FlurrySports gives the craziest Super Bowl Records and the top performances of all-time from a handful of the greatest players in NFL history.
With Super Bowl LX set to kick off tonight, both the New England Patriots and the Seattle Seahawks will be looking for big performances from their players to come away with the win. As the saying goes, the biggest players come up in the biggest spots, and I am expecting no less from Super Bowl LX in a game that features some of the best players from the NFL this season. From Bart Starr to Jerry Rice to Tom Brady, whenever the league’s best players step on the field, we are expecting greatness, meaning any record on any given day can and will be broken.
The following article examines just that. The craziest Super Bowl records and the top performances from some of the game’s biggest names in NFL history. The Super Bowl is a great opportunity for players to etch their names in history. Is there anyone this year who can join the ranks of the all-time greatest NFL players of all time?
For a full list of Super Bowl records, click here.
Craziest Super Bowl Records and Top Performances of All-Time
Single-Game Performances
Most Touchdowns Scored (3)
The record for most touchdowns scored in a Super Bowl (3) is shared by five players: Jerry Rice, Roger Craig, Ricky Watters, Terrell Davis and James White. What is interesting when looking at the names of the players who achieved this feat is that three of them (Rice, Craig and Davis) are Hall-of-Famers, Watters is just a step down from the Hall of Fame, and White was a great role player. White is certainly not at the level of those other four players in terms of success over their career, but he saved his greatest performance for the game that mattered most.
Most Passing Yards (505)
The record for most passing yards in a Super Bowl came from who many consider to be the greatest quarterback to ever live, Tom Brady. In Super Bowl LII, Brady and the New England Patriots matched up with Nick Foles and the Philadelphia Eagles in one of the greatest football games of all time. It quickly became apparent that running the ball would not work. In a back-and-forth passing attack, Brady outdueled Foles when it came to the passing yards, but the 505 yards from Brady were all for nothing, as Philadelphia came away with the Super Bowl victory.
Tom Brady’s 505 passing yards rank first in all playoff games and would be 19th in NFL history for any game, regular or postseason.
Most Fantasy Points Scored (47.9)
When thinking about who had the highest-scoring fantasy performance in a Super Bowl, who would you think? Joe Montana? Patrick Mahomes? Jerry Rice? Well, it is none of those players, or any Hall of Fame member in general. It was the aforementioned James White.
In New England’s 28-3 comeback against the Atlanta Falcons, it was White who was the driving force behind New England’s offense. He finished the game with 29 rushing yards, two rushing touchdowns, 14 receptions, 110 receiving yards, a receiving touchdown and a two-point conversion, which was good for 47.9 fantasy points. White’s performance will go down in history as one of the greatest championship performances in sports history.
Career Super Bowl Records
Most Touchdowns Scored (8)
We knew that he would appear in this article somewhere, but when talking about the best players in NFL history, you need to mention Jerry Rice. He was not only a top-five player in NFL history, but he was also a top-two performer in Super Bowl history. When the lights shone the brightest, Rice played his best ball. While he owns a number of Super Bowl records, none may be as impressive as his record for the most touchdowns scored in a Super Bowl career.
At eight touchdowns, Rice averaged two per game, playing in four total Super Bowls. Rice was a model of dominance in the NFL, and that cannot be proved more than by averaging two touchdowns on the biggest stage in football.
Most Games Won as a Player (7)
This is going to be Tom Brady’s second appearance on this list, and as much as I want to discredit Tom Brady, you cannot argue with his record of seven career Super Bowls won. Over the course of his Hall of Fame career, and thanks to his victory with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Brady has racked up more Super Bowls than every single franchise in NFL history. Brady’s seven Super Bowl wins are a record that is probably never going to be broken, as Charles Haley stands in second place with five. In fact, the closest active player to reaching Brady is between several Kansas City Chiefs players, including Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce. At this point, it looks like the Chiefs are slowing down, meaning four more Super Bowls is probably out of the cards.
Most Losses By a Head Coach (4)
When we talk about the craziest records in Super Bowl history, it brings a sense of accomplishment and an overall good feeling. This record, though, is the opposite. The record for most Super Bowl losses by a head coach is shared by four different head coaches: Bud Grant with the Minnesota Vikings, Don Shula with the Miami Dolphins, Dan Reeves with the Denver Broncos, New York Giants and Atlanta Falcons, and Marv Levy with the Buffalo Bills.
It takes so much time and effort to get to the big game, so to lose after the hard work is gut-wrenching. Levy might have the most gut-wrenching story, though, as his Buffalo Bills lost four straight Super Bowls.
Single-Play Super Bowl Records
Longest Pick-Six (100 Yards)
You know what they say — defense wins championships. So, when we talk about the longest pick-six in Super Bowl history, the first names that come to mind are Deion Sanders or Ronnie Lott, but what if I told you the longest pick-six came from a linebacker? That is exactly the case, as James Harrison’s 100-yard pick-six against the Arizona Cardinals is etched into NFL history as one of the greatest plays of all time. Right before halftime with Arizona at the goal line, Harrison dropped into coverage, picked off Kurt Warner and rumbled down the right sideline, willing the Steelers to the Super Bowl XLIII victory.
Longest Punt Return (65 Yards)
Punt returns have been around the NFL for a majority of the league’s existence. It is paramount to the game today, as the team receiving the ball has the chance to flip the field back to give the offense as little effort as possible to score a touchdown. So, there is bound to have been an insanely long return in Super Bowl history, right?
Well, not really. The record for the longest punt return in Super Bowl history came by way of one of the biggest busts in NFL history — Kadarius Toney. His 65-yard punt return in Super Bowl LVII helped ignite Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs to their third Super Bowl win in the Andy Reid era. A great moment for someone’s career that has been so underwhelming.
Longest Rush (75 Yards)
Similar to punt returns, running the football has always been a part of the NFL. In fact, the run was an important part of creating football in general. So, with such an important part of the game, it seems like there has to have been a run longer than 80 yards in Super Bowl history. Well, that is not the case, as Steelers running back Willie Parker holds the record for the longest rush in Super Bowl history, at 75 yards. Parker’s 75-yard rushing touchdown right after halftime gave Pittsburgh a two-score lead over the Seahawks, something that Seattle was never able to recover from, etching Parker’s name in the record books.
