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In Week 8 of the 2022 NFL season, newly acquired San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey pulled off a rare feat. In a 31-14 victory over the Niners’ NFC West rival Los Angeles Rams, Christian McCaffrey threw for a touchdown, caught a touchdown pass, and rushed for a touchdown. That stat line — one passing, one receiving, and one rushing touchdown — hadn’t been done since 2005. And before that, 2001, and before that, 1979. Here is a list of all the NFL players who’ve put up a passing, receiving, and rushing touchdown in the same games. 

NFL players with one passing, one receiving, and one rushing touchdown in a single game

Walter Payton, Christian McCaffrey, and LaDainian Tomlinson are in the one passing one receiving one rushing touchdown club.
(L-R) Walter Payton, Christian McCaffrey, LaDainian Tomlinson | Bruce Dierdorff/Getty Images; Ronald Martinez/Getty Images; Jim Prisching/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty Images

There have been over 16,000 games in NFL history, and only 11 of those games had a player who posted one passing, one receiving, and one rushing touchdown in the same game, per Statmuse.

In the early days of football, where playing multiple positions was much more common, so was this feat. In the pre-AFL-NFL merger days (before 1970), seven players scored three different ways. Those players were: 

  • Atlanta Falcons RB Harmon Wages, 12/7/1969 vs. New Orleans Saints
  • Dallas Cowboys RB Dan Reeves, 12/10/1967 vs. Philadelphia Eagles
  • San Diego Chargers FB-HB Keith Lincoln, 11/7/1965 vs. Denver Broncos
  • Pittsburgh Steelers FB-HB John Henry Johnson 12/11/1960 vs. Philadelphia Eagles
  • Detroit Lions HB Gene Gedman, 11/16/1958 vs. San Francisco 49ers
  • New York Giants HB-FL-WR Frank Gifford, 12/2/1956 vs. Washington Redskins
  • Cleveland Browns HB-FL Ray Renfro, 12/6/1953 vs. New York Giants

As you see, players on this part of the list often played multiple positions, and obviously, the game was a lot different back then. 

You’ll also see some familiar names on this list. Former Denver Broncos, New York Giants, and Atlanta Falcons coach Dan Reeves is on this list, as is legendary Monday Night Football commentator Frank Gifford. 

Since the 1970s, as specialization began to dominate the NFL, scoring a passing, receiving, and rushing TD in a game became far less common. In fact, in the last fifty-two years, it’s only happened four times. The more modern players to accomplish this feat were: 

  • San Francisco RB Christian McCaffrey, 10/30/2022 vs. Los Angeles Rams
  • San Diego Chargers RB LaDainian Tomlinson 10/16/2005 vs. Oakland Raiders
  • New England Patriots WR David Patten, 10/21/2001 vs. Indianapolis Colts
  • Chicago Bears RB Walter Payton, 10/21/1979 vs. Minnesota Vikings

On this list, you’ll see two Hall of Fame players in Tomlinson and Payton and one of Bill Belichick’s favorite jack-of-all-trades in the early 2000s in Patten. 

Now McCaffrey is on this list, and he seems closer to the Hall of Fame group than the David Patten group. Time will tell which side he ends up on, but by joining this exclusive club, he definitely gets closer to the former. 

Have thoughts on this topic? Keep the conversation rolling in our comments section below.

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Tim Crean

Tim Crean started writing about sports in 2016 and joined Sportscasting in 2021. He excels with his versatile coverage of the NFL and soccer landscape, as well as his expertise breaking down sports media, which stems from his many years downloading podcasts before they were even cool and countless hours spent listening to Mike & The Mad Dog and The Dan Patrick Show, among other programs.

As a longtime self-professed sports junkie who even played DII lacrosse at LeMoyne College in Syracuse, New York, Tim loves reading about all the latest sports news every day and considers it a dream to write about sports professionally. He’s a lifelong Buffalo Bills fan from Western New York who mistakenly thought, back in the early ’90s, that his team would be in the Super Bowl every year. He started following European soccer — with a Manchester City focus — in the early 2000s after spending far too much time playing FIFA.

When he’s not enjoying a round of golf or coaching youth soccer and flag football, Tim likes reading the work of Bill Simmons, Tony Kornheiser, Chuck Klosterman, and Tom Wolfe.