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1961 NFL Kick & Punt Returns

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League Champion: Green Bay Packers

AP MVP: Paul Hornung

AP Rookie of the Year: Mike Ditka

Passing Leader: Sonny Jurgensen, 3723 Yds

Rushing Leader: Jim Brown, 1408 Yds

Receiving Leader: Tommy McDonald, 1144 Yds

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Kick & Punt Returns

* Selected to Pro Bowl, + First-Team All-Pro

Kick & Punt Returns Table
					Games		Punt Returns					Kick Returns
Rk	Player	Tm	Age	Pos	G	GS	Ret	Yds	TD	Lng	Y/R	Rt	Yds	TD	Lng	Y/Rt	APYd
1	Johnny Sample	PIT	25	RCB/LCB	14	13	26	283	1	55	10.9	23	532	0	59	23.1	956
2	Johnny Morris	CHI	26	FL	14	12	23	155	0	16	6.7	2	46	0	25	23.0	801
3	Jim Steffen	2TM	25	DB	14	4	19	153	0	45	8.1	29	691	0	43	23.8	855
4	Ted Dean*	PHI	23	FB	14	5	18	140	0	28	7.8	21	462	0	34	22.0	1258
5	Bobby Boyd	BAL	24	LCB	14	14	18	173	0	46	9.6			0			173
6	Joel Wells	NYG	26	HB	14	3	17	90	0	18	5.3	12	273	0	49	22.8	610
7	Bill Stits	NYG	30	DB	10	0	17	132	0	20	7.8	4	87	0	30	21.8	219
8	Abe Woodson*	SFO	27	LHB/LCB	14	11	16	172	1	80	10.8	27	782	1	98	29.0	1053
9	Howard Cassady	DET	27	HB	14	1	16	159	0	21	9.9	9	127	0	23	14.1	462
10	Amos Marsh	DAL	22	FB	14	7	14	71	0	19	5.1	26	667	0	79	25.7	1306
11	Tommy Mason	MIN	22	LHB	13	4	14	146	0	23	10.4	25	603	0	42	24.1	1097
12	Bobby Mitchell	CLE	26	HB	14	13	14	164	1	64	11.7	16	428	1	91	26.8	1508
13	Jim Shofner	CLE	26	RCB	14	14	14	119	0	21	8.5			0			127
14	Willie Wood	GNB	25	FS	14	12	14	225	2	72	16.1			0			277
15	Dick James*	WAS	27	RHB/LHB	14	11	12	90	0	18	7.5	21	617	0	48	29.4	1407
16	Willie West	STL	23	LCB	14	5	11	98	0	28	8.9	16	340	0	40	21.3	453
17	Jon Arnett*	RAM	26	LHB	14	14	10	75	0	17	7.5	25	653	1	105	26.1	1531
18	Brady Keys	PIT	25	SS/RCB	12	11	9	135	0	66	15.0	2	41	0	23	20.5	211
19	Timmy Brown	PHI	24	LHB	13	4	8	125	1	66	15.6	29	811	1	105	28.0	1538
20	Pat Studstill	DET	23	P	14	0	8	75	0	26	9.4	16	448	1	100	28.0	577
21	Hugh McElhenny*	MIN	33	LHB/RHB	13	13	8	155	1	81	19.4	2	59	0	35	29.5	1069
22	Irv Cross	PHI	22	RCB	13	7	7	77	0	21	11.0	1	11	0	11	11.0	127
23	Lew Carpenter	GNB	29	HB	14	1	6	130	0	48	21.7			0			164
24	Eddie Dove*	SFO	24	FS	14	14	6	49	0	20	8.2			0			90
25	Warren Livingston	DAL	23	LCB	8	8	6	20	0	12	3.3			0			23
26	Jim Kerr	WAS	22	FS	13	12	5	23	0	14	4.6	14	385	0	42	27.5	501
27	Allan Webb	NYG	28	DB	10	3	5	61	0	30	12.2	8	156	0	40	19.5	268
28	Billy Stacy*	STL	25	LCB	13	9	5	9	0	7	1.8	3	60	0	35	20.0	430
29	Bobby Joe Conrad	STL	26	RHB	14	13	5	103	1	73	20.6	1	28	0	28	28.0	652
Rk	Player	Tm	Age	Pos	G	GS	Ret	Yds	TD	Lng	Y/R	Rt	Yds	TD	Lng	Y/Rt	APYd
30	Carl Taseff	2TM	33	DB-RCB	12	7	5	39	0	23	7.8			0			54
31	Dick Bass	RAM	24	FB	14	9	4	109	1	90	27.3	23	698	0	64	30.3	1560
32	Pat Fischer	STL	21	DB	12	2	4	18	0	13	4.5	17	426	0	53	25.1	466
33	Alex Hawkins	BAL	24	LHB	11	11	4	20	0	9	5.0			0			557
34	Andy Nelson	BAL	28	SS	14	14	4	19	0	12	4.8			0			19
35	Joe Morrison	NYG	24	HB	13	7	3	6	0	5	2.0	2	32	0	21	16.0	183
36	Preston Carpenter	PIT	27	RE	13	12	3	18	0	10	6.0			0			487
37	Bill Butler	PIT	24	LCB	10	8	2	11	0	9	5.5	6	117	0	25	19.5	231
38	L.G. Dupre	DAL	29	HB	10	0	2	4	0	4	2.0	6	110	0	24	18.3	223
39	Mike Sommer	2TM	27	HB	6	1	2	26	0	13	13.0	4	98	0	42	24.5	156
40	Dale Messer	SFO	24	DB	4	0	2	11	0	6	5.5	3	36	0	14	12.0	93
41	Richie Petitbon	CHI	23	SS	14	13	2	9	0	7	4.5			0			80
42	Jamie Caleb	MIN	25	HB	10	0	1	8	0	8	8.0	22	504	0	38	22.9	515
43	Don Perkins*	DAL	23	LHB	14	14	1	8	0	8	8.0	22	443	0	30	20.1	1588
44	Rosey Taylor	CHI	24	FS	14	5	1	4	0	4	4.0	14	379	0	60	27.1	383
45	Bob Harrison	BAL	23	FS	13	13	1	16	0	16	16.0	11	250	0	34	22.7	309
46	Lew Luce	WAS	23	HB	2	0	1	0	0	0	0.0	4	77	0	22	19.3	78
47	Mark Smolinski	BAL	22	FB	14	1	1	2	0	2	2.0	3	27	0	23	9.0	227
48	Joe Driskill	STL	24	DB	14	6	1	8	0	8	8.0	2	8	0	8	4.0	16
49	Maxie Baughan*	PHI	23	RLB	14	14	1	11	0	11	11.0			0			33
50	Jim Gibbons*	DET	25	RE	14	13	1	14	0	14	14.0			0			580
51	Night Train Lane*+	DET	33	LCB	12	12	1	6	0	6	6.0			0			79
52	Yale Lary*	DET	31	FS	14	14	1	8	0	8	8.0			0			117
53	Larry Morris	CHI	28	RLB	14	14	1	2	0	2	2.0			0			27
54	Lenny Lyles	BAL	25	DB	14	0			0			28	672	0	64	24.0	676
55	Charlie Bivins	CHI	23	HB	14	1			0			25	668	0	78	26.7	847
56	Herb Adderley	GNB	22	DB	14	1			0			18	478	0	61	26.6	487
57	Preston Powell	CLE	25	FB	12	0			0			16	321	0	36	20.1	326
58	Tom Moore	GNB	23	HB	13	2			0			15	409	0	60	27.3	754
59	Dick Haley	2TM	24	HB	12	6			0			13	278	0	50	21.4	321
Rk	Player	Tm	Age	Pos	G	GS	Ret	Yds	TD	Lng	Y/R	Rt	Yds	TD	Lng	Y/Rt	APYd
60	Bob Gaiters	NYG	23	LHB	14	9			0			11	288	0	49	26.2	802
61	Tom Watkins	CLE	24	HB	10	1			0			9	226	0	47	25.1	501
62	Justin Rowland	MIN	24	DB	5	0			0			8	175	0	30	21.9	179
63	J.D. Smith	SFO	29	LHB/FB	14	14			0			7	158	0	33	22.6	1324
64	Don McIlhenny	2TM	27	HB	8	0			0			6	189	0	49	31.5	229
65	Dick Pesonen	MIN	23	RCB	11	11			0			6	136	0	60	22.7	164
66	Willie Galimore	CHI	26	HB	14	12			0			5	82	0	25	16.4	1291
67	J.W. Lockett	2TM	24	FB	14	9			0			5	61	0	21	12.2	509
68	Jim Welch	BAL	23	DB	14	0			0			5	146	0	50	29.2	206
69	Pervis Atkins	RAM	26	HB	14	1			0			4	77	0	20	19.3	163
70	Bill Brown	CHI	23	RB	14	3			0			4	54	0	19	13.5	141
71	Jim Cunningham	WAS	22	FB	14	3			0			4	80	0	24	20.0	330
72	Sam Horner	WAS	23	LHB	14	9			0			4	75	0	23	18.8	463
73	Johnny Olszewski	DET	31	FB	14	2			0			4	59	0	23	14.8	182
74	John Symank	GNB	26	SS	14	14			0			4	121	0	38	30.3	220
75	Larry Wilson	STL	23	FS	11	11			0			4	83	0	23	20.8	155
76	Sam Baker	CLE	32	P	14	0			0			3	57	0	25	19.0	57
77	Bill Cooper	SFO	22	FB	12	1			0			3	44	0	20	14.7	61
78	Bill Forester*+	GNB	29	RLB	14	12			0			3	55	0	20	18.3	88
79	Jim Leo	MIN	24	RDE	14	7			0			3	9	0	9	3.0	9
80	Charlie Scales	PIT	23	FB	14	1			0			3	41	0	15	13.7	268
81	Mel Triplett	MIN	30	FB	14	8			0			3	41	0	18	13.7	489
82	Frank Varrichione	RAM	29	RT	14	14			0			3	23	0	11	7.7	23
83	Gene Babb	DAL	27	RLB	14	11			0			2	34	0	19	17.0	34
84	Jim Brown*+	CLE	25	FB	14	14			0			2	50	0	26	25.0	1917
85	Mike Dowdle	DAL	24	LLB	14	4			0			2	33	0	19	16.5	47
86	Billy Gault	MIN	25	HB	4	0			0			2	41	0	21	20.5	41
87	Tom Matte	BAL	22	HB	8	2			0			2	50	0	30	25.0	112
88	Frank Mestnik	STL	23	FB	13	5			0			2	27	0	18	13.5	400
89	Clarence Peaks	PHI	26	FB	13	11			0			2	29	0	17	14.5	972
Rk	Player	Tm	Age	Pos	G	GS	Ret	Yds	TD	Lng	Y/R	Rt	Yds	TD	Lng	Y/Rt	APYd
90	Andy Stynchula	WAS	22	RDE	14	14			0			2	73	0	40	36.5	73
91	Johnny Brewer	CLE	24	DE	14	0			0			1	2	0	2	2.0	2
92	Jim Doran	DAL	34	E	14	0			0			1	0	0	0	0.0	163
93	Merrill Douglas	DAL	25	HB	6	0			0			1	12	0	12	12.0	34
94	Ross Fichtner	CLE	23	DB	13	2			0			1	11	0	11	11.0	11
95	Ken Gregory	BAL	24	E	14	0			0			1	3	0	3	3.0	3
96	Mal Hammack	STL	28	FB	7	2			0			1	8	0	8	8.0	157
97	Ray Hayes	MIN	26	FB	13	4			0			1	0	0	0	0.0	440
98	John Henry Johnson	PIT	32	FB	14	13			0			1	11	0	11	11.0	1060
99	Deacon Jones	RAM	23	LDE	14	6			0			1	12	0	12	12.0	22
100	Steve Junker	WAS	26	RE	11	4			0			1	0	0	0	0.0	130
101	Carl Kammerer	SFO	24	LB	14	2			0			1	18	0	18	18.0	18
102	Monte Lee	STL	23	LB	12	1			0			1	12	0	12	12.0	19
103	Joe Lewis	BAL	25	DT	11	0			0			1	14	0	14	14.0	14
104	Errol Linden	CLE	24	T	10	0			0			1	5	0	5	5.0	5
105	Dee Mackey	BAL	27	TE	14	2			0			1	6	0	6	6.0	72
106	Bruce Maher	DET	24	RCB	12	6			0			1	19	0	19	19.0	27
107	Marv Matuszak	BAL	30	MLB	14	5			0			1	14	0	14	14.0	14
108	Ray Norton	SFO	24	HB	6	0			0			1	60	0	60	60.0	58
109	Elijah Pitts	GNB	23	HB	14	1			0			1	14	0	14	14.0	94
110	Bob Schmitz	PIT	23	LB	14	3			0			1	0	0	0	0.0	0
111	Bob Simms	NYG	23	LB	14	0			0			1	14	0	14	14.0	14
112	J.D. Smith	CHI	25	HB	3	0			0			1	18	0	18	18.0	24
113	Larry Stephens	CLE	23	RDT	14	6			0			1	15	0	15	15.0	15
114	Sam Williams	DET	30	DE	12	0			0			1	4	0	4	4.0	14

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