List of professional gridiron football players with 20,000 career all-purpose yards

This is a list of professional football players with a career total of over 20,000 all-purpose yards,^[1] mostly comprised of players from the National Football League, Canadian Football League, and Arena Football League. All-purpose yardage is mostly accumulated as yards from scrimmage with receiving yards (including yards after catch) and rushing yards. This also includes return yards with punt, kickoff, interception, punt block, blocked kick, missed field goal or fumble return yardage. This does not include passing yards. Through the end of the 2022 season, only thirteen players have achieved this milestone. All statistics are combined between professional leagues for each player.

Players listed in bold are currently active.

Key[edit]

†	Inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame
††	Inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame
†††	Inducted into the Arena Football Hall of Fame

List of professional gridiron football players with 20,000 career all-purpose yards[edit]

Rank^[2]	Player	Position(s) regularly played	Seasons by team	Total all-purpose^[1] yards gained^[3]	Total rushing yards gained^[3]	Total receiving yards gained^[3]	Total interception return yards gained^[3]	Total punt return yards gained^[3]	Total kickoff return yards gained^[3]	Total recovered fumble return yards gained^[3]	Total missed field goal return^[4] yards gained^[3]
1	Pinball Clemons^††	Running back Punt returner Kick returner	Kansas City Chiefs (1987) Toronto Argonauts (1989–2000)	25,610	5,348	7,015	0	6,187	6,352	0	708
2	Gizmo Williams^††	Wide receiver Punt returner Kick returner	Memphis Showboats (1985) Edmonton Eskimos (1986–1988, 1990–2000) Philadelphia Eagles (1989)	25,571	105	3,755	0	11,751	8,314	0	1,646
3	Herschel Walker	Running back	New Jersey Generals (1983–1985) Dallas Cowboys (1986–1989, 1996–1997) Minnesota Vikings (1989–1991) Philadelphia Eagles (1992–1994) New York Giants (1995)	25,283	13,787	6,343	0	0	5,153	0	0
4	Mike Pringle^††	Running back	Atlanta Falcons (1990–1991) Sacramento Surge (1992) Edmonton Eskimos (1992) Sacramento Gold Miners (1993) Baltimore Stallions (1994–1995) Montreal Alouettes (1996–2002) Edmonton Eskimos (2003–2004)	23,825	16,940	3,906	0	0	2,979	0	0
5	Jerry Rice^†	Wide receiver	San Francisco 49ers (1985–2000) Oakland Raiders (2001–2004) Seattle Seahawks (2004)	23,546	645	22,895	0	0	6	0	0
6	Brian Mitchell	Running back Punt returner Kick returner	Washington Redskins (1990–1999) Philadelphia Eagles (2000–2002) New York Giants (2003)	23,330	1,967	2,336	0	4,999	14,014	14	0
7	T. T. Toliver	Wide receiver	Tampa Bay Storm (2002–2005, 2007, 2014–2016) Nashville Kats (2005–2006) Orlando Predators (2007–2013) Washington Valor (2017–2018)	22,244	319	16,488	58	0	5,379	0	0
8	Walter Payton^†	Running back	Chicago Bears (1975–1987)	21,803	16,726	4,538	0	0	539	0	0
9	Emmitt Smith^†	Running back	Dallas Cowboys (1990–2002) Arizona Cardinals (2003–2004)	21,564	18,355	3,224	0	0	0	(15)^[5]	0
10	Barry Wagner^†††	Wide receiver Defensive back	Orlando Predators (1992–1999, 2007) Chicago Bears (1992) San Jose SaberCats (2000–2006)	21,040	855	13,379	527	0	6279	0	0
11	Stefan Logan	Running back	BC Lions (2008, 2013–2014) Pittsburgh Steelers (2009) Detroit Lions (2010–2012) Montreal Alouettes (2015–2019) Ottawa Redblacks (2019)	20,709	2,151	1,023	0	5,979	11,026	4	526
12	George LaFrance^†††	Offensive specialist	Detroit Drive (1988–1993) Tampa Bay Storm (1994–1999) New Jersey Red Dogs (2000)	20,343	44	8,888	49	0	11,362	0	0
13	George Reed^††	Running back	Saskatchewan Roughriders (1963–1975)	20,058	16,116	2,772	0	0	1,168	2	0

Other facts[edit]

Each player has played in and won at least one Super Bowl, Grey Cup, or ArenaBowl, the only two exceptions being Herschel Walker and Stefan Logan. These two players are also the two of four players to not be inducted into any Hall of Fames. Brian Mitchell made his career as a special teams returner in the NFL, despite being the leader in return yards, has never been inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. T. T. Toliver is statistically the greatest wide receiver in Arena Football League history, with the most all-purpose yards in league history; however, his career ended with the league folding, putting a hold on the AFL Hall of Fame. Hershel Walker was nominated to the First Team All-Time All-USFL Team.

Several players came very close to the 20,000 all-purpose yards milestone, Frank Gore for example retired 8 yards short. Many of these players who fell short, such as Gore (20,821 yds), surpassed the milestone with their playoff all-purpose yardage included. Some of these players include Darren Sproles (22,186 yds), Tim Brown (20,940 yds), Marshall Faulk (20,311 yds), and Steve Smith Sr. (21,386 yds).

External links[edit]

Template:Pro Football Hall of Fame members

This article "List of professional gridiron football players with 20,000 career all-purpose yards" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical and/or the page Edithistory:List of professional gridiron football players with 20,000 career all-purpose yards. Articles copied from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be seen on the Draft Namespace of Wikipedia and not main one.

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 All-purpose yards are those gained by an offensive player from scrimmage, viz., those gained by a player's rushing or receiving a pass; a defensive player by return of interception or fumble; or by any player by return of punt, kickoff, or recovered fumble.
↑ Rank is as of Week 18 of the 2022 season.
↑ ^3.0 ^3.1 ^3.2 ^3.3 ^3.4 ^3.5 ^3.6 ^3.7 Total is through Week 18 of the 2022 season.
↑ Missed field goal return yards are only a stat in the CFL; missed field goals in the Arena Football League are just applied to kickoff return yards. NFL applies missed field goal returns as an "other" category, as they are much more rare.
↑ Parentheses denote the negativity of the enclosed net yardage total.

[all-purpose-1] 1.0 ^1.1 All-purpose yards are those gained by an offensive player from scrimmage, viz., those gained by a player's rushing or receiving a pass; a defensive player by return of interception or fumble; or by any player by return of punt, kickoff, or recovered fumble.

[2] Rank is as of Week 18 of the 2022 season.

[current-3] 3.0 ^3.1 ^3.2 ^3.3 ^3.4 ^3.5 ^3.6 ^3.7 Total is through Week 18 of the 2022 season.

[4] Missed field goal return yards are only a stat in the CFL; missed field goals in the Arena Football League are just applied to kickoff return yards. NFL applies missed field goal returns as an "other" category, as they are much more rare.

[negative-5] Parentheses denote the negativity of the enclosed net yardage total.

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[5]

v t e Members of the Arena Football Hall of Fame
Players	Aikens Bembery Bennett Bonner Bowden Brown Cooper Corker Dixon Dolezel Fleming Gatewood Gayles Gruden Hammond Harrell Hernandez Hopkins LaFrance March McMillen Moore-Brown Mullen Randle Rettig Roehlk Roquemore Samuels O. Smith R. Smith Thomas Wagner C. Walls H. Walls Warner
Coaches	Arbet Dailey Hohensee Marcum Moss White
Contributors	Foster Ilitch Kurz Mazula Niro Nudo Paganelli Vitto

v t e Members of the Canadian Football Hall of Fame
Players	Abendschan Ah You Aldag D. Allen Anderson Atchison B. Bailey Baker Barrow Bass Batstone Battle Beach Benecick Bennett Bonk Box Breen Bright C. Brock D. Brock Do. Brown T. Brown Browne Brule Burden Burris Cahoon Calvillo Cameron J. Campbell Casey Charlton Childress Clarke Clements Clemons Coffey Conacher Connop Copeland Cornish Corrigall Covington C. Cox E. Cox R. Craig Cronin D. Cutler W. Cutler Dalla Riva DiPietro Dixon Dunigan Elgaard Eliowitz Emerson Estay Etcheverry Evanshen Faloney Fear Fennell Fernandez Ferraro Ferrone Fieldgate Fleming Flory Da. Flutie Do. Flutie Flynn Frank Fryer Gabriel Gaines Gall George Golab Gorrell Grant Gray Griffing Ham Hanson Harding D. Harris W. Harris Harrison Helton Henley Highbaugh Hinton Holloway Huffman Hufnagel Hugo Ilesic Isbister Jackson Jacobs E. James G. James A. Johnson B. Johnson W. Johnson Ty. Jones Jurasin Kabat Kapp Keeling B. Kelly E. Kelly Kepley Krol Kwong Lapointe Lancaster Lawson Leadlay Lear Lehmann L. Lewis N. Lewis Lumsden Lunsford Luster Luzzi Makowsky McCallum McCance McGill McGowan McManus McQuarters B. Miles R. Miles Mills Mitchell Molson Montford Moon F. Morris T. Morris Mosca J. Murphy Narcisse Nelson Nettles Neumann O'Quinn Okeke O'Shea Pajaczkowski Jac. Parker Jam. Parker Passaglia Patterson Payton G. Perry N. Perry Phillips A. Pitts E. Pitts Pless Ploen Poplawski Pringle Quilty Racine Raimey Ray Rebholz Reed Reeve Ridgway Rigney Roberts Robinson Romano Rowe Ruby Russel T. Scott V. Scott Shatto Simon Be. Simpson Bo. Simpson Sprague Stegall Steinauer Stevenson Stewart Stirling Sutherin Symons Thelen Thornton Timmis Tindale Tinsley Tommy Trawick Tubman Tucker Urness Uteck Vaughan Vaughn Vavra Vercheval Wagner Walby Walker Weir Welch West Wilkinson G. Williams A. Wilson D. Wilson Winfield Wylie Yochum Young Zambiasi Zock
Builders	Ackles Anselmo Back R. Bailey Ballard Barker Berger Braley Brook D. W. Brown Buono H. Campbell Chipman Clair Connellan Cooper Cosentino Coulter Crighton A. Currie G. Currie Custis Davies DeGruchy Dojack Duggan DuMoulin Evans Forster Foulds Fracas Fulton Gaudaur Gibson Grant Grey Griffith Halter Hannibal Haylor Hayman Henick Hopson Hufnagel Bi. Hughes Ireland Keys Kimball Knight Kramer Levy Lieberman Loney Matthews McBrien McCaffrey D. McCann McDonald McNaughton McPherson Mitchell Metras Montgomery T. Morris C. Murphy Newton O'Billovich Pistilli Preston Reda A. Ritchie D. Ritchie Rodden Ryan Sazio Schwartz Shaughnessy Shepherd Shivers Shouldice J. Simpson Smith Slocomb Spencer Spring Stukus P. Taylor Tindall Towriss Uteck Warner Warwick Wetenhall S. Wilson
Media	Afaganis A. Allen P. Allen R. Allen Avery Badham Beamish Bishop Bratina Brisebois Brunt Calcutt Carroll Tom Casey Chevrier Cluff Cole Coleman J. Cox G. Craig Cuthbert Davis DeGeer Dryburgh Dufault Dunnell Esaw Frayne Frewin Gilchrist Good Hall Hanley Hooper Bo. Hughes Hunt Hunter Irving D. Isaac M. Isaac Te. Jones Kearney G. Kelly Kent Kielty MacCabe Maki Marsden Marshall Martin Matheson Matsumoto A. McCann McConnell McKnight McLean Melville Miller Milton Moir Naylor Newans O'Brien O'Meara Pascall Pascucci Pawson Picken J. Proudfoot T. Proudfoot Proulx Purcell Ralph Reeve Ruckaber Saunders Selnes Sgambati Sigurdson Simmons D. Smith M. Smith Stephen Stephenson Stukus Suitor Sullivan Swangard Tait J. Taylor Tucker Ullrich Viney G. Walker H. Walker Ja. Wells Jo. Wells Westwick Willes B. Williams Wittman Zurkowsky

List of professional gridiron football players with 20,000 career all-purpose yards

Contents

Key[edit]

List of professional gridiron football players with 20,000 career all-purpose yards[edit]

Other facts[edit]

See also[edit]

External links[edit]

📰 Article(s) of the same category(ies)[edit]