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, 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

†	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

Rank	Player	Position(s) regularly played	Seasons by team	Total all-purpose yards gained	Total rushing yards gained	Total receiving yards gained	Total interception return yards gained	Total punt return yards gained	Total kickoff return yards gained	Total recovered fumble return yards gained	Total missed field goal return yards gained
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)	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

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).

See also

• List of National Football League career all-purpose yards leaders
• List of National Football League records (individual)
• List of National Football League rushing yards leaders
• List of National Football League receiving yards leaders
• List of Canadian Football League records (individual)

External links

• Enumeration of career all-purpose yardage leaders from the Pro Football Hall of Fame
• Pro-Football Reference
• ArenaFan
• Pro Football Archives
• Stats Crew

Template:Pro Football Hall of Fame members

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