It is basically impossible that Emmitt Smith’s career rushing record will ever be caught… but there is one semi interesting active player to monitor.
Dallas Cowboys legend Emmitt Smith set what many feel is an unbreakable NFL record for career rushing yards. But after a monster first season in Baltimore in 2024, Derrick Henry has at least forced us to do the math. The Ravens’ star RB isn’t completely out of range at this point, though he would need some rare longevity to make it happen.
In October 2002, during his last year with the Cowboys, Smith broke Walter Payton’s record of 16,726 yards to become the all-time leader. He increased his lead over the rest of that season and two more with the Cardinals, retiring after 2004 with 18,355 rushing yards over a 15-year career.
Henry just finished his ninth NFL season, his first in Baltimore after an eight-year stint with the Tennessee Titans. Considered just another aging runner at an increasingly devalued position, Henry signing with the Ravens wasn’t considered a game-changing move at the time. But between Henry’s work there and Saquon Barkley’s impact on the Eagles, 2024 was a big year for RB respect. Henry finished second to Barkley with a whopping 1,921 yards, the 11th-highest single-season mark in NFL history. Even Emmitt Smith only ever had 1,713 yards in one year, albeit before they started playing 17 games.
With last season’s surge, Henry now has 11,423 total yards after nine years. After his ninth season in 1998, Smith had 12,566 yards. So while Henry is still behind him on that all-time pace, it’s not as far off as you might have guessed. Henry currently sits 19th on the career leaderboard and, with just another 1,000 yards, will shoot up to 11th past the legendary Jim Brown. Another 500 yards from there, he knocks Dallas great Tony Dorsett out of the top ten.
What’s really interesting to consider is if Henry hadn’t spent his first two seasons as a backup to another former Cowboy, DeMarco Murray. The Titans traded for Murray in 2016 about a month before drafting Henry. While Murray was very good for Tennessee, going to the Pro Bowl in 2016, it forced a slow start to Henry’s career. If he’d been a starter from Day 1, Henry could’ve easily closed that production gap with Emmitt Smith and perhaps even had more yards after nine seasons. Losing half a season in 2021 due to a foot fracture also didn’t help.
What really matters now, of course, is what happens from here. And for Henry, it’s a gigantic order. He needs 6,933 more rushing yards to break Smith’s record. Even if Henry played until he was 35, that’s just four more seasons. That would mean averaging about 1,733 yards during those years, which is almost unfathomable for a back his age in the modern NFL.
Especially when you consider Henry’s physical playing style, it’s amazing he could even do what he did last year. Power backs tend to break down faster with all the punishment they take, so Henry is already performing miracles. Many are wary of him even keeping it going in 2025, let alone for years to come.
Derrick Henry’s career is a great example of why Emmitt Smith’s record is perceived to be so unbreakable. It was a perfect storm of talent, an immediate starting role, avoiding major injuries, and being allowed to keep playing well beyond his prime. Henry has done about as good a job as any RB could and still would need incredible longevity to even get into the top five (Adrian Peterson’s 14,918 yards), let alone threaten Smith. For Cowboys fans, it’s further reassurance that our beloved ’90s icon will maintain his perch for a long time to come, if not forever.
