most rushing yards after age 21

Emmitt Smith has the most career rushing yards by a player older than 21, with 17,418 yards.

Interpreted as:
most rushing yards by a player after age 21
NAMERUSH YDSGPATTYPCRUSH YDS/GRUSH TDREC YDSRECTRGAVGREC YDS/GREC TD
1Emmitt Smith
E. Smith
17,418
210
4,168
4.2
82.9
153
2,996
491
130
6.1
14.3
11
2Walter Payton
W. Payton
16,047
177
3,642
4.4
90.7
103
4,325
459
9.4
24.4
15
3Frank Gore
F. Gore
16,000
241
3,735
4.3
66.4
81
3,985
484
696
8.2
16.5
18
4Adrian Peterson
A. Peterson
14,918
184
3,230
4.6
81.1
120
2,474
305
423
8.1
13.4
6
5Curtis Martin
C. Martin
14,101
168
3,518
4.0
83.9
90
3,329
484
409
6.9
19.8
10
6Barry Sanders
B. Sanders
13,799
138
2,782
5.0
100.0
85
2,639
328
8.0
19.1
10
7LaDainian Tomlinson
L. Tomlinson
13,684
170
3,174
4.3
80.5
145
4,772
624
868
7.6
28.1
17
8Eric Dickerson
E. Dickerson
13,259
146
2,996
4.4
90.8
90
2,137
281
7.6
14.6
6
9Derrick Henry
D. Henry
13,018
153
2,662
4.9
85.1
122
1,801
189
245
9.5
11.8
5
10Tony Dorsett
T. Dorsett
12,739
173
2,936
4.3
73.6
77
3,554
398
8.9
20.5
13
11Marcus Allen
M. Allen
12,243
222
3,022
4.1
55.1
123
5,411
587
9.2
24.4
21
12Jerome Bettis
J. Bettis
12,233
176
3,185
3.8
69.5
84
1,205
174
100
6.9
6.8
3
13Franco Harris
F. Harris
12,120
173
2,949
4.1
70.1
91
2,287
307
7.4
13.2
9
14Thurman Thomas
T. Thomas
12,074
182
2,877
4.2
66.3
65
4,458
472
29
9.4
24.5
23
15Fred Taylor
F. Taylor
11,695
153
2,534
4.6
76.4
66
2,384
290
348
8.2
15.6
8
16John Riggins
J. Riggins
11,352
175
2,916
3.9
64.9
104
2,090
250
8.4
11.9
12
17Corey Dillon
C. Dillon
11,241
150
2,618
4.3
74.9
82
1,913
244
278
7.8
12.8
7
18O.J. Simpson
O.J. Simpson
11,236
135
2,404
4.7
83.2
61
2,142
203
10.6
15.9
14
19Marshall Faulk
M. Faulk
10,997
160
2,522
4.4
68.7
89
6,353
715
606
8.9
39.7
35
20Warrick Dunn
W. Dunn
10,967
181
2,669
4.1
60.6
49
4,339
510
594
8.5
24.0
15
21Steven Jackson
S. Jackson
10,765
146
2,630
4.1
73.7
65
3,494
442
603
7.9
23.9
9
22Edgerrin James
E. James
10,693
132
2,659
4.0
81.0
67
2,778
371
497
7.5
21.0
7
23Ricky Watters
R. Watters
10,643
144
2,622
4.1
73.9
78
4,248
467
176
9.1
29.5
13
24Thomas Jones
T. Jones
10,591
180
2,678
4.0
58.8
68
2,023
308
410
6.6
11.2
3
25LeSean McCoy
L. McCoy
10,465
154
2,302
4.5
68.0
69
3,590
478
610
7.5
23.3
16
StatMuse has game-level data for rushing yards going back to the 1960 season.

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More Cowboys Stats

Team Leaders

PASS

4,552

Prescott

Dak Prescott

RUSH

1,201

Williams

Javonte Williams

REC

1,429

Pickens

George Pickens
Team Rankings

PPG

27.7

7th

OPP PPG

30.1

32nd

RUSH YDS/G

125.6

9th

PASS YDS/G

278.5

1st

2025 Division Standings
TEAMWLTPCT
11
6
0
.647
Cowboys Cowboys
7
9
1
.441
5
12
0
.294
4
13
0
.235
Schedule
DATEMATCHUPTIME (ET)
Sun
9/13
@
8:20 PM
Sun
9/20
@
4:25 PM
Sun
9/27
@
4:25 PM
Sun
10/4
@
1:00 PM
Thu
10/8
@
8:15 PM
Last Game
DAL Cowboys

7 - 9 - 1

17

Final

34

NYG Giants

4 - 13

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
Sun
10/12
@
29-27
Sun
10/12
@
27-30
Sun
10/12
@
25-19
Sun
10/12
@
10-20
Sun
10/12
@
18-27

Schedule

DATEMATCHUPTIME (ET)
Wed
9/9
@
8:20 PM
Thu
9/10
@
8:35 PM
Sun
9/13
@
1:00 PM
Sun
9/13
@
1:00 PM
Sun
9/13
@
1:00 PM