 September 2026
Compiled by: The ANYSTAT team, from the source above

How the figures are calculated

Values use the measure and unit named on this page. Consult the dataset description and cited source for coverage, definitions and any unit conversions. Displayed values may be rounded for readability.
Entities are ranked highest-first on their value.

Rankings & Full Data

8 records · Career NFL Rushing Yards · ranked by All Time

✓ 8 sourced

#	Category	All Time
🥇	Emmitt Smith	18,355
🥈	Walter Payton	16,726
🥉	Frank Gore	16,000
4	Barry Sanders	15,269
5	Adrian Peterson	14,820
6	Curtis Martin	14,101
7	LaDainian Tomlinson	13,684
8	Jerome Bettis	13,662

Data Sources & References

All external sources cited in this dataset

1 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emmitt_Smith Visit ↗

2 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Payton Visit ↗

3 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barry_Sanders Visit ↗

4 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Gore Visit ↗

5 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adrian_Peterson Visit ↗

6 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curtis_Martin Visit ↗

7 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LaDainian_Tomlinson Visit ↗

8 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerome_Bettis Visit ↗

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APA

ANYSTAT. (2026). Most Career Rushing Yards in NFL History [Data set]. Data: Wikipedia. https://anystat.ai/stats/401/most-career-rushing-yards-nfl-all-time

MLA

"Most Career Rushing Yards in NFL History." ANYSTAT, 6 Sep. 2026, https://anystat.ai/stats/401/most-career-rushing-yards-nfl-all-time.

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<a href="https://anystat.ai/stats/401/most-career-rushing-yards-nfl-all-time">Most Career Rushing Yards in NFL History</a> (ANYSTAT)

Most Career Rushing Yards in NFL History