In American football, rushing and passing are the two main methods of advancing the ball down the field. A rush, also known as a running play, generally occurs when the quarterback hands or tosses the ball backwards to the running back, but other players, such as the quarterback, can run with the ball. A rushing touchdown is a play where the runner carries the ball into the end zone without a forward pass being involved.
The National Football League (NFL) did not begin keeping official records until the 1932 season. In addition to the NFL rushing touchdowns leaders, league record books recognize the rushing touchdowns leaders of the American Football League (AFL), which operated from 1960 to 1969 before being absorbed into the NFL in 1970.
The record for rushing touchdowns in a season is held by LaDainian Tomlinson of the San Diego Chargers who rushed for 28 touchdowns in 2006. Prior to Tomlinson's 2006 season, the record was jointly held by Priest Holmes and Shaun Alexander, each rushing for 27 touchdowns in 2003 and 2005, respectively. There have been eleven instances where a player has rushed for 20 or more touchdowns in a season and only two players, Emmitt Smith and Priest Holmes, have done so twice. Jim Brown led the league in rushing touchdowns five times, the most of any player in league history.
NFL annual rushing touchdowns leaders
In 1965, Jim Brown led the league in rushing touchdowns for a fifth time, an NFL record.Emmitt Smith led the league three times and set the single-season record in 1995. He is also the all-time leader in career rushing touchdowns.John Riggins led the league in 1983 with the first 20+ rushing touchdown season.Derrick Henry led the league in back-to-back seasons in 2019 and 2020.Raheem Mostert is the most recent rushing touchdowns leader.
Key
Symbol
Meaning
Leader
The player who recorded the most rushing touchdowns in the NFL
TDs
The total number of rushing touchdowns the player had
GP
The number of games played by a player during the season
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