Andrew Beck had the weirdest play of Week 3 – a 255-pound fullback returning a kickoff 85 yards for a touchdown at Jacksonville. It was strange to see a player that large run that far for a touchdown. (Nice coverage, Jaguars.)
I made a mental note of it, wanting to look into it further after putting together the preview products of the week.
Turns out there are only two other players weighing more than 240 pounds who’ve scored on kickoff returns, and both were under 50 yards (so returns, I presume, where a team was attempting an onside kick).
Casey FitzSimmons did it for the Lions in 2007. FitzSimmons was a 258-pound tight end. And guard Mal Snider scored on a 48-yard return for the Falcons in 1969. If we adjust for players being smaller at that time, Snider’s 254 pounds is relatively a lot larger than FitzSimmons’ 258 or Beck’s 255.
The search tools at pro-football-reference.com indicate that seven other players weighing from 230-240 pounds have scored on kickoff returns. That includes six running backs who were kickoff returners (Cullen Bryant did it three times) and linebacker Tyjuan Hagler scoring on a short one in 2010 (presumably on an onside kick attempt).
HEAVIEST PLAYERS TO SCORE ON KICKOFF RETURNS | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Year | Player | Ht | Wt | Opp | Result | Yds |
2007 | Casey FitzSimmons, Det. | 6-4 | 258 | Chi. | W 37-27 | 41 |
2023 | • Andrew Beck, Hou. | 6-3 | 255 | at Jac. | W 37-17 | 85 |
1969 | Mal Snider, Atl. | 6-4 | 254 | Chi. | W 48-31 | 48 |
2004 | Derrick Ward, NYG | 5-11 | 240 | at Was. | L 7-31 | 92 |
1964 | Andy Livingston, Chi. | 6-1 | 236 | Min. | L 14-41 | 86 |
2010 | Tyjuan Hagler, Ind. | 6-0 | 236 | Jac. | W 34-24 | 41 |
1974 | Cullen Bryant, LAR | 6-1 | 234 | at Den. | W 17-10 | 84 |
1973 | Cullen Bryant, LAR | 6-1 | 234 | at S.F. | W 40-20 | 93 |
1976 | Cullen Bryant, LAR | 6-1 | 234 | St.L. | L 28-30 | 90 |
1992 | Darren Lewis, Chi. | 5-10 | 230 | Cin. | L 28-31 | 97 |
Statistics compiled using search tools at Pro-Football-Reference.com
—Ian Allan