One of the five most versatile running backs of the last 30 years -- P.K.

Carolina’s Cam Newton led the league in yards per carry in 2011, which isn’t that unusual. Michael Vick led the league in that category in five of the last ten seasons, and it wouldn’t be shocking to see Robert Griffin III, Newton, or Vick lead the NFL in yards per carry in 2012. But today’s trivia is focused on running backs.

Darren Sproles not only led the Saints in rushing yards, but he averaged an incredible 6.9 yards per carry last season. Sproles may be the game’s most dominant space player, but he fell 13 carries shy of the 100 carries necessary to qualify for the yards-per-carry crown. So which qualifying running back led the league in yards per carry in 2011?

DeSean Jackson crosses the goal line before discarding the ball

In 2010, DeSean Jackson led the Eagles in receiving yards, with 1,056, and led the NFL with a spectacular 22.5 yards per catch.

Malcolm Floyd led the league in yards per catch at 19.9, but it was Vincent Jackson who led San Diego in receiving yards. If you look only at the leading wide receiver on each team (based on receiving yards), do you know which wide receiver led the NFL in yards per reception in 2011?

No, Peyton, you are #1

Tom Brady won 18 straight regular season games with the Patriots between 2003 and 2004; the streak ended against the Steelers in week 8, but Brady wasn’t finished. New England won their final 3 games of the ’06 regular season before going 16-0 in 2007. Brady then won the season opener in 2008, but Bernard Pollard’s hit tore Brady’s ACL in that game, ending Brady’s season. He would win the season opener in 2009, too, before the Patriots fell to the Jets the following week. But from ’06 to ’09, Brady won 21 consecutive regular season games.

But it wasn’t Brady’s record that Manning broke in ’09. Do you know the quarterback who held the record before Manning, and who won 22 consecutive regular season starts?

Owens as a Bengal

Last weekend, I asked you to name the fifth of the five running backs who rushed for over 1,000 rushing yards in the final season of their career. Today, let’s switch positions: there are three players who gained at least 1,000 receiving yards in the final seasons of their careers.

Terrell Owens gained 983 yards with the Bengals in 2010, his last season — to date — in the league. This is one of the rare trivia questions where Jerry Rice’s name doesn’t enter the conversation — he had just 429 receiving yards in his final season. The famed triumvirate of wide receivers on the outside looking in at the Hall — Tim Brown, Andre Reed, and Cris Carter — gained just 200, 103, and 66 yards, respectively, in their final seasons. Marvin Harrison gained 636 yards in his last season, and don’t forget, Randy Moss isn’t yet retired.

One of the three players is so obscure I doubt anyone would get it. Reggie Langhorne played for seven years in Cleveland and then set a career high with 811 yards in his first season with the Colts. The next year, 1993, Langhorne broke 1,000 yards for the first time in his career: and he never played in the NFL again. In a salary cap purge, the Colts released several veterans, including Langhorne, following the ’93 season. Content with his career, Langhorne decided to never suit up again.

But the other two receivers are well-known in all football circles. Can you name the other two players to gain 1,000 receiving yards in their final NFL seasons?

Barry Sanders walked out on top

Of course, that’s not the trivia question of the day. But Barber is in rare company, as only five retired players rushed for over 1,000 yards in their last season.

Today’s trivia question comes courtesy of Football Outsiders’ staffer Danny Tuccitto, who e-mailed me the question a few days ago. In addition to Barber, Jim Brown, Barry Sanders and Robert Smith all topped 1,000 yards in their final NFL season. But there’s a fifth, more obscure, member of the group. He’s the subject of Sunday’s trivia of the day. Can you name that fifth member? Take a look at hint one and see if you can get it. As always, the honor system will be strictly enforced.

The Hall of Fame

Every August, the NFL inducts another set of men into football’s pantheon, the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Today’s trivia question: which man was the youngest person to ever be inducted in the Hall?

Every SB logo.

Charles Haley is the only man with five Super Bowl rings, but three different players have won six NFL championships. Can you name any of them? Note that Lou Groza and several other Browns won four championships in the All America Football Conference and then multiple NFL titles; Groza himself won 8 championships overall, as he also played on the 1950, 1954, 1955 and 1964 Browns teams that captured NFL titles.

Ricky Williams gets high in a game against the Jets.

Two weeks ago, I asked, “Which active wide receiver leads the league in receiving yards?” That question was so difficult that I got it wrong. I have higher expectations this time around as we examine running backs.

LaDainian Tomlinson and Ricky Williams both topped the 10,000-yard rushing mark, and both retired this off-season. That leaves just one active player in the league with over 10,000 career rushing yards:

The first 3,000 yard passer, the first 4,000 yard passer, and some baseball player.

Green Bay’s Arnie Herber (1936) and Cecil Isbell (1942) were the first players to ever throw for 1,000 and 2,000 yards in a season, respectively. In 1960, Johnny Unitas became the first quarterback to throw for 3,000 yards in a season. That same year, Frank Tripucka and Jack Kemp each topped the 3,000 yard mark in the 14-game AFL season (the NFL switched from 12 to 14 games the next year). In 1967, Joe Namath threw for 4,000 yards for the Jets in the AFL. Do you know who was the first quarterback to throw for 4,000 yards in the NFL?

The Jets and Giants both play in MetLife Stadium.

Three hints below; as always, the honor system will be strictly enforced.

Peter Read Miller won the Dave Boss Award of Excellence for the 2005 Action Photo of the Year with this outstanding photo of Tomlinson.

On the eve of LaDainian Tomlinson’s retirement announcement, SI’s Peter King named his top-five most versatile runners of the last 30 years. Declaring Walter Payton just outside the time period, King selected Marshall Faulk, Tomlinson, Thurman Thomas, Darren Sproles, and Marcus Allen as his most versatile running backs since 1982.

There are many ways to quibble with his list, but let’s turn this into a bit of trivia. Defining versatile is subjective, but for purposes of this trivia question, I’ll define versatile as any season by a running back where he:

• Caught at least 50 passes

• Gained at least 1400 yards from scrimmage

• Averaged at least 4.5 yards per carry

Tomlinson (4), Faulk (3) and Thomas (2) each had multiple seasons where they reached all three bench marks. Marcus Allen did it once, in 1985; Sproles has never done it (he had only 1313 yards from scrimmage last year, a career high).

Tomlinson ranks 2nd over the past 30 years in most “versatile” seasons. But one running back reached all three benchmarks in six different seasons. Can you guess who?

Happy Father’s Day to all the dads out there. Check back tomorrow for a post on quarterbacks, but first, here are a couple of trivia questions you can use at your barbeque, centering around the most famous father in the NFL.

The Mannings, lined up from most to fewest rings

Since Manning retired, three more quarterbacks have lost at least 100 games. Can you name them?

Every once in awhile, I’ll post some random trivia. I’ll include three hints, each making the answer progressively easier to guess. See how early you can guess the answer, and post your results in the comments. As always, the honor system will be strictly enforced.

Can you name the only team to never have a player record 90 receptions in a season?