NFL Records & Firsts Quiz — 10 Free Questions

Question 1

In 2006 this running back set single-season records with 28 rushing touchdowns, 31 total touchdowns and 186 points, and won the league MVP in a landslide. He broke a total-touchdown record that had been set only the year before. Which player is this?

Question 2

In a 1966 game this team scored 72 points against the New York Giants, and the 113 combined points also remain a record. Leading by nearly 30 late, the winning side still tried an onside kick. Which team scored 72?

Question 3

In 2010 this quarterback became the first player ever named Associated Press NFL MVP on every ballot, after a 14-2 season with 36 touchdown passes and just four interceptions. His team then lost its opening playoff game. Which player is this?

Question 4

The first selection in the NFL's first college draft, held in 1936, was this University of Chicago halfback and inaugural Heisman Trophy winner. He never played pro football, reportedly because no team would meet his salary demand, and went into business instead. Which player is this?

Question 5

This player threw a record 649 career touchdown passes and led the league in the category four times. He is one of only two men ever to reach 600, and he did most of that damage in his 30s and 40s, winning a league MVP award at age 40. Which quarterback holds the career touchdown-pass record?

Question 6

A teenage refugee who fled Hungary after the 1956 uprising, this player learned American football in high school and, joining the AFL's Buffalo Bills in 1964, introduced the soccer-style kicking approach that nearly every kicker uses today. Which player is this?

Question 7

Counting titles from before and after the Super Bowl era, this franchise has won a record 13 NFL championships. Nine came in the pre-Super Bowl years, several under the coach the championship trophy is now named for, and four have come since. Which team is it?

Question 8

The 1958 NFL Championship was the first playoff game decided in sudden-death overtime, won by the Baltimore Colts on a short touchdown run in front of a national television audience. It is often called the greatest game ever played. Which team did the Colts beat that day?

Question 9

This defensive back returned a record 12 interceptions for touchdowns and was named to the NFL's 75th and 100th anniversary teams at cornerback. He won a Super Bowl late in his career with a different team, was a Defensive Player of the Year, and suited up for five clubs over 17 seasons. Which player holds the career pick-six record?

Question 10

This team is the only one in NFL history to finish a season with no losses or ties, going a combined 17-0 and winning Super Bowl VII in January 1973. One later team went unbeaten in the regular season but lost the Super Bowl. Which team is the only one to finish perfect?

📚 All Quizzes

Browse every category and see the full list of quizzes on BriskQuiz

→

About NFL Records & Firsts

The NFL has kept records since the 1930s, and the biggest ones tell the story of the modern game. On the career lists, Tom Brady sits alone in passing yards and touchdowns, Emmitt Smith in rushing yards and rushing touchdowns, and Jerry Rice so far ahead in receptions, receiving yards and total touchdowns that the gaps may never close. Bruce Smith has the most sacks since that stat became official in 1982, Paul Krause the most interceptions, and Adam Vinatieri the most points and field goals of anyone who has played.

Single seasons produce their own legends. Peyton Manning threw for 5,477 yards and 55 touchdowns in 2013, Eric Dickerson ran for 2,105 yards in 1984, Calvin Johnson gained 1,964 receiving yards for a 4-12 team in 2012, and LaDainian Tomlinson scored 31 touchdowns and 186 points in 2006. Michael Strahan's 22.5 sacks in 2001 and Michael Thomas's 149 catches in 2019 still top their categories.

Some of the oldest records are the hardest to break. Ernie Nevers scored 40 points in a single game in 1929, Norm Van Brocklin threw for 554 yards in one afternoon in 1951, and Dick "Night Train" Lane intercepted 14 passes as a rookie in 1952. A 99-yard run and a seven-touchdown passing game can be tied but never beaten, and Justin Tucker's 66-yard field goal in 2021 set a new limit for the leg.

Streaks measure a different kind of greatness: Brett Favre's 297 straight starts, Drew Brees's 54 straight games with a touchdown pass, the Colts' 23 consecutive regular-season wins, and the 1972 Dolphins' perfect 17-0 season, still the only one.

The firsts matter just as much. Green Bay won the first Super Bowl in January 1967. The 1958 NFL Championship was the first playoff game to go to overtime and helped make pro football a television giant. Kenny Washington re-integrated the league in 1946, Doug Williams became the first Black quarterback to win a Super Bowl in 1988, Tony Dungy the first Black head coach to win one in 2007, and Sarah Thomas the first woman to officiate a Super Bowl in 2021. This quiz runs through 78 of the numbers and milestones fans argue about: read the clue, name the record holder or team, and get the full story after each answer.