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what was the career rushing list when emmitt smith

Emmitt Smith was the career rushing yards leader in the NFL, with 18,355 yards, and he remains No. 1 on the all-time list. A recent all-time top-20 list also shows Walter Payton at No. 2 and Frank Gore at No. 3 behind Smith.

Top of the list

Rank| Player| Rushing yards
---|---|---
1| Emmitt Smith| 18,355 4
2| Walter Payton| 16,726 13
3| Frank Gore| 16,000 13
4| Barry Sanders| 15,269 13
5| Adrian Peterson| 14,918 13

What this means

If you were asking “what was the career rushing list when Emmitt Smith was on top,” the answer is that he sat at No. 1 all-time, ahead of Walter Payton and the rest of the NFL’s historic rushing leaders. In more recent rankings, Smith still leads the list comfortably, even as active players like Derrick Henry have moved up the chart.

Short version

  • Emmitt Smith is the NFL’s all-time rushing leader.
  • His total is 18,355 rushing yards.
  • Walter Payton is second, and Frank Gore is third on the all-time list.