AFL/NFL 1,000 Yard Rushers State by State Rank and Overview: Installment 1

The following database was compiled using NFL.com, Profootballreference.com, and Wikipedia for reference.

If you find any information to be inaccurate in any way, not only would the author not mind your comments, he would appreciate them.

In the history of AFL/NFL football the thousand yard rushing plateau has been equaled or surpassed on 589 occasions by 225 individuals. Though it is true that the 1,000 yard rushing mark in modern football is a less herculean accomplishment than in the game’s past history, when a back gets 1,000 yards or more in a season, it still means the same thing: that back had a very good year.

In our ongoing quest to distinguish the most impactful states on the game of football, Larry Rankin presents yet another database comparing state by state performances. This time we focus on 1,000 yard rushers, every one of them categorized in their respective birth states, statistical data in its entirety from every 1,000 yard rushing season.

For those of you unfamiliar with these state by state databases, here is how they work. Below you will find a table summarizing the totality of all the data. There are two ranking systems employed: a per capita scale which ranks production of the specified performance, in this case 1,000 yard rushing performances in relation to the state’s population.

This produces a per capita score. The per capita score is calculated by dividing the number of accomplishments by the state’s population, then removing all the zeros before the number to give a more visually palatable number.

The other ranking system is in shear mass of specified athletic performances per state.

The rest of this installment will provide a statistical list of each athlete from the top 5 per capita states to have 1,000 yards or more rushing. Subsequent installments will have detailed lists for each state in order of per capita score. The end of the final installment will have non-U.S. born and Washington, DC born athletes to exceed the 1,000 yard rushing mark.

For those of you interesting in other installments of this database, links can be found in the text box just above and to your right, as well as at the end of this installment.

For those of you interested in other state by state ranking databases, links can be found at the bottom of this installment or by visiting the Larry Rankin profile in the upper right-hand corner.

Per Capita Score: 973

1,000 Yard Rushing Performances: 45

Coming in first, as they did in per capita 1,000 yard receivers, is Louisiana. Louisiana is proving to be quite the veritable dynamo in production of athletes thus far in these state by state rankings.

If you look at Louisiana’s list of backs: Marshall Faulk, Jim Taylor, and Warrick Dunn are the biggest career performers, and then we have a number of backs, such as Gerald Riggs, whose windows of elite performance were no less spectacular but more short-lived

Unlike the 1,000 yard receivers lists, Louisiana has close company in per capita performance production at number 2.

Per Capita Score: 970

1,000 Yard Rushing Performances: 29

Trailing Louisiana on our list by just 3 points is Mississippi. With a small population and a penchant for producing great athletes, Mississippi has performed well in all of our state by state rankings thus far.

When one thinks of Mississippi and running backs, the first name that comes to mind is Walter Payton. With 10 career thousand yard seasons, he is one of a short list of backs to be considered as the greatest to ever play the game.

But Payton is not the sum total of Mississippi’s list. Clinton Portis, Wilbert Montgomery, and Deuce McAllister are some of the other backs out of Mississippi to have wonderful professional careers.

Per Capita Score: 587

1,000 Yard Rushing Performances: 17

From 2 to 3 on our per capita ranking list of 1,000 yard rushers we have almost a 400 point drop off.

Kansas has only produced 3 thousand yard rushers, but they are 3 of the greatest running backs to ever play the game. Hall of Famer Barry Sanders is thought by many to be the greatest ever. Among his accomplishments: 10 thousand yard rushing performances in his 10 year career, over 15,000 career yards rushing, a 5 yard average per carry lifetime, and over 100 total career touchdowns.

John Riggins is another Hall of Famer with over 11,000 career rushing yards and 104 rushing touchdowns. The next back on the list, Gale Sayers, is also a Hall of Famer. His rushing stats are not as prominent for two reasons: he was a do everything back (run, receive, kick return, and punt return), and his career was cut short due to injury.

Per Capita Score: 415

1,000 Yard Rushing Performances: 53

Curtis Martin may be the least flashy running back to ever break 1,000 yards. He did things in such a put on your hard hat and go to work style, people overlook him, which is ridiculous, because he is one of the all-time greats. With 10 thousand yard performances, over 14,000 career rushing yards, and 100 total touchdowns, this first ballot Hall of Famer is woefully underappreciated.

Among the other notable backs from Pennsylvania, 10,000 yard career rushers Tony Dorsett, Eddie George, and Ricky Waters.

Obscure State: For those of you interested in obscure stats, Larry Johnson’s 416 carries in 2006 is the all-time record for rushing attempts in a season.

Per Capita Score: 410

1,000 Yard Rushing Performances: 41

Jim Brown, with Barry Sanders, is the most commonly brought up name for greatest running back of all-time. It isn’t just that Brown had 7 thousand yard performances. It is that he did it in the 1950s and 60s, when seasons were 12 to 14 games long. Despite the lack of games, that he was a fullback, that he only played 9 seasons, he still finished with over 12,000 rushing yards and 106 rushing touchdowns.

In addition, Georgia has a number of other notable backs such as Jamal Lewis, George Rogers, and Herschel Walker.