History of the Detroit Lions that feat was Buddy Parker, in 1952–53 during his second and third seasons at the helm. In 1997, Barry Sanders ran for 2,053 rushing yards. At the time, his career total rushing 15,269 yards was second only to Walter Payton's 16,726 yards and he joined Jim Brown as the only players among the NFL's 50 all-time rushing leaders to average 5 yards a carry, but he retired abruptly after the 1998 season. Emmitt Smith has since broken Payton's record, accumulating 18,355 career rushing yards, which bumped down Sanders to the #3 spot on the list of total career rushing yards.
Jim Brown carry. However, Barry Sanders' father, William, was frequently quoted as saying that Jim Brown was "the best I've ever seen." Brown currently holds NFL records for most games with 24 or more points in a career (6), highest career touchdowns per game average (1.068), most career games with three or more touchdowns (14), most games with four or more touchdowns in a career (6), most seasons leading the league in rushing attempts (6), most seasons leading league in rushing yards (8), highest career rushing yards-per-game average (104.3), most seasons leading the league in touchdowns (5), most seasons leading the league