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 primari...
About: Most Career Rushing Yards in NFL History
Overview of the data behind this chart
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.
Key Findings
Auto-computed highlights from this dataset
🏆
Emmitt Smith leads with 18,355 in All Time.
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Average value in All Time: 15,327 · median: 15,045.
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Gap in All Time: Emmitt Smith is 1.3× larger than Jerome Bettis.
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Most Career Rushing Yards in NFL History
Data Insights
Numbers, trends & sources behind this chart⬡
Data Points
8
8 categories
·
1 year
↑
Top Value
18,355
Emmitt Smith
Career NFL Rushing Yards · All Time
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Metrics
1
Career NFL Rushing Yards
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Period
All Time
Single year snapshot
Category Rankings
Ranked by All Time value · vs. All Time| # | Category | All Time | All Time | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 🥇 | Emmitt Smith | 18,355 | 18,355 | +0% |
| 🥈 | Walter Payton | 16,726 | 16,726 | +0% |
| 🥉 | Frank Gore | 16,000 | 16,000 | +0% |
| 4 | Barry Sanders | 15,269 | 15,269 | +0% |
| 5 | Adrian Peterson | 14,820 | 14,820 | +0% |
| 6 | Curtis Martin | 14,101 | 14,101 | +0% |
| 7 | LaDainian Tomlinson | 13,684 | 13,684 | +0% |
| 8 | Jerome Bettis | 13,662 | 13,662 | +0% |
Statistical Summary — All Time
18,355
Maximum
13,662
Minimum
15,327
Average
15,045
Median
What This Data Shows
Auto-generated trend summaries per category
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Full Data Table
8 records across 1 yearData Sources & References
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