Most Rushing Touchdowns in NFL History

Emmitt Smith holds the NFL record for the most rushing touchdowns, with 164 scored over 15 seasons from 1990 to 2004. That total is 19 clear of second-place LaDainian Tomlinson and dovetails with Smith’s other great record, as the NFL’s all-time leading rusher.

Scoring on the ground is the running back’s defining job, and the career leaderboard for it is one of the position’s proudest lists. A quick clarification: this counts rushing touchdowns only, not receiving or return scores, which are tracked in the separate total-touchdown record. Here is the full leaderboard of the NFL’s rushing touchdown leaders, the careers behind them, and why Smith’s mark is so secure. All figures are as of the 2025 season.

The record holder: Emmitt Smith and 164 rushing touchdowns

Smith spent most of his career with the Dallas Cowboys, where a punishing, patient running style made him nearly automatic near the goal line. He combined that scoring instinct with rare durability, playing 15 seasons and rarely missing time, which let him pile up touchdowns long after many backs fade. The result is a total no one has approached in two decades.

The record’s strength lies in that pairing of production and longevity. Reaching 164 requires both elite goal-line work and a career that lasts, a combination that has become harder as running-back workloads are managed more carefully.

The full leaderboard of rushing touchdown leaders

The table below ranks the NFL’s all-time leaders in rushing touchdowns.

Rank	Rushing TDs	Player	Career
1	164	Emmitt Smith	1990-2004
2	145	LaDainian Tomlinson	2001-2011
3	123	Marcus Allen	1982-1997
4	120	Adrian Peterson	2007-2021
5	110	Walter Payton	1975-1987
6	106	Jim Brown	1957-1965
7	104	John Riggins	1971-1985
8	100	Marshall Faulk	1994-2005
9	100	Shaun Alexander	2000-2008
10	99	Barry Sanders	1989-1998

The list is a roll call of the greatest running backs in league history, from Jim Brown in the 1950s to Adrian Peterson in the modern era. Every player on it cleared 99 rushing scores, a threshold that separates the truly elite.

Tomlinson, Allen and the chasing pack

LaDainian Tomlinson’s 145 rank second, and he also holds the single-season touchdown record, marking him as one of the most explosive scorers the position has produced. Marcus Allen and Adrian Peterson round out the group behind him, all of them backs who combined volume with a nose for the end zone. Their broader exploits appear on our most rushing yards of all time leaderboard, and the single-season side on our most rushing yards in a season list.

The all-time greats behind the leaders

Walter Payton, Jim Brown and Barry Sanders each land in the top 10 despite very different eras and styles, a reminder that goal-line production has always been prized. Their total scoring, including receptions, features on our most touchdowns in NFL history leaderboard, led by Jerry Rice.

Why the record matters

Rushing touchdowns measure the hardest yards in football, the ones inside the goal line, sustained across a full career. Smith’s 164 reflect both a scoring knack and rare durability, the exact traits a modern game tends to wear down. The quarterbacks and backs who reach the sport’s biggest stage chase their own honors, tracked on our most Super Bowl appearances list.

The short version: Emmitt Smith holds the NFL record for the most rushing touchdowns with 164, ahead of LaDainian Tomlinson (145) and Marcus Allen (123). The list counts rushing scores only. As of the 2025 season, Derrick Henry leads active players and no one is close to the record.