most rushing yards in nfl from 1950 to 2015

Between the 1950 and 2015 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 2015
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
5LaDainian Tomlinson
L. Tomlinson
13,684
170
3,174
4.3
80.5
145
4,772
624
868
7.6
28.1
17
6Jerome Bettis
J. Bettis
13,662
192
3,479
3.9
71.2
91
1,449
200
100
7.2
7.5
3
7Eric Dickerson
E. Dickerson
13,259
146
2,996
4.4
90.8
90
2,137
281
7.6
14.6
6
8Tony Dorsett
T. Dorsett
12,739
173
2,936
4.3
73.6
77
3,554
398
8.9
20.5
13
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
15Frank Gore
F. Gore
12,040
164
2,702
4.5
73.4
70
3,150
376
560
8.4
19.2
12
16Fred Taylor
F. Taylor
11,695
153
2,534
4.6
76.4
66
2,384
290
348
8.2
15.6
8
17Adrian Peterson
A. Peterson
11,675
120
2,381
4.9
97.3
97
1,937
238
327
8.1
16.1
5
18Steven Jackson
S. Jackson
11,438
160
2,764
4.1
71.5
69
3,683
461
627
8.0
23.0
9
19John Riggins
J. Riggins
11,352
175
2,916
3.9
64.9
104
2,090
250
8.4
11.9
12
20Corey Dillon
C. Dillon
11,241
150
2,618
4.3
74.9
82
1,913
244
278
7.8
12.8
7
21O.J. Simpson
O.J. Simpson
11,236
135
2,404
4.7
83.2
61
2,142
203
10.6
15.9
14
22Warrick Dunn
W. Dunn
10,967
181
2,669
4.1
60.6
49
4,339
510
594
8.5
24.0
15
23Ricky Watters
R. Watters
10,643
144
2,622
4.1
73.9
78
4,248
467
176
9.1
29.5
13
24Jamal Lewis
J. Lewis
10,607
131
2,542
4.2
81.0
58
1,879
221
298
8.5
14.3
4
25Thomas Jones
T. Jones
10,591
180
2,678
4.0
58.8
68
2,023
308
410
6.6
11.2
3
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
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Cowboys Cowboys
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1
.441
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Bills Bills - w
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0
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10
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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
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Colts Colts - e
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AFC WestWLTPCT
14
3
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14
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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
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9
8
0
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Lions Lions - e
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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