2021 NFL House Calls

For every NFL season - except for one - between 2013 and 2020 a player with dreads led the league in touchdowns scored. Familiar names like Todd Gurley, Alvin Kamara, Aaron Jones, Marshawn Lynch, and Jamaal Charles were among those at the very top of the lists during that 8-year span. And even during the one exception a player with dreads finished in 2nd place (LeGarrette Blount in 2016). Going back even further, during each and every season - without exception - since Edgerrin James finished in 4th place in touchdowns in 2005 there has been at least one player with dreads in the top 10 in the league in TD scored. Sadly, and shockingly, that 16-year streak came to an end in 2021.

Last season indeed was a strange one for the league's dreadheads when it came to touchdowns. While none of them were among the league leaders, they still managed to make more house calls than ever before.

There was a tie for the player with dreads with the most touchdowns in 2021. No surprise that Packers WR Davante Adams (top photo on right, finishing off his 38-yard catch and run for a TD against the Bears in Week 14) was one of them. But the other one? I'm not even going to ask for a show of hands because I know when the season began nobody had Cordarrelle Patterson scoring the most TD among players with dreads. The 11 scored by Patterson (including his 7-yard reception against the Buccaneers in Week 2 in bottom photo on right) in his first season with the Falcons and by Adams in what turned out to be his final season with the Packers was the lowest leading total for a player with dreads since James scored 9 in 2004. And the 11 weren't enough for a top 10 finish in the league, as 11 players without dreads scored 12 or more TD.