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

running Running is a method of terrestrial locomotion allowing humans and other animals to move rapidly on foot. Running is a type of gait characterized by an aerial phase in which all feet are above the ground (though there are exceptions). This is ...

(also referred to as rushing) is, along with passing, one of the two main methods of advancing the ball down the field. A running play generally occurs when the

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

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 handoffs from the quarterback to rush the ball, to line up as a receiver to catch the ball, and block. Ther ...

, but other players, such as the quarterback, can run with the ball. In the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL), there have been seven pairs of teammates that have each recorded 1,000 rushing

yard The yard (symbol: yd) is an English unit of length in both the British imperial and US customary systems of measurement equalling 3 feet or 36 inches. Since 1959 it has been by international agreement standardized as exactly ...

s in the same season. Five of these duos consisted of

s, and two of them consisted of a running back and a

. The first 1,000-yard duo consisted of fullback

Larry Csonka Larry Richard Csonka (; born December 25, 1946) is a former professional American football fullback who played for the Miami Dolphins for the majority of his career, along with the New York Giants for three years, and a short stint with the Me ...

and halfback

Mercury Morris Eugene Edward "Mercury" Morris (born January 5, 1947) is a former American football running back and kick returner. He played for seven years, primarily for the Miami Dolphins, in the American Football League (AFL) as a rookie in 1969, then ...

. Csonka and Morris accomplished the feat as members of the

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member team of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The team p ...

during their 1972 season, when the team finished undefeated and won the Super Bowl. Morris finished with an even 1,000 yards; he had initially been credited with only 991 yards after the end of the regular season due to a statistician's error that incorrectly removed nine yards from his total. The second 1,000-yard tandem occurred four years later in

1976 Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 ...

, when fullback

Franco Harris Franco Harris (March 7, 1950 – December 20, 2022) was an American professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL) for 13 seasons, primarily for the Pittsburgh Steelers. A nine-time Pro Bowl selection ...

and halfback

Rocky Bleier Robert Patrick "Rocky" Bleier ( , born March 5, 1946) is a former professional American football player. He was a National Football League (NFL) halfback for the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1968 and from 1970 to 1980. Origin of nickname Nicknamed "R ...

both surpassed 1,000 yards playing for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Fullback

Kevin Mack James Kevin Mack (born August 9, 1962) is a former professional American football player who played fullback. Early life Mack was born in Kings Mountain, North Carolina. He began playing football as a youth in Pop Warner football games, but ...

and halfback

Earnest Byner Earnest Alexander Byner (born September 15, 1962) is a former American football running back in the National Football League (NFL). He is now the running back coach of Out-of-Door Academy. Playing career East Carolina University (1980–83 ...

became the third 1,000-yard duo, accomplishing the feat during the

1985 Cleveland Browns season The 1985 Cleveland Browns season was the team's 36th season with the National Football League. This was the first of three consecutive AFC Central titles for the Browns. In Marty Schottenheimer's first full year as head coach, the Browns bounced ...

. In 2006, halfback

Warrick Dunn Warrick De'Mon Dunn (born January 5, 1975) is an American former professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL) for twelve seasons. He was drafted by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 12th overall in the 1997 ...

and quarterback

Michael Vick Michael Dwayne Vick (born June 26, 1980) is a former American football quarterback. Regarded as having transformed the quarterback position with his rushing abilities, he is the NFL leader in quarterback rushing yards and was the league's firs ...

became the fourth duo with 1,000 rushing yards in the same season, and the first NFC team with such a duo. Vick also became the first quarterback to rush for over 1,000 yards in a single season, while Dunn's 1,140 yards are the most by any player in a 1,000-yard duo.

Brandon Jacobs Brandon Christopher Jacobs (born July 6, 1982) is a former American football running back, who spent the majority of his career with the New York Giants of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Coffeyville, Auburn, ...

and

Derrick Ward Derrick LaRon Ward (born August 30, 1980) is a former American football running back in the National Football League (NFL). He was drafted by the New York Jets in the seventh round of the 2004 NFL Draft and played for the New York Giants, Tampa ...

of the New York Giants were the fifth duo to accomplish the feat, doing so in

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

. In 2009,

Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL), as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. ...

running backs

DeAngelo Williams DeAngelo Chondon Williams (born April 25, 1983) is a former American football running back and professional wrestler. He played college football at Memphis, and was drafted by the Carolina Panthers in the first round of the 2006 NFL Draft. He s ...

and

Jonathan Stewart Jonathan Creon Stewart (born March 21, 1987) is a former American football running back. He played college football at the University of Oregon and was selected by the Carolina Panthers in the first round (13th overall) of the 2008 NFL Draft ...

became the sixth 1,000 yard rushing duo and the first 1,100 yard rushing duo. Quarterback Lamar Jackson and running back

Mark Ingram II Mark Valentino Ingram II (born December 21, 1989) is an American football running back for the New Orleans Saints of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Alabama, where he was the first Alabama player to win the Heis ...

of the

Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore, Maryland. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The team plays it ...

are the most recent players to have accomplished the feat, having done so in

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

. Jackson broke Vick's single season record for most rushing yards by a quarterback as well as Dunn's record for the most rushing yards of an member of a 1,000-yard rushing duo. The 1978 Chicago Bears came the closest to having a 1000 yard duo without succeeding, when

Walter Payton Walter Jerry Payton (July 25, 1953Although most sources at the time of his death gave Payton's birth year as 1954, reliable sources subsequently state he was born in 1953. – November 1, 1999) was an American football running back who played ...

finished with 1,305 yards but

Roland Harper Roland Harper (born February 28, 1953) is a former professional American football player who played running back for eight seasons for the Chicago Bears. He was selected in the 17th and final round of the 1975 draft from Louisiana Tech. He was ...

fell 8 yards short of 1,000 with 992. That would have made them the first NFC team with a 1,000 yard rushing duo. The 1973 Cincinnati Bengals came almost as close without having even one 1,000 yard rusher, with Essex Johnson finishing with 997 yards and

Boobie Clark Charles Lee "Boobie" Clark (November 8, 1949October 25, 1988) was a professional American football running back who played in the National Football League (NFL) for eight seasons and was named the UPI AFL-AFC Rookie of the Year for 1973. Early ...

finishing with 988 yards.

1,000-yard rushing duos

References

{{NFL records 1,000-yard rushing duos Rushing National Football League lists