The NFL's 10 Most Unbreakable Records

On Sunday, Cleveland Browns pass-rusher Myles Garrett broke the NFL's single-season sack record, a record that had only been tied once since Michael Strahan set the mark at 22.5 sacks in 2001.

For roughly a quarter of a century, Strahan's record—which T.J. Watt matched in 2021—felt like one that might never be broken. The fact that Garrett did it while playing for a defense that faced the third-fewest pass attempts in the NFL is remarkable.

Even with a 17-game season and in a pass-heavy league, it could be another 20-plus years before Garrett's record is broken, unless he manages to top it himself. Only 13 players have topped 20 sacks in a season since sacks became an official statistic in 1982.

While Garrett's new record is remarkable and historic, it will likely fall one day. However, the following 10 individual NFL records will be far more difficult for any player to top.

Bruce Smith's Career Sack Record

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The Record: 200 Career Sacks

Now that he has the single-season sack record, Garrett may have his sights set on another unbelievable sack record—Bruce Smith's career mark of 200 sacks.

Smith set the career sacks record with a remarkable 19-year career, most of which he spent with the Buffalo Bills. The 11-time Pro Bowler had 13 seasons with 10 or more sacks, which is itself an incredible feat. Reggie White is next on the all-time sack list with 198, and no other player has more than 173.5, even unofficially.

Von Miller is the active leader with 138.5 sacks, and he's set to turn 37 in March. Cameron Jordan has 132 career sacks but will turn 37 in July.

Garrett just turned 30 in late December and is already up to 125.5 career sacks. However, getting past 200 feels like a long shot even for him.

Garrett has averaged just under 14 sacks per season. He would have to sustain that rate for another five seasons to top Smith's record. Now that Garrett is in his 30s, that feels unlikely.

Jerry Rice's Career Receiving Yardage Record

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The Record: 22,895 Career Receiving Yards

Jerry Rice last played in 2004, but he remains an NFL icon to this day because he earned a reputation as the greatest wide receiver—if not the best player at any position—ever to play the game. The numbers back up it, too.

Rice finished his career with 22,895 receiving yards, the most in NFL history by a considerable margin. Larry Fitzgerald is the next-closest on the list with 17,492 yards, while DeAndre Hopkins is the closest active player with 13,295 yards as of the end of the 2025 season.

Mike Evans (13,052) and Travis Kelce (13,002) are the only other active players even in the top 25.

Rice's record could stand forever for multiple reasons. For one, few players have even come close to his run of 11 straight Pro Bowl appearances. Rice also played for a full 20 seasons, which no modern receiver is likely to even consider attempting.

Emmitt Smith's Career Rushing Yardage Record

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The Record: 18,355 Career Rushing Yards

Like Rice, longtime Dallas Cowboys running back Emmitt Smith made a mark on NFL history with his longevity. The eight-time Pro Bowler played for 15 seasons, which is a long career for any non-quarterback, let alone a ball-carrier.

Running backs tend to have shorter careers than other skill-position players, and modern running backs tend to do quite a bit of work in the passing game. That's why Smith's career total of 18,355 rushing yards likely won't ever be topped.

Baltimore Ravens running back Derrick Henry is the one active player who might have a shot at it, since the 32-year-old is a run-first back who has shown no signs of slowing down. With 13,018 career rushing yards, though, Henry is still more than 5,000 yards off the mark.

It would probably take Henry at least three more incredible seasons to truly threaten Smith's mark. If he can't do it, no one probably will. Walter Payton (16,726 yards) came closer than anyone, but no other player has ever come within 2,000 yards of the record.

Tom Brady's Career Passing Yardage Record

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The Record: 89,214 Career Passing Yards

Tom Brady played a ridiculous 23 seasons with the New England Patriots and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Unsurprisingly, he holds many career statistical records, including passing touchdowns (649), completions (7,753), and wins (251).

However, no record illustrates Brady's sustained greatness quite like his record of 89,214 career passing yards. Drew Brees ranks second on the all-time passing list, and he's 8,856 yards off the top mark.

Aaron Rodgers is the active leader with "only" 66,274 passing yards. Patrick Mahomes, long viewed as the next Brady, has 35,939 career passing yards.

At his current average of 4,849 passing yards per year, Mahomes would have to play for another 11 years to reach Brady. While that may sound possible, it would put Mahomes at 20 career seasons, three short of Brady, and he's currently recovering from tearing multiple knee ligaments.

It would be stunning if any player, even one as talented as Mahomes, can play at an elite level for as long as Brady did.

Tom Brady's Career Playoff Wins Record

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The Record: 35 Career Playoff Wins

Postseason record? Brady has most of those, too. We're probably never going to see another quarterback win seven Super Bowls or appear in 10, although Mahomes, who has won three and appeared in five, has a shot.

However, even Mahomes is unlikely to surpass the 35 career playoff wins Brady compiled during his lengthy career.

Mahomes does rank second on the all-time wins list with 17, one ahead of the legendary Joe Montana. However, the Kansas City Chiefs' streak of dominance just came to an end. If the Chiefs can't immediately get back into title contention, Brady's postseason wins mark will become even more of a reach.

Brady got to 35 playoff victories because his teams were regularly good enough to win multiple postseason games most years. That's a difficult thing to achieve, especially in a league that currently prioritizes parity.

Paul Krause's Career Interception Record

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The Record: 81 Career Interceptions

As impressive as Smith's 200 career sacks record is, Paul Krause's record of 81 career interceptions might be even more unattainable. Players have come close—Emlen Tunnell logged 79, while Rod Woodson recorded 71—but the NFL game isn't made for players to challenge Krause now.

The Hall of Famer played for 16 seasons with the Washington Commanders and Minnesota Vikings. However, longevity alone isn't why Krause recorded 81 interceptions.

To put Krause's record into perspective, Vikings safety Harrison Smith is the NFL's active interception leader with 39. Smith just finished his 14th NFL season.

It's rare for defensive backs to regularly play for a decade and a half, and when they remain turnover machines for that long, opposing quarterbacks tend to start avoiding them. Quarterbacks have also become far more efficient and turnover-averse compared to past eras, which makes Krause's record even less likely to fall.

LaDainian Tomlinson's Single-Season Rushing TD Record

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The Record: 28 Rushing Touchdowns in 2006

Most of the records on this list are career achievements, and there's a reason for that. In the age of 17-game seasons—and campaigns may balloon to 18 or more games in the not-too-distant future—most season-long marks feel destined to fall.

However, LaDainian Tomlinson's single-season record of 28 rushing touchdowns is probably safe even if more games are added to the proceedings.

Few teams in today's NFL use every-down running backs as the Los Angeles Chargers once used Tomlinson. Even fewer teams give backs so many opportunities to reach the end zone as a ball-carrier.

This year's rushing-touchdown leader, Jonathan Taylor, had 10 fewer touchdowns than Tomlinson had in 2006. Taylor's 18 rushing touchdowns are also tied for the highest mark in any single season since Tomlinson set the record nearly two decades ago.

Shaun Alexander and Priest Holmes each had 27 touchdowns in a season during the early 2000s—in 2005 and 2003, respectively—but Tomlinson's record-setting campaign was likely the end of an era.

Brett Favre's Consecutive Starts Record

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The Record: 297 Consecutive Starts

Longevity is one thing. Durability is another. Few players have been as reliable throughout NFL history as Hall of Fame quarterback Brett Favre.

During a 20-year career that he spent mostly with the Green Bay Packers, Favre started an unfathomable 297 straight regular-season games. That's 27 more straight starts than longtime Vikings defensive end Jim Marshall, who is No. 2 on the list and who saw Favre set a new mark in 2009.

Because modern NFL rules are made to protect quarterbacks, we're highly unlikely to see a player at any other position come close to reaching Favre's starts streak.

Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen became the active leader when he made his 122nd consecutive start on Sunday. For Allen to reach Favre's mark, he'd have to start every game for over 10 more seasons, assuming the league stays at 17 games.

As much of a superhero as Allen seems to be at times, it's hard to envision even him staying healthy and on the field for that long.

Brian Mitchell's Career Return Yardage Record

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The Record: 19,013 Combined Kick and Punt Return Yards in a Career

Special-teamers often get overlooked, but they play an integral role in football, even in the modern era. A good return specialist can put points on the board and flip field position in a heartbeat, and Brian Mitchell was one of the best to ever do it.

A 14-year veteran who played most of his career in Washington, Mitchell was used on offense. However, he was best known as a specialist who returned both kicks and punts. He finished his career with an impressive 19,013 combined kick and punt return yards.

Allen Rossum, Joshua Cribbs and Mel Gray are the only other players in NFL history who have surpassed 13,000 combined return yards. Jamel Agnew is the active leader with just 5,247 return yards.

The NFL no longer features pure return specialists as it once did. Now that rules changes have teams trying to avoid touchbacks on kickoffs, that could change. Still, it would take an incredibly long and extremely productive career for anyone to threaten Mitchell's record.

Ernie Nevers' Single-Game Points Record

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The Record: 40 Points in a Single Game

We're used to seeing players take over a game in the modern NFL, but today's game makes it practically impossible for anyone to break the record that Hall of Famer Ernie Nevers set almost 100 years ago.

Playing for the Chicago Cardinals on Thanksgiving in 1929, Nevers racked up a ridiculous 40 points against the Chicago Bears. How did he do it? The talented fullback and kicker scored six touchdowns and added four extra points—every one of the Cardinals' points that day—according to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Now, a few players have tied Nevers' mark of six touchdowns in a game, including Alvin Kamara, Gayle Sayers and Dub Jones. However, modern kickers are specialists and don't play other positions, so we aren't going to see a player score multiple touchdowns while adding the extra points to boot.

While it's theoretically possible for a player to score seven touchdowns in a single game, we're not likely to see it in any conventional game. Since Kamara's six-touchdown outing against the Minnesota Vikings in 2020, we haven't seen a player score more than 30 total points in a game.

Historical statistics from Pro Football Reference unless otherwise noted.