10 Facts About The NFL That Sound Made Up But Are 100% True

It’s been more than a century since the first NFL season was played, and the league has an incredibly rich history filled with some borderline unbelievable lore. That includes these facts that sound fake at first glance but are totally and entirely true.

These NFL facts are all true despite sounding like a work of fiction

As someone whose mind is filled with largely useless pieces of knowledge that really only come in handy at bar trivia, there’s nothing I love more than coming across a random tidbit of information that makes you think “There’s no way that can be correct” only to confirm you haven’t been misled.

The NFL is the source of more than a few of those fun facts, and I can personally attest to every single one of these being accurate even though you might have trouble believing that’s the case when you read them for the first time.

A running back once made the Pro Bowl without recording a single carry

There are no spots explicitly reserved for fullbacks in the Pro Bowl, but it is possible for someone who plays that position to get a nod as a running back.

Sam Gash spent 12 seasons as a fullback in the NFL, and he was primarily known for his prowess as a blocker in the backfield. He was named to the Pro Bowl for the first time as a member of the Bulls in 1998 during a season where he ran for just 32 yards on 11 attempts, and he returned the following year as an RB even though he didn’t get the chance to rush at any point during the season.

No wide receivers on the Chiefs caught a touchdown pass at any point during the 2014 season

In 2014, the Chiefs finished with a respectable 9-7 record but ended up missing the playoffs.

Alex Smith served as the starter in 15 of the 16 games Kansas City played that year and was responsible for throwing all 18 of the passing touchdowns Kansas City recorded—none of which ended up in the hands of the eight wide receivers who caught at least one pass from him that season.

Jamaal Charles, a running back, caught five TDs, tight ends Travis Kelce and Anthony Fasano had five and four, respectively, while two other RBs and an FB accounted for the rest.

LaDainian Tomlinson scored more points than the entire Raiders team in 2006

The Seahawks were responsible for the worst offensive performance in a 16-game season after scoring just a total of 140 points (an average of just 8.75 per contest) in 1992.

In 2006, the Raiders earned the fifth spot on that list when they compiled a grand total of 168 (10.5 per game). That was the same season where Chargers running back LaDainian Tomlinson scored 198 all on his own with a record-breaking 28 touchdowns on the ground while adding three TD receptions for good measure en route to earning Most Valuable Player honors.

The Chargers had the top-ranked offense and defense in the league in 2010 when it came to yards but still missed the playoffs

No team averaged more yards on offense in 2010 than the 395.6 the Chargers were responsible for, and they trailed only the Patriots when it came to the most points per game with 441 (New England led the way with 518).

The team, which was still based in San Diego at that point, was also the squad to beat when it came to yards allowed, as their defense surrendered 271.6 on average and was in the Top 10 in points allowed with 322.

That was good enough to finish at 9-7, but that was not good enough to make the playoffs after the Chargers ended up in second place in the AFC West.

Larry Fitzgerald had more tackles than drops over the course of his 17 years as a wide receiver

Larry Fitzgerald spent the entirety of his 17-year NFL career with the Cardinals, and the future Hall of Famer caught 1,432 passes while racking up 17,492 yards in the 263 games he appeared in.

The sure-handed wideout was only credited with 29 drops during his time with the league, which is somehow less than the 39 (or, based on what some sources say, 41) tackles he primarily recorded while scrambling to take down the ball carrier after a fumble or interception.

The only two passes Brett Favre caught during his career were thrown by Brett Favre

The vast majority of catches recorded by quarterbacks occur on a trick play, but it’s also possible for them to get what is officially classified as a reception if the ball ends up back in their hands after they release it.

That’s what happened when Favre threw what ended up being his first completed pass in the NFL when he made his debut with the Packers during a showdown with the Buccaneers on September 13, 1992. The ball bounced off the helmet of a Tampa Bay defender before he hauled it back in and was promptly tackled for a loss of seven yards.

A similar situation unfolded when he was playing for the Vikings in 2009, although the Rams only ended up bringing him down for a two-yard loss.

Peyton and Eli Manning ended up with an identical passer rating in the postseason

Peyton and Eli Manning both ended up with a couple of Super Bowl rings, and while the former had the more impressive career, you could argue the latter compiled a more impressive postseason résumé.

Peyton went 14-13 in the playoffs while earning a lone Super Bowl MVP, while Eli earned that honor two times after leading the Giants to a win in The Big Game while posting an 8-4 record in the postseason (another fun fact is that all eight of those wins came during those Super Bowl runs).

Peyton and Eli each played their final playoff game at the end of the 2016 season, and both of them ended up with an average passer rating of exactly 87.4 across all of their postseason contests.

Tom Brady has the second-most receiving yards of any player over the age of 40

There are around 60 guys who played in the NFL after celebrating their 40th birthday. That includes Jerry Rice, who firmly holds the record for the most receiving yards after hitting that milestone with the 2,509 he racked up while hauling in 185 catches (including 12 touchdown receptions).

The second man on that list? Tom Brady, who earns that distinction with a grand total of…six yards (all of which came on this incredibly graceful catch of a pass the 41-year-old caught from Julian Edelman against the Titans in 2018).

Tim Tebow is the only quarterback drafted by the Broncos who has led Denver to a win in the playoffs

The Broncos have made the playoffs on 23 occasions and have earned at least one win in 11 of those appearances (including three that ended with a Super Bowl victory).

That included a brief postseason run in 2011 where they beat the Steelers in the wild card round before losing to the Patriots. Tim Tebow was under center for the win over Pittsburgh, and that marked the first (and, to date, only) time a quarterback who had been drafted by the Broncos earned a victory for them in the playoffs.

It is worth noting that there had only been three QBs who’d led Denver to a win in the postseason prior to that point: Craig Morton started his career with the Cowboys, John Elway famously refused to play for the Colts after they drafted him before trading him to the Broncos, and  Jake Plummer started out with the Cardinals.

Peyton Manning became the fifth member of that club in 2015, but as you likely know, he also kicked things off with the Colts.

Bill Belichick would have to coach 69 more seasons and lose every single game to match Hue Jackson’s career win percentage

Bill Belichick is currently sitting in 19th place when it comes to the NFL coaches with the highest winning percentage of all time, as the 302-165 record he posted is good for .647.

It was actually .687 with the Patriots but takes a hit thanks to the 36-44 record he had during his time with the Browns, the team that hired Hue Jackson before he posted a 3-36-1 record during his disastrous tenure.

Jackson had posted an 8-8 record with the Raiders before taking over in Cleveland, and it’s safe to assume he’ll never get the chance to improve his career winning percentage of .205.

There’s no telling if Belichick will ever get the chance to coach an NFL team, but he’d need to go 0-17 for 69 seasons in a row to equal Jackson’s win-to-loss ratio.