1. Paul Krause 81
2. Emlen Tunnell 79
3. Rod Woodson 71
4. Night Train Lane 68
5. Charles Woodson 65
Ken Riley 65
7. Ed Reed 64
8. Ronnie Lott 63
Darren Sharper 63
10. Dick LeBeau 62
The one thing that all ten had in common, besides the frequency with which they took the ball from offenses, is longevity. Ed Reed had the shortest career at 12 seasons. The rest played at least 14. Rod Woodson and Charles Woodson had the longest careers at 17 and 18 seasons, respectively. While Rod Woodson posted the greatest total of interceptions of the more current players among the top ten, it was Reed that probably had Krause the most nervous. If Reed had the career longevity of the Woodsons he'd still be playing and probably have a legitimate shot at the career interception record. Reed's style of play was so unpredictable. Quarterbacks simply couldn't avoid his area of the field because he could be damn near anywhere. He seemed to know the intentions of the offense better than the offense. Hearing Bill Belichick and Tom Brady discuss dealing with Reed is classic football stuff. Krause probably breathed a long-held sigh when Reed started talking about post-career plans because I'm not so sure that he's ever filed his retirement papers.
One of the most interesting players on the top-10 interception list is the very underrated former Cincinnati Bengals corner Ken Riley. Ed Reed and Charles Woodson will be, or should be, first-ballot Hall of Fame. With that in mind Riley is the only non-Hall of Fame player among the top thieves in NFL history. The disaster that is Darren Sharper is omitted in this discussion. Riley was an outstanding football player and should be honored in Canton. His wait has been sad and undeserved. As far as I know there hasn't even been serious discussion among the voters of his candidacy.
It's unlikely that Krause's 81 career interceptions will ever be exceeded. Despite the incredible frequency with which the football is being thrown these days players simply aren't getting the 10 or more interceptions in a season that they need to break it. Players have hit the 10 interception mark eight times since 2000 and no player has done it more than once. It's only been done twice since 2007. Simply math shows that a player would have to average just over eight interceptions a year over a 10-year career to break the record. That's a tall task. In his remarkably consistent 12-year career Ed Reed averaged 5.3 interceptions each season. He had a high of 9 (twice) and a low of 1. He had five or less more often than he had seven or more. A player with a 15-year career would have to average slightly more interceptions (5.4) each season than Reed averaged during his career. Basically, a player with Krause's interception record in mind would have to play longer and be a better thief than Ed Reed. That's very difficult to do.
Speaking of interceptions in a season, Dick "Night Train" Lane's 14 interceptions (in 12 games) as a rookie in 1952 might be as tough to break as Krause's career record. Oakland Raiders corner Lester Hayes took a run at Lane's record in 1980 but fell one short. I can't think of another real threat to the season record.
The top active players are much closer to retirement than cracking the top-10 career interception list.
DeAngelo Hall with 43.
Terrence Newman with 40.
Hall might prolong his career with a switch to safety but he'll have to pick up the pace. He'll be 33 next November.
Newman played great for the Vikings this past season and even had two interceptions in a single game. He came real close to a third. He'll be 38 at the start of the 2016 season.
Some of the youngsters with a fine start to their interception career.
Aqib Talib (29 years) 30 interceptions
Richard Sherman (27) 26
Earl Thomas (26) 21
Patrick Peterson (25) 17
Joe Haden (26) 16
Sherman had eight interceptions in two of his first three seasons. Since he's earned "shut-down" status quarterbacks have avoided throwing his way. He's had 4 and 2 interceptions in his last two seasons. Quarterbacks tend to stay away from players that are always in position to get their hands on the ball. For that reason it's real difficult to rack up interceptions from the cornerback position. Perhaps Sherman has a career like Charles and Rod Woodson and moves to safety for the latter half of a very long career. He has the size and smarts for the move.
Talib has never had more than six interceptions in a season and he hasn't had six since 2010.
Kansas City Chiefs rookie corner Marcus Peters burst on the scene this year with 8 interceptions. Quarterbacks targeted him a bunch. Being a rookie and all. He gave up a lot of big plays but he also made a lot of big plays for his side. If he keeps up the level of play that he showed as a rookie, quarterbacks will stop testing him just like they have stopped testing Sherman, Patrick Peterson, Joe Haden, and Aqib Talib. Moving forward, Peters should have fewer passes thrown his way but Sean Smith isn't a treat on the other side of the Chiefs defense. Maybe Peters can keep racking up thefts.
Few NFL records are unbreakable. And the Paul Krause's 81 career interceptions is real close to being one of them. It's been done before. Who knows? With passing being the preferred method of moving the football these days maybe some player can play long enough and get in the way of enough to passes to make a run at the record. It sure would be fun to watch.
Few NFL records are unbreakable. And the Paul Krause's 81 career interceptions is real close to being one of them. It's been done before. Who knows? With passing being the preferred method of moving the football these days maybe some player can play long enough and get in the way of enough to passes to make a run at the record. It sure would be fun to watch.
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