most career rushing yards until 1997

Before 1998, Walter Payton had the most rushing yards, with 16,726 yards.

Interpreted as:
most career rushing yards by a player until 1997
NAMERUSH YDSGPATTYPCRUSH YDS/GRUSH TDREC YDSRECTRGAVGREC YDS/GREC TD
1Walter Payton
W. Payton
16,726
190
3,838
4.4
88.0
110
4,538
492
9.2
23.9
15
2Barry Sanders
B. Sanders
13,778
137
2,719
5.1
100.6
95
2,632
315
8.4
19.2
10
3Eric Dickerson
E. Dickerson
13,259
146
2,996
4.4
90.8
90
2,137
281
7.6
14.6
6
4Tony Dorsett
T. Dorsett
12,739
173
2,936
4.3
73.6
77
3,554
398
8.9
20.5
13
5Jim Brown
J. Brown
12,312
118
2,359
5.2
104.3
106
2,499
262
9.5
21.2
20
6Marcus Allen
M. Allen
12,243
222
3,022
4.1
55.1
123
5,411
587
9.2
24.4
21
7Franco Harris
F. Harris
12,120
173
2,949
4.1
70.1
91
2,287
307
7.4
13.2
9
8Thurman Thomas
T. Thomas
11,405
154
2,720
4.2
74.1
63
4,084
427
9.6
26.5
20
9John Riggins
J. Riggins
11,352
175
2,916
3.9
64.9
104
2,090
250
8.4
11.9
12
10O.J. Simpson
O.J. Simpson
11,236
135
2,404
4.7
83.2
61
2,142
203
10.6
15.9
14
11Emmitt Smith
E. Smith
11,234
124
2,595
4.3
90.6
112
2,434
388
6.3
19.6
7
12Ottis Anderson
O. Anderson
10,273
182
2,562
4.0
56.4
81
3,062
376
8.1
16.8
5
13Earl Campbell
E. Campbell
9,407
115
2,187
4.3
81.8
74
806
121
6.7
7.0
0
14Jim Taylor
J. Taylor
8,597
129
1,941
4.4
66.6
83
1,756
225
7.8
13.6
10
15Joe Perry
J. Perry
8,378
156
1,737
4.8
53.7
53
1,796
241
7.5
11.5
8
16Earnest Byner
E. Byner
8,261
211
2,095
3.9
39.2
56
4,605
512
9.0
21.8
15
17Herschel Walker
H. Walker
8,225
187
1,954
4.2
44.0
61
4,859
512
9.5
26.0
21
18Roger Craig
R. Craig
8,189
165
1,991
4.1
49.6
56
4,911
566
8.7
29.8
17
19Gerald Riggs
G. Riggs
8,188
129
1,989
4.1
63.5
69
1,516
201
7.5
11.8
0
20Larry Csonka
L. Csonka
8,081
146
1,891
4.3
55.3
64
820
106
7.7
5.6
4
21Freeman McNeil
F. McNeil
8,074
144
1,798
4.5
56.1
38
2,961
295
10.0
20.6
12
22James Brooks
J. Brooks
7,962
162
1,685
4.7
49.1
49
3,621
383
9.5
22.4
30
23Mike Pruitt
M. Pruitt
7,378
152
1,844
4.0
48.5
51
1,860
270
6.9
12.2
5
24Leroy Kelly
L. Kelly
7,274
136
1,727
4.2
53.5
74
2,281
190
12.0
16.8
13
25George Rogers
G. Rogers
7,176
92
1,692
4.2
78.0
54
368
55
6.7
4.0
0
StatMuse has season-level data for rushing yards going back to the 1932 season.

More Bears Stats

Team Leaders

PASS

3,942

Williams

Caleb Williams

RUSH

1,087

Swift

D'Andre Swift

REC

713

Loveland

Colston Loveland
Team Rankings

PPG

25.9

9th

OPP PPG

24.4

23rd

RUSH YDS/G

144.5

3rd

PASS YDS/G

234.8

12th

2025 Division Standings
TEAMWLTPCT
Bears Bears
11
6
0
.647
9
7
1
.559
9
8
0
.529
9
8
0
.529
Schedule
DATEMATCHUPTIME (ET)
Sat
1/10
@
8:00 PM
Last Game
DET Lions

9 - 8

19

Final

16

CHI Bears

11 - 6

Sun 4 Jan 2026

NFL 2025 Leaders

NFL 2025 Rankings

NFL Fantasy 2025

NFL 2025 Betting

NFL 2025 Standings

AFC EastWLTPCT
14
3
0
.824
Bills Bills - w
12
5
0
.706
7
10
0
.412
Jets Jets - e
3
14
0
.176
AFC NorthWLTPCT
10
7
0
.588
8
9
0
.471
6
11
0
.353
5
12
0
.294
AFC SouthWLTPCT
13
4
0
.765
12
5
0
.706
Colts Colts - e
8
9
0
.471
3
14
0
.176
AFC WestWLTPCT
14
3
0
.824
11
6
0
.647
6
11
0
.353
3
14
0
.176
NFC EastWLTPCT
11
6
0
.647
7
9
1
.441
5
12
0
.294
4
13
0
.235
NFC NorthWLTPCT
Bears Bears - y
11
6
0
.647
9
7
1
.559
9
8
0
.529
Lions Lions - e
9
8
0
.529
NFC SouthWLTPCT
8
9
0
.471
8
9
0
.471
8
9
0
.471
6
11
0
.353
NFC WestWLTPCT
14
3
0
.824
Rams Rams - w
12
5
0
.706
49ers 49ers - w
12
5
0
.706
3
14
0
.176

NFL 2025 Scores & Schedule

Scores

DATEMATCHUPSCORE
Sat
10/4
@
22-21
Sat
10/4
@
38-35
Sat
10/4
@
37-24
Sat
10/4
@
27-10
Sat
10/4
@
23-20

Schedule

DATEMATCHUPTIME (ET)
Sat
1/10
@
4:30 PM
Sat
1/10
@
8:00 PM
Sun
1/11
@
1:00 PM
Sun
1/11
@
4:30 PM
Sun
1/11
@
8:00 PM