most rushing yards in nfl from 1950 to 2009

Between the 1950 and 2009 seasons, Emmitt Smith rushed for the most yards, with 18,355 yards.

Interpreted as:
most rushing yards by a player in NFL from 1950 to 2009
NAMERUSH YDSGPATTYPCRUSH YDS/GRUSH TDREC YDSRECTRGAVGREC YDS/GREC TD
1Emmitt Smith
E. Smith
18,355
226
4,409
4.2
81.2
164
3,224
515
130
6.3
14.3
11
2Walter Payton
W. Payton
16,726
190
3,838
4.4
88.0
110
4,538
492
9.2
23.9
15
3Barry Sanders
B. Sanders
15,269
153
3,062
5.0
99.8
99
2,921
352
8.3
19.1
10
4Curtis Martin
C. Martin
14,101
168
3,518
4.0
83.9
90
3,329
484
409
6.9
19.8
10
5Jerome Bettis
J. Bettis
13,662
192
3,479
3.9
71.2
91
1,449
200
100
7.2
7.5
3
6Eric Dickerson
E. Dickerson
13,259
146
2,996
4.4
90.8
90
2,137
281
7.6
14.6
6
7Tony Dorsett
T. Dorsett
12,739
173
2,936
4.3
73.6
77
3,554
398
8.9
20.5
13
8LaDainian Tomlinson
L. Tomlinson
12,490
141
2,880
4.3
88.6
138
3,955
530
728
7.5
28.0
15
9Jim Brown
J. Brown
12,312
118
2,359
5.2
104.3
106
2,499
262
9.5
21.2
20
10Marshall Faulk
M. Faulk
12,279
176
2,836
4.3
69.8
100
6,875
767
606
9.0
39.1
36
11Edgerrin James
E. James
12,246
148
3,028
4.0
82.7
80
3,364
433
584
7.8
22.7
11
12Marcus Allen
M. Allen
12,243
222
3,022
4.1
55.1
123
5,411
587
9.2
24.4
21
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
11,540
146
2,491
4.6
79.0
66
2,378
288
345
8.3
16.3
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
19Warrick Dunn
W. Dunn
10,967
181
2,669
4.1
60.6
49
4,339
510
594
8.5
24.0
15
20Ricky Watters
R. Watters
10,643
144
2,622
4.1
73.9
78
4,248
467
176
9.1
29.5
13
21Jamal Lewis
J. Lewis
10,607
131
2,542
4.2
81.0
58
1,879
221
298
8.5
14.3
4
22Tiki Barber
T. Barber
10,449
154
2,217
4.7
67.9
55
5,183
586
707
8.8
33.7
12
23Eddie George
E. George
10,441
141
2,865
3.6
74.0
68
2,227
268
269
8.3
15.8
10
24Ottis Anderson
O. Anderson
10,273
182
2,562
4.0
56.4
81
3,062
376
8.1
16.8
5
25Clinton Portis
C. Portis
9,696
108
2,176
4.5
89.8
73
1,963
242
329
8.1
18.2
5
StatMuse has season-level data for rushing yards going back to the 1932 season.

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RUSH YDS/G

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TEAMWLTPCT
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6
0
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Cowboys Cowboys
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9
1
.441
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AFC EastWLTPCT
14
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Bills Bills - w
12
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0
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7
10
0
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Jets Jets - e
3
14
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AFC NorthWLTPCT
10
7
0
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8
9
0
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AFC SouthWLTPCT
13
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Colts Colts - e
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AFC WestWLTPCT
14
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11
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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
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Lions Lions - e
9
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0
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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