With Derrick Henry closing in on 100 NFL touchdowns, the former Crimson Tide running back has cracked the top 10 for points among players from Alabama high schools and colleges.
Twenty-five NFL players have scored at least 100 NFL touchdowns, and after six consecutive seasons with at least 10 TDs, Henry will enter the 2024 season with 93.
With 562 points, which includes two 2-point conversions, Henry moved David Ray (Central-Phenix City, Alabama) out of the top 10 for NFL points among players from Alabama high schools and colleges during the 2023 season.
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Also during the 2023 season, Miami Dolphins wide receiver Tyreek Hill (West Alabama) became the 11th player with Alabama football roots to score at least 500 points in the NFL. After tying for the NFL lead with 13 touchdown receptions last season, Hill has 534 points in his career.
Henry is the second active player in the top 10 after the 2023 season. Las Vegas Raiders kicker Daniel Carlson (Auburn) scored 110 points last season to boost his career total to 707, which lifted him to sixth on the Alabama-roots list.
Al Del Greco tops the list with 1,584 points accumulated in 17 NFL seasons and leads five former Auburn kickers in the Alabama-roots top 10.
The most kicking points scored in an NFL season by a player from an Alabama high school or college are 150, established by Cody Parkey (Auburn) with the Philadelphia Eagles in 2014 and equaled by Carlson in 2021.
But that’s not the Alabama-roots record for points in an NFL season. Seattle Seahawks running back Shaun Alexander (Alabama) scored 168 on 28 touchdowns in 2005, an output that ranks third in NFL history.
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The 10 players with Alabama football roots who have scored the most NFL points:
Tennessee Titans kicker Al Del Greco attempts a field goal during an AFC playoff game against the Baltimore Ravens on Jan. 7, 2001, at Adelphia Coliseum in Nashville, Tenn.Andy Lyons /Allsport
1. Al Del Greco, Auburn: 1,584 points
Green Bay Packers 1984-1987, St. Louis/Phoenix Cardinals 1987-1990, Houston Oilers/Tennessee Titans 1991-2000: The kicker had 347 field goals and 543 extra points. In 1998, he led the NFL with 36 field goals. Del Greco scored at least 104 points in eight of his final nine seasons to become the all-time points leader for the Oilers/Titans franchise with 1,060.
2. Rob Bironas, Auburn: 1,032 points
Tennessee Titans 2005-2013: The kicker had 239 field goals and 315 extra points. Bironas led the NFL with 39 field goals in 2007, when he received first-team All-Pro recognition. Bironas ranks second to Al Del Greco on the all-time scoring list for the Oilers/Titans franchise.
3. Terrell Owens, Benjamin Russell High School in Alexander City: 942 points
San Francisco 49ers 1996-2003, Philadelphia Eagles 2004-2005, Dallas Cowboys 2006-2008, Buffalo Bills 2009, Cincinnati Bengals 2010: The wide receiver had 153 receiving touchdowns, three rushing touchdowns and three 2-point conversions. His 156 TDs rank fifth in NFL history. Owens was a first-team All-Pro selection five times, earned Pro Bowl recognition six times and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2018.
4. Lawrence Tynes, Troy: 927 points
Kansas City Chiefs 2004-2006, New York Giants 2007-2012: The place-kicker had 190 field goals and 357 extra points. Tynes made all three of his field-goal attempts and all three of his extra-point attempts in two Super Bowl victories by the Giants.
5. Don Hutson, Alabama: 825 points
Green Bay Packers 1935-1945: The wide receiver had 99 receiving touchdowns, three rushing touchdowns, two blocked-punt touchdowns, one interception-return touchdown, seven field goals and 172 extra points. The first NFL player with 100 TDs, Hutson was the league’s top scorer in five consecutive seasons. He was a first-team All-Pro eight times and was a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s inaugural class in 1963.
6. Daniel Carlson, Auburn: 707 points
Minnesota Vikings 2018, Oakland/Las Vegas Raiders 2018-2023: The kicker has 169 field goals and 200 extra points. Carlson tied for the NFL lead with 144 points in 2020 and 150 points in 2021. He led the league with 40 field goals in 2021. Carlson received first-team All-Pro recognition in 2022.
7. Shaun Alexander, Alabama: 672 points
Seattle Seahawks 2000-2007, Washington Redskins 2008: The running back had 100 rushing touchdowns and 12 receiving touchdowns. Alexander broke the league’s single-season touchdown record with 28 in 2005, when he was the NFL MVP. Alexander was a first-team All-Pro once and a Pro Bowler three times.
8. Neil O’Donoghue, Auburn: 576 points
Buffalo Bills 1977, Tampa Bay Buccaneers 1978-1979, St. Louis Cardinals 1980-1985: The kicker had 112 field goals and 240 extra points. O’Donoghue scored 117 points in 1984, which tied the Cardinals’ single-season record.
9. Cody Parkey, Auburn: 563 points
Philadelphia Eagles 2014-2015, Cleveland Browns 2016, 2020, Miami Dolphins 2017, Chicago Bears 2018, Tennessee Titans 2019, New Orleans Saints 2021: The kicker had 121 field goals and 200 extra points. Parkey set an NFL rookie record when he scored 150 points in 2014, earning a Pro Bowl invitation.
10. Derrick Henry, Alabama: 562 points
Tennessee Titans 2016-2023: Henry has scored 90 rushing touchdowns, three receiving touchdowns and two 2-point conversions. He has scored at least 10 touchdowns in each of the past six seasons, including 2021, when a broken foot limited him to eight regular-season games.
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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @AMarkG1.