The Last Kickoff Return For A Touchdown For All 32 NFL Teams
One of the biggest rule changes ahead of the 2024 NFL season is the tweak to the kickoff, which was becoming a dead play. In Super Bowl LVIII, none of the 13 kickoffs were returned.
The league wanted to revive the play, which was one of the most exciting plays in the game. Revamped as the ‘Dynamic Kickoff’, teams have had several months to come up with a way to make the most of returning kickoffs.
The rule change coincides with the induction of Devin Hester to the Hall of Fame. Hester, regarded as the NFL's greatest kick returner, has returned a record 20 punts and kickoffs to the end zone.
There were no touchdowns from kickoff returns in the preseason games, but it’s understood that coaches didn’t want to give anything anyway in meaningless games.
Sports betting sites will be offering odds throughout the season on touchdowns scored from kickoff returns.
We can expect to see some dynamic plays now that the games count for so much. For many teams, a kickoff return for a touchdown is long overdue.
We’ve delved into the history books to bring you the last kickoff return for all 32 teams.
To address the lowest kickoff return rate in @NFL history during the 2023 season and concern for player health and safety, the NFL Competition Committee has proposed a new kickoff rule.
— NFL Football Operations (@NFLFootballOps) March 22, 2024
If adopted by NFL clubs, the new rule will keep the excitement of kickoff returns in the… pic.twitter.com/0ltQpSrAvC
The receiving team will be lined up in their setup zone from the 30 to 35-yard line, with the exception of the kick returner.
With the new rule coming into effect for the new season, fans should see their team return more kickoffs for touchdowns.
At Gambling.com, we dived into the history books to find when each NFL scored on a kickoff return and who scored it.
New Rule Can Help Browns End The Longest Wait
Fans of the Cleveland Browns could have been forgiven for giving up on seeing their team return a kickoff for a touchdown.
After all, it’s been 232 games since they saw Josh Cribbs do so in a 41-34 win over the Kansas City Chiefs in December 2009.
The fact that Cribbs returned two kickoffs for scores in that single game makes the 15-year wait all the more remarkable.
Surely the tweaking of the rule will make it easier for the Browns to finally find a way into the end zone from a kickoff.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are just four games behind the Browns in the wait for a kickoff return for a touchdown.
Michael Spurlock’s 89-yard score in a 27-21 loss to the Atlanta Falcons remains the last time the Bucs found the end zone from a kickoff.
The Las Vegas Raiders are third on the longest wait for a kickoff return for a touchdown.
Since Jacoby Ford returned a kickoff 104 yards for a score in a 24-17 win over Cleveland in 2011, Raiders fans have been waiting for the next one. It’s 207 games and counting.
Will fans of the Arizona Cardinals finally get to celebrate a kickoff return for a touchdown this season? The Cardinals have the fourth longest wait for such a score. David Johnson was the last player to do so in a 48-23 win over the Chicago Bears.
Completing the top five are the New York Giants, who haven’t had a lot to celebrate in recent seasons. One playoff win in 12 seasons is not a good return for a team that won two Super Bowls in five seasons.
Dwayne Harris remains the last Giants player to return a kickoff for a touchdown, doing so in a 27-20 win over NFC East rivals Dallas.
The New England Patriots were the last team to return a kickoff for a touchdown.
In a season that ended with a 4-13 record, Jalen Reagor’s Week 17 return of the opening kickoff against the Buffalo Bills was a rare highlight.
The Patriots, who went on to lose that game 27-21 were one of three teams to have accounted for the four returns scored last season.
Credit therefore goes to the Houston Texans, who returned two kickoffs for touchdowns last season.
The first came courtesy of Andrew Beck’s 85-yard score against the Jacksonville Jaguars, while Damien Pierce added a 98-yard return in a 36-22 loss to the Browns on Christmas Eve.
The Texans reached last season's playoffs for the first time in four seasons, and they are climbing the market to win the AFC with sports betting apps.
The Denver Broncos scored the only other kickoff return last season, when Marvin Mims took a kickoff and returned it 99 yards for the score.
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