This is a list of National Football League punt returners who have led the regular season in punt return yards each year. The record for punt return yards in a season is currently held by Desmond Howard of the Green Bay Packers who had 875 yards in 1996.

Punt return yards leaders

According to Pro Football Reference and The Football Database.[1][2]

Set record*
Season Player Punt return yards Team
1941 Whizzer White 262* Detroit Lions
1942 Bill Dudley 271* Pittsburgh Steelers
1943 Frank Sinkwich 228 Brooklyn Dodgers
1944 Bob Davis 271 Boston Yanks
1945 Steve Bagarus 251 Washington Redskins
1946 Bill Dudley (2) 385 Pittsburgh Steelers
1947 Walt Slater 435 Pittsburgh Steelers
1948 George McAfee 417 Chicago Bears
1949 Vitamin Smith 427 Los Angeles Rams
1950 Billy Grimes 555* Green Bay Packers
1951 Emlen Tunnell 489 New York Giants
1952 Emlen Tunnell (2) 411 New York Giants
1953 Woodley Lewis 267 Los Angeles Rams
1954 Veryl Switzer 306 Green Bay Packers
1955 Ollie Matson 245 Chicago Cardinals
1956 Carl Taseff 233 Baltimore Colts
1957 Bert Zagers 217 Washington Redskins
1958 Jon Arnett 217 Washington Redskins
1959 Billy Stacy 281 Chicago Cardinals
1960 Abe Woodson 174 San Francisco 49ers
1961 Johnny Sample 283 Pittsburgh Steelers
1962 Pat Studstill 457 Detroit Lions
1963 Tom Watkins 399 Detroit Lions
1964 Mel Renfro 418 Dallas Cowboys
1965 Alvin Haymond 403 Baltimore Colts
1966 Alvin Haymond (2) 403 Baltimore Colts
1967 Bob Hayes 276 Dallas Cowboys
1968 Chuck Latourette 345 St. Louis Cardinals
1969 Alvin Haymond (3) 403 Los Angeles Rams
1970 Bruce Taylor 516 San Francisco 49ers
1971 Jake Scott 318 Miami Dolphins
1972 Bruce Laird 303 Baltimore Colts
1973 Bill Thompson 366 Denver Broncos
1974 Lynn Swann 577* Pittsburgh Steelers
1975 Neal Colzie 655* Oakland Raiders
1976 Eddie Brown 646 Washington Redskins
1977 Rick Upchurch 653 Denver Broncos
1978 Jackie Wallace 618 Los Angeles Rams
1979 J.T. Smith 612 Kansas City Chiefs
1980 J.T. Smith (2) 581 Kansas City Chiefs
1981 LeRoy Irvin 615 Los Angeles Rams
1982 Leon Bright 325 New York Giants
1983 Greg Pruitt 666* Los Angeles Raiders
1984 Louis Lipps 656 Pittsburgh Steelers
1985 Fulton Walker 692* Los Angeles Raiders
Miami Dolphins
1986 Vai Sikahema 522 Los Angeles Rams
1987 Vai Sikahema (2) 550 Los Angeles Rams
1988 John Taylor 556 San Francisco 49ers
1989 Dave Meggett 582 New York Giants
1990 Dave Meggett (2) 467 New York Giants
1991 Brian Mitchell 600 Washington Redskins
1992 Kelvin Martin 532 Dallas Cowboys
1993 Tyrone Hughes 503 New Orleans Saints
1994 Tim Brown 487 Los Angeles Raiders
1995 Tamarick Vanover 540 Kansas City Chiefs
1996 Desmond Howard 875* Green Bay Packers
1997 Leon Johnson 619 New York Jets
1998 Reggie Barlow 555 Jacksonville Jaguars
1999 Tamarick Vanover (2) 627 Kansas City Chiefs
2000 Derrick Mason 662 Tennessee Titans
2001 Jermaine Lewis 519 Baltimore Ravens
2002 Michael Lewis 625 New Orleans Saints
2003 Allen Rossum 545 Atlanta Falcons
2004 B.J. Sams 575 Baltimore Ravens
2005 Mark Jones 492 Tampa Bay Buccaneers
2006 Devin Hester 600 Chicago Bears
2007 Nate Burleson 658 Seattle Seahawks
2008 Johnnie Lee Higgins 570 Oakland Raiders
2009 Quan Cosby 474 Cincinnati Bengals
2010 Devin Hester (2) 564 Chicago Bears
2011 Patrick Peterson 699 Arizona Cardinals
2012 Trindon Holliday 481 Houston Texans
Denver Broncos
2013 Dexter McCluster 686 Kansas City Chiefs
2014 Darren Sproles 506 Philadelphia Eagles
2015 Darren Sproles (2) 446 Philadelphia Eagles
2016 Tyreek Hill 592 Kansas City Chiefs
2017 Jamal Agnew 447 Detroit Lions
2018 Tarik Cohen 411 Chicago Bears
2019 Deonte Harris 338 New Orleans Saints
2020 Gunner Olszewski 346 New England Patriots
2021 Ray-Ray McCloud 367 Pittsburgh Steelers
2022 Marcus Jones 362 New England Patriots
2023 Britain Covey 417 Philadelphia Eagles

American Football League (AFL)

Set record*
Season Player Punt return yards Team Ref.
1960 Abner Haynes 215* Dallas Texans [3]
1961 Dick Christy 383* New York Titans [4]
1962 Dick Christy (2) 250 New York Titans [5]
1963 Claude Gibson 307 Oakland Raiders [6]
1964 Claude Gibson (2) 419* Oakland Raiders [7]
1965 Speedy Duncan 464* San Diego Chargers [8]
1966 Rodger Bird 323 Oakland Raiders [9]
1967 Rodger Bird (2) 612* Oakland Raiders [10]
1968 George Atkinson 490 Oakland Raiders [11]
1969 Jerry LeVias 292 Houston Oilers [12]

References

  1. ^ "NFL Year-by-Year Punt Return Yards Leaders". pro-football-reference.com. Archived from the original on 2016-04-14. Retrieved 2018-03-30.
  2. ^ "NFL Yearly Leaders – Punt Return Yards". footballdb.com. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2015-11-04.
  3. ^ "1960 AFL Kick & Punt Returns". pro-football-reference.com. Archived from the original on 2023-08-20. Retrieved 2023-08-20.
  4. ^ "1961 AFL Kick & Punt Returns". pro-football-reference.com. Archived from the original on 2023-08-20. Retrieved 2023-08-20.
  5. ^ "1962 AFL Kick & Punt Returns". pro-football-reference.com. Archived from the original on 2023-08-20. Retrieved 2023-08-20.
  6. ^ "1963 AFL Kick & Punt Returns". pro-football-reference.com. Archived from the original on 2023-08-20. Retrieved 2023-08-20.
  7. ^ "1964 AFL Kick & Punt Returns". pro-football-reference.com. Archived from the original on 2023-08-20. Retrieved 2023-08-20.
  8. ^ "1965 AFL Kick & Punt Returns". pro-football-reference.com. Archived from the original on 2023-08-20. Retrieved 2023-08-20.
  9. ^ "1966 AFL Kick & Punt Returns". pro-football-reference.com. Archived from the original on 2023-09-20. Retrieved 2023-08-20.
  10. ^ "1967 AFL Kick & Punt Returns". pro-football-reference.com. Archived from the original on 2023-08-20. Retrieved 2023-08-20.
  11. ^ "1968 AFL Kick & Punt Returns". pro-football-reference.com. Archived from the original on 2023-08-20. Retrieved 2023-08-20.
  12. ^ "1969 AFL Kick & Punt Returns". pro-football-reference.com. Archived from the original on 2023-08-20. Retrieved 2023-08-20.
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