12 stats you may not know about late Packers RB John Brockington

Former Green Bay Packers running back John Brockington passed away on March 31 at the age of 74.

Brockington spent seven seasons in Green Bay after being the team's first-round selection in the 1971 NFL Draft (the ninth player overall) out of Ohio State. Brockington played 95 games with the Pack, starting 84 of them.

Here are 12 stats you may not know about Brockington and his NFL career:

1. In 1971, John's rookie season with the Packers, he rushed for 1,105 yards on 216 carries, an average of 5.1 yards per carry. He is the only rookie in NFL history with 100 or more rushing attempts in that first season to average over five yards per carry.

2. Brockington is one of four Ohio State running backs taken in the first nine picks on an NFL draft. The others: Ezekiel Elliott (2016), Bob Ferguson (1962) and Tom Matte (1961).

3. He is one of 10 players drafted in the 1971 draft class to be selected to three or more Pro Bowls during his NFL career.

4. John was the 1971 Offensive Rookie of the Year. He beat out Jim Plunkett, John Riggins and Vic Washington for the award.

5. Of the more than 60 running backs selected in that 1971 draft, Brockington had the second most rushing yards in his NFL career (5,185). John Riggins, who was the sixth pick of the New York Jets in that draft, had the most NFL rushing yards from that class with 11,352.

6. Brockington had over 1,000 rushing yards in his first three seasons with the Packers. He is one of four Packers runners with three or more 1,000-yard rushing seasons: Ahman Green had six, Jim Taylor had five, and Aaron Jones has three in his Packers career.

7. During his NFL career, which included 10 games with the Kansas City Chiefs in 1977, Brockington scored 34 TDs. Twenty-seven of those 34 TDs came from inside the 10-yard line.

8. John is one of 43 Packers players to have three or more Pro Bowls selections.

9. Brockington had 5,024 career rushing yards with the Packers, which still ranks fourth all-time behind Ahman Green (8,322), Jim Taylor (8,207) and Aaron Jones (5,284), who just passed Brockington this past season.

10. Brockington had 200 or more touches in four straight seasons with the Packers. In fact, he led the league in touches in 1974 with 309. He is one of five Green Bay players to have 200+ touches in four or more seasons: Jim Taylor (7), Ahman Green (6), Aaron Jones (4), Edgar Bennett (4) and Brockington (4).

11. In his rookie season, Brockington had 216 rushing attempts. He and Eddie Lacy are the only two Green Bay running backs to have 200 or more carries in a rookie season. Only 106 rookie running backs in league history have had 200 or more carries in their first year. Four rookie running backs had 200+ carries in 2022.

12. John Brockington had 13 100-yard rushing games in his career with Green Bay. That ranks fourth on the team behind Green (33), Taylor (26) and Jones (17). The Packers were 8-2-3 in games where Brockington had 100 or more yards rushing in a game.