September 14, 2008 6:00 pm

1,000 yard rushers that you do not (want to) remember

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An on 205th Feature Story…

Gaining a thousand yards in an NFL season used to be quite an accomplishment… when the season was 14 games long. Now a running back has to only average 62.5 yards a game to get to the 1,000 yard plateau. Not really a mind-blowing achievement.

Back when the season was 14 games (1961-1977) it took nine more yards per game to reach that magic threshold. From 1947 to 1960, the league’s schedule was only 12 games. That meant a player had to average 83+ yards a game rushing to get to 1,000. Now that really meant something when you were called a ’1,000 yard rusher’.

My point is that no matter when a player played and despite the actual magnitude of the accomplishment a 1,000 yard rushing season is seen by many players and fans as a bit of a big deal. It puts you in an elite club of professional athletes. Well, sort of… Let’s see how many of these guys you remember…

12. Bobby Humphrey.
Not only did Bobby Humphrey once gain over a thousand yards, he did it twice! The only guy on this list to do so, by the way. In Humphrey’s two 1,000 yard seasons (1989 and 1990) he gained a total of 2,353 yards for the Denver Broncos. However, in the other two seasons Bobby played, he gained a total 504 yards, meaning that in his two glory seasons, he gained 82% of all the yards he would gain in his career.

11. Barry Foster.
Barry Foster ran for 1,690 yards for the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1992, the 31st most amount of rushing yards in a single NFL season. The 390 carries that year must have been about all he had available in the tank though as that magic season accounted for 43% of his career total of 3,943 yards rushing.

10. Cleveland Gary.
Also in 1992, Cleveland Gary motored for 1,175 yards for the the then ‘Los Angeles’ Rams. This proved to be the high point of Cleveland’s career as that one year accounted for 43% of his 2,645 career rushing yards.

9. Tony Reed.
Kansas City Chiefs running back Tony Reed gained 1,053 yards in 1978 or 45% of the amount of rushing yards he would gain out of his career total of 2,340. (Hey, you try finding pictures of these guys!)

8. Charles White.
One of the greatest college running backs of all time, SoCal’s Charles White gained 1,374 yards in 1987 for the Los Angeles Rams. Unfortunately for Charles (and the Rams), this one season accounted for 45% of his career rushing total of 3,075 yards.

7. Ronald Moore.
Who? Sorry… Ronald Moore of the then ‘Phoenix’ Cardinals rushed for 1,018 yards. Quite a rookie season! That rookie season would end up accounting for 46% of Moore’s 2,210 career rushing yards. Quite a letdown!

6. Gaston Green.
In 1991, a man named Gaston Green galloped for 1,037 yards for the Denver Broncos, thus beginning the Broncos run of being able to put anyone in the backfield and letting them run for 1,000 yards. In Gaston’s four other years in the NFL, he tallied another 1,099 yards. Doing the math, this means that his one big year in Denver accounted for 49% of his career total.

5. Craig James.
Yes, that Craig James. In James’ stellar five year NFL career, he ran for 2,469 yards. You see where I am going here, don’t you? A nice and tidy 50% of James’ career yardage came in 1985 with the New England Patriots when he rumbled for 1,227 of those yards.

4. Terdell Middleton.
1978 was a huge year for 1,000 yard rushers who we never heard from again as three names on this list hit the jackpot that year. Terdell Middleton is the second one on that list of greats as he gained 1,116 yards or 54% of his career total of 2,048 yards in 1978. (And yes, be sure to get that autographed photo of Middleton and Lynn Dickey before supplies run out!)

3. Reggie Brooks.
In 1993 a rookie for the Washington Redskins named Reggie Brooks ran wild for 1,063 yards, in a career that would see him run tame for a grand total of 1,726 yards. Reggie’s big year accounted for an amazing 62% of his career total.

2. Terry Miller.
The runner-up on our list of 1,000 yard rushers of ill-repute goes to Terry Miller of the Buffalo Bills. In 1978, Terry gained 1,060 yards. In Miller’s storied career he gained a total of 1,583 rushing yards. So in that one year, Miller gained 67% of his career total.

1. Ickey Woods.
Ickey Woods is more well-known for his ‘Ickey Shuffle’ than his ability to have carried the football… with good reason. Ickey gained 1,525 yards in his career – of which 1,066, or a whopping 70%, came in the 1988 season alone.

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Dishonorable Mention:
13. Steve Owens (DET) 1971: 1,035 yds. 42% of 2,451 total.
14. Ricky Bell (TB) 1979: 1,263 yds. 41% of 3,063 total.
15. Rueben Mayes (NO) 1986: 1,353 yds. 39% of 3,484 total.
16. Don Woods (SD) 1974: 1,162 yds. 38% of 3,087 total.
17. Anthony Johnson (CAR) 1996: 1,120 yds. 38% of 2,966 total.
18. Barry Word (KC) 1990: 1,015 yds. 35% of 2,897 total.
19. Erric Pegram (ATL) 1993: 1,185 yds. 35% of 3,398 total.
20. John Stephens (NE) 1988: 1,168 yds. 34% of 3,440 total.
21. Gary Anderson (SD) 1988: 1,119 yds. 33% of 3,409 total.
22. Reggie Cobb (TB) 1992: 1,171 yds. 31% of 3,743 total.

Honorable Mention:
Joe Delaney (KC) 1981: 1,121 yds. 75% of career total of 1,501 yards.*
(*Died while attempting to rescue three children from drowning.)