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.
Bill Brown (American football) ranks fourth for career rushing yards (5,757), trailing Robert Smith (6,818), Adrian Peterson, and Chuck Foreman (5,887). Brown holds the team record for career rushing attempts (1627), and is tied for third in team history in rushing touchdowns (52). He ranks fourth in career points scored (456), behind Fred Cox, Fuad Reveiz, and Cris Carter. Brown's combined rushing and receiving yards (9237) ranks third, behind Darrin Nelson and Cris Carter. With the retirement of Don Perkins, Brown led active players in career rushing yards for much of the 1970 season, but had been passed by Leroy Kelly by the season