most rushing yards in nfl from 1950 to 2001

Between the 1950 and 2001 seasons, Walter Payton rushed for the most yards, with 16,726 yards.

Interpreted as:
most rushing yards by a player in NFL from 1950 to 2001
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
2Emmitt Smith
E. Smith
16,187
185
3,798
4.3
87.5
148
2,923
470
67
6.2
15.8
11
3Barry Sanders
B. Sanders
15,269
153
3,062
5.0
99.8
99
2,921
352
8.3
19.1
10
4Eric Dickerson
E. Dickerson
13,259
146
2,996
4.4
90.8
90
2,137
281
7.6
14.6
6
5Tony Dorsett
T. Dorsett
12,739
173
2,936
4.3
73.6
77
3,554
398
8.9
20.5
13
6Jim Brown
J. Brown
12,312
118
2,359
5.2
104.3
106
2,499
262
9.5
21.2
20
7Marcus Allen
M. Allen
12,243
222
3,022
4.1
55.1
123
5,411
587
9.2
24.4
21
8Franco Harris
F. Harris
12,120
173
2,949
4.1
70.1
91
2,287
307
7.4
13.2
9
9Thurman Thomas
T. Thomas
12,074
182
2,877
4.2
66.3
65
4,458
472
29
9.4
24.5
23
10John Riggins
J. Riggins
11,352
175
2,916
3.9
64.9
104
2,090
250
8.4
11.9
12
11O.J. Simpson
O.J. Simpson
11,236
135
2,404
4.7
83.2
61
2,142
203
10.6
15.9
14
12Jerome Bettis
J. Bettis
10,876
136
2,686
4.0
80.0
53
1,220
170
57
7.2
9.0
3
13Ricky Watters
R. Watters
10,643
144
2,622
4.1
73.9
78
4,248
467
176
9.1
29.5
13
14Ottis Anderson
O. Anderson
10,273
182
2,562
4.0
56.4
81
3,062
376
8.1
16.8
5
15Marshall Faulk
M. Faulk
9,442
121
2,155
4.4
78.0
79
5,447
548
320
9.9
45.0
31
16Earl Campbell
E. Campbell
9,407
115
2,187
4.3
81.8
74
806
121
6.7
7.0
0
17Curtis Martin
C. Martin
9,267
108
2,343
4.0
85.8
64
2,342
328
221
7.1
21.7
8
18Terry Allen
T. Allen
8,614
130
2,152
4.0
66.3
73
1,601
204
40
7.8
12.3
6
19Jim Taylor
J. Taylor
8,597
129
1,941
4.4
66.6
83
1,756
225
7.8
13.6
10
20Joe Perry
J. Perry
8,378
156
1,737
4.8
53.7
53
1,796
241
7.5
11.5
8
21Earnest Byner
E. Byner
8,261
211
2,095
3.9
39.2
56
4,605
512
9.0
21.8
15
22Herschel Walker
H. Walker
8,225
187
1,954
4.2
44.0
61
4,859
512
9.5
26.0
21
23Roger Craig
R. Craig
8,189
165
1,991
4.1
49.6
56
4,911
566
8.7
29.8
17
24Gerald Riggs
G. Riggs
8,188
129
1,989
4.1
63.5
69
1,516
201
7.5
11.8
0
25Larry Csonka
L. Csonka
8,081
146
1,891
4.3
55.3
64
820
106
7.7
5.6
4
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
Last Game
LAR Rams

2 - 0

20

Final

17

CHI Bears

1 - 1

Sun 18 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