Record-keeping for punting yards began in 1939, when Parker Hall led the National Football League (NFL) with 2,369 punting yards, while playing for the Cleveland Rams (now known as the Los Angeles Rams).
James and Shane Lechler share the record of most seasons leading the league in punting yards, with four each.
James led the league in 1974, in addition to his aforementioned three-year stretch; he played with the Atlanta Falcons in all four of those seasons.
Johnny Hekker was the most recent player to accomplish this feat, leading in 2015, while playing for the St. Louis Rams, and again in 2016, when the team relocated to Los Angeles.
Ryan Stonehouse would surpass Baugh's yards per punt record, setting the new benchmark at 53.1 in 2022.
Dave Zastudil
led the NFL in 2012, with a record of 5,209 punting yards.
Johnny Hekker
is the most recent player to lead the league in punting yards in consecutive seasons (2015–2016).
Shane Lechler
led the league in punting yards for a tied record-fourth time in 2017.
Sammy Baugh
was a 5-time league leader in yards per punt, which is still the most in NFL history, with only one
other player
ever reaching four seasons leading in yards per punt. His record for yards per punt for a season of 51.4 lasted 82 years.
In 1963,
Yale Lary
became the second player to lead the league yards per punt for a third time.
Ryan Stonehouse
set the single-season record for yards per punt in 2022 and is the most recent yards per punt leader.
Andy Lee
has three single-seasons of over 4,500 punting yards.
Marquette King
led the league in punting yards in 2014, with 4,930, the third-most ever in a single-season.
