Top 10 Kansas City Chiefs achievements of all time

Larry Johnson – 416 Rushing Attempts

I know what many in Chiefs Kingdom will say for including Larry Johnson on this list. How do I know? Because I ranked him highly in my all-time running backs list and that was met with a certain level of indifference and even irritation. I get it, Johnson didn’t and still doesn’t have a sparkling reputation as a person.

That said, he was the definition of a workhorse back. The collegiate phenom out of Penn State, the owner of an incredible 2,000 yard rushing season, had a spectacular stretch for the Kansas City Chiefs franchise. Over a two year span from 2005 to 2006 Larry Johnson led all running backs in the NFL with 3,539 yards rushing.

Even more impressive, Johnson led all running backs during that span with 752 carries outpacing the second place player by substantial 68 carries. This was largely due to his 2006 season, in which he carried the ball a body-altering 416 times.

To put the load Johnson shouldered into context, the team ran 1,004 plays that season. The fact Johnson was taking a beating like running backs do on 41 percent of the team’s plays is jaw dropping. This record is impressive all by itself, but even more so when you consider it will likely stand for the rest of NFL history. Given the way the league has transitioned mostly to passing, it’s hard to believe an individual player will even sniff 400 carries again.

Johnson’s total carries were not the only impressive thing he accomplished that season. He carried the ball 39 times in a game against Seattle, six carries shy of Jamie Morris‘ record from 1988. He also surpassed 100 yards rushing 11 times, three short of Barry Sanders‘ record from 1997.

While Johnson won’t be remembered fondly as a person, he should be remember fondly as a player and his rushing attempts in the 2006 season land him on this list as one of the greatest achievements in franchise history.