American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

, 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 The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

hands or tosses the ball backwards to the

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offense ...

, 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 The end zone is the scoring area on the field, according to gridiron-based codes of football. It is the area between the end line and goal line bounded by the sidelines. There are two end zones, each being on the opposite side of the field ...

without a forward pass being involved. The

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(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 The American Football League (AFL) was a major professional American football league that operated for ten seasons from 1960 until 1970, AFL–NFL merger, when it merged with the older National Football League (NFL), and became the American Foot ...

(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 LaDainian Tarshane Tomlinson (born June 23, 1979), nicknamed "LT", is an American former professional football running back who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 11 seasons. After a successful college football career with the T ...

of the

San Diego Chargers The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team in the National Football League (NFL). The Chargers played in San Diego, California from 1961 until 2016, before relocating back to the Greater Los Angeles area, where the franch ...

who rushed for 28 touchdowns in . Prior to Tomlinson's 2006 season, the record was jointly held by Priest Holmes and Shaun Alexander, each rushing for 27 touchdowns in and , 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 James Nathaniel Brown (February 17, 1936 – May 18, 2023) was an American professional American football, football player, civil rights activist, and actor. He played as a Fullback (gridiron football), fullback for the Cleveland Browns of the ...

led the league in rushing touchdowns five times, the most of any player in league history.

NFL annual rushing touchdowns leaders

NFL annual rushing touchdowns leaders

AFL annual rushing touchdowns leaders

Most seasons leading the league

See also

Notes

References