The NFL didn’t keep individual stats until 1932, its 13th season. It would be another 10 seasons before someone would tip the scales to a weight never seen in an official single-season rushing champion.
Clarence “Pug” Manders, a farm-strong South Dakotan, was playing fullback for the Brooklyn Dodgers when his 1941 team bio read, “Manders is the nearest thing to a pile driver in the NFL today. He weighs 205 pounds … and hits with hurricane velocity.”
The official weight for this 6-foot beast was actually 200 pounds.
Fast forward 79 years to U.S. Bank Stadium, where the Vikings on Sunday will face Tennessee’s 6-3, 247-pound Derrick Henry, last year’s rushing champion with 1,540 yards on 303 carries in 15 games.