Over the last decade or so, football—NFL, college football, or down to the high school level—as a whole, has moved to a game that leans more on the pass. The run game has taken a backseat to moving the ball through the air, and as a result, running backs have become much more expendable than at any point in the history of the sport.
Thus, many believe that the rushing records of yesteryear are much safer than passing marks, with Emmitt Smith’s all-time rushing yards record deemed to be almost untouchable. The Dallas Cowboys legend rushed for 18,355 yards over his 15-year career, which ended in 2004, and no one since then has come within 2,000 yards of that mark.
But even with this shift to the passing game, Smith himself isn’t completely convinced that he’ll always hold the title of the NFL’s Rushing King. Another king, King Henry, aka Derrick Henry, is the NFL’s active leading rusher and, at age 32, is still going strong. Smith even believes that Henry could one day top his hallowed mark, which has stood for 24 years.
“Oh yeah, I think it’s possible,” Smith said when asked if Henry could one day overtake him, according to DraftKings. “Derrick Henry is a bigger back. He takes great care of his body. He’s in great shape.”
Henry checks in at 6-foot-3 and 252 pounds, while Smith was listed at 5-foot-9 and 221 pounds, giving the former a 6-inch height advantage and a 31-pound weight edge. It was just on Sunday in Week 1 that Henry showed exactly how great a shape he’s in as he rushed for 144 yards and 3 touchdowns.
That puts Henry at 13,162 career yards, good enough for 10th in NFL history, but still 5,194 yards away from surpassing Smith. Henry’s simply rushing for 1,084 yards this year would vault him to sixth place by the end of the season, while he would likely have to wait until 2027 to move up any higher.
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Smith also shared an anecdote about Henry that goes back to their amateur days in Florida.
“Y’all don’t know this, but Derrick Henry broke my state high school record,” said Smith, who attended school in Pensacola, while Henry went to high school in the Jacksonville area. “So I believe he could do it again.”
Running backs who came after Smith, such as LaDainian Tomlinson, Adrian Peterson, and Frank Gore, have also had their names discussed as potentially breaking the all-time rushing mark, but each fell short. Henry is the latest to join that group, but his age isn’t working in his favor.
This is Henry’s 11th NFL season, and he will be 33 years old before it ends. Meanwhile, during Smith’s 11th season in 2000, he was 31 throughout and didn’t hit 33 until his 13th season.
But in Henry’s favor, he’s actually become a more productive back as he’s aged. His first eight NFL seasons—all with the Tennessee Titans—comprised his 20s, while his last three seasons—all with the Ravens—have seen him 30 or older. During his 20s, Henry averaged 4.7 yards per carry and 79.8 rushing yards per game. Since turning 30, Henry’s put up 5.6 yards per carry and 104.6 rushing yards per game.
The Ravens running back’s durability also makes this a possibility as he’s been an ironman over the last few seasons. Outside of a hip injury which sidelined him for one game in 2022, Henry has played in every game during this stretch, at an age in which most running backs are falling apart physically. His 68 games played during this span are tied for the most among all running backs, with the three others—Kenneth Gainwell, Rachaad White, Tyler Allgeier—all backups who touch the ball much less than Henry.
Shortly before the season started, Henry was asked about potentially challenging Smith’s record, which the former Cowboy overtook from Walter Payton in 2002.
“I don’t see myself stopping no time soon,” Henry said on “The Lounge” podcast. “If I get there, that would be cool. If not, it wasn’t meant to be. I’m not trying to hang my hat on chasing that record. If it happens, it happens. But like I said, I feel good and I want to keep going as long as I can.”
This year, Henry simply reaching 1,100 rushing yards, which he’s done each of the last four years, would help him keep pace with Smith and be a historic achievement in its own right. Just five times in NFL history has a player 32 or older reached 1,100 yards, and it was done by only four players—John Riggins (twice), Ricky Williams, John Henry Johnson, and Payton.
Only one of those instances (Williams in 2009) has come in the last 39 NFL seasons, which also points to the NFL moving away from the ground game while showing how impressive Henry’s performance is.
