No one will ever break Cordarrelle Patterson’s NFL record

Cordarrelle Patterson is the new king when it comes to kick returns for touchdowns — technically he already was but now he doesn’t have to split the crown into thirds — and he will forever be the NFL king, that is a fact.

There will never be another player to break his nine (and counting) kickoff return touchdowns in a single career for the rest of eternity.

Cordarrelle Patterson will always be the NFL’s kick-return touchdown king

Hearing that the NFL record for most kickoff return touchdowns in a career is nine may surprise some people. Nine does not sound like a big number but really think about it, nine is a boatload and because of that, no one will ever catch Cordarrelle Patterson.

Patterson was tied with Leon Washington and Josh Cribbs prior to Sunday’s game, two players who have not been in the league for eight years. Among current players, no one comes close to his nine.

The next active player in line is Andre Roberts who previously played for the Falcons and is currently on injured reserve with the Carolina Panthers. He has been in the league for 12 years, so no way he will come close.

There are five active players who have two but, again, it would take a lot for them to even come close to Patterson.

Now, the reason I can confidently say that no one will ever break Patterson’s record is that it is obviously extremely hard to get even one, players who are designated as return men usually aren’t players who stick around, and there is a chance that they may eventually take away kickoffs entirely

Teams are usually eager to put their best players in harm’s way on special teams and so the guys who usually take those duties are the ones who have to fight to even get a roster spot each year.

Not to mention, teams have strong-legged kickers who can usually boot the ball past the endzone if they deem a returner as dangerous.

And then you have the inevitable, the NFL at some point will take kickoffs out of the game entirely due to safety concerns. Once that happens, the record can be written in permanent marker or carved into stone.

Cordarrelle Patterson will always be the greatest kickoff return man in the history of the NFL.