Fantasy sports have become a lucrative business. It all started back in the fifties when an Oakland businessman by the name of Wilfred “Bill” Winkenbach started a game of fantasy golf where each playing member would select a group of professional golfers to their team and the person with the lowest stroke score at the end of a tournament, wins. That simple idea took another few years before Bill applied it to football in 1962.

The league was called the Greater Oakland Professional Pigskin Prognosticators League, or GOPPPL. But because there was no internet, no emails, and no social media, the invention of fantasy football took many years to grow in popularity. Unlike today, things prior to the internet took several years to grow into national phenomenons.

After many years of tweaks and changes to the rules, fantasy football was born and by 1997, CBS became the first company to launch a publicly available free fantasy football league that became an instant success and caught on to hundreds of other sites.

Today, nearly 75 million people play fantasy football around the world making it the most popular fantasy sport of all time. It has become so popular that even professional athletes play it. There are even television shows, podcasts, books, and websites that give expert opinions, detailed breakdowns of each week, and all kinds of information to help you win at fantasy football.

Since most websites don’t keep track of fantasy data beyond a few years, we decided to go back and track NFL players performances before the days of fantasy football to see which players had the best single fantasy football seasons since the 1967 season and the first ever Super Bowl.

*NOTE : We used ESPN’s Standard PPR League Scoring.

50. Calvin Johnson, WR, DET – 358.1 pts

Year: 2011

Receptions: 96

Receiving Yards: 1,681

Receiving TDs: 16

49. Tom Brady, QB, NE – 358.2 pts

Year: 2011

Passing Yards: 5,235

Passing TDs: 39

Interceptions: 12

Rushing Yards: 109

Rushing TDs: 3

48. Larry Johnson, RB, KC – 358.3 pts

Year: 2005

Rushing Yards: 1,750

Rushing TDs: 20

Receptions: 33

Receiving Yards: 343

Receiving TDs: 1

47. Jerry Rice, WR, SF – 359.2 pts

Year: 1994

Receptions: 112

Receiving Yards: 1,499

Receiving TDs: 13

Rushing Yards: 93

Rushing TDs: 2

46. Cam Newton, QB, CAR – 360.34 pts

Year: 2011

Passing Yards: 4,051

Passing TDs: 21

Interceptions: 17

Rushing Yards: 706

Rushing TDs: 14

45. Edgerrin James, RB, IND – 361.9 pts

Year: 1999

Rushing Yards: 1,553

Rushing TDs: 13

Receptions: 62

Receiving Yards: 586

Receiving TDs: 4

44. Emmitt Smith, RB, DAL – 362.5 pts

Year: 1994

Rushing Yards: 1,484

Rushing TDs: 21

Receptions: 50

Receiving Yards: 341

Receiving TDs: 1

43. Marshall Faulk, RB, IND – 368.7 pts

Year: 1998

Rushing Yards: 1,319

Rushing TDs: 6

Receptions: 86

Receiving Yards: 908

Receiving TDs: 4

42. LaDainian Tomlinson, RB, SD –

Year: 2007

Rushing Yards: 1,474

Rushing TDs: 15

Receptions: 60

Receiving Yards: 475

Receiving TDs: 3

41. James Wilder, RB, TB – 365.9 pts

Year: 1984

Rushing Yards: 1,544

Rushing TDs: 13

Receptions: 85

Receiving Yards: 685

Receiving TDs: 0

40. Eric Dickerson, RB, LA – 366.2 pts

Year: 1983

Rushing Yards: 1,808

Rushing TDs: 18

Receptions: 51

Receiving Yards: 404

Receiving TDs: 2

39. Brian Westbrook, RB, PHI – 368.4 pts

Year: 2007

Rushing Yards: 1,333

Rushing TDs: 7

Receptions: 90

Receiving Yards: 771

Receiving TDs: 5

38. Shaun Alexander, RB, SEA – 368.8 pts

Year: 2005

Rushing Yards: 1,880

Rushing TDs: 27

Receptions: 15

Receiving Yards: 78

Receiving TDs: 1

37. Ray Rice, RB, BAL – 368.8 pts

Year: 2011

Rushing Yards: 1,364

Rushing TDs: 12

Receptions: 76

Receiving Yards: 704

Receiving TDs: 3

36. Daunte Culpepper, QB, MIN – 369.28 pts

Year: 2004

Passing Yards: 4,717

Passing TDs: 39

Interceptions: 11

Rushing Yards: 406

Rushing TDs: 2

35. Emmitt Smith, RB, DAL – 369.80 pts

Year: 1992

Rushing Yards: 1,713

Rushing TDs: 18

Receptions: 59

Receiving Yards: 335

Receiving TDs: 1

34. Le’Veon Bell, RB, PIT – 370.50 pts

Year: 2014

Rushing Yards: 1,361

Rushing TDs: 8

Receptions: 83

Receiving Yards: 854

Receiving TDs: 3

33. Larry Johnson, RB, KC – 370.90 pts

Year: 2006

Rushing Yards: 1,789

Rushing TDs: 17

Receptions: 41

Receiving Yards: 410

Receiving TDs: 2

32. Isaac Bruce, WR, STL – 371.10 pts

Year: 1995

Receptions: 119

Receiving Yards: 1,781

Receiving TDs: 13

31. Herman Moore, WR, DET – 371.60 pts

Year: 1995

Receptions: 123

Receiving Yards: 1,686

Receiving TDs: 14

30. Jamaal Charles, RB, KC – 374 pts

Year: 2013

Rushing Yards: 1,287

Rushing TDs: 12

Receptions: 70

Receiving Yards: 693

Receiving TDs: 7

29. Randy Moss, WR, MIN – 376 pts

Year: 2003

Receptions: 111

Receiving Yards: 1,632

Receiving TDs: 17

28. O.J. Simpson, RB, BUF – 376.30 pts

Year: 1975

Rushing Yards: 1,817

Rushing TDs: 16

Receptions: 28

Receiving Yards: 426

Receiving TDs: 7

27. Marcus Allen, RB, OAK – 376.40 pts

Year: 1985

Rushing Yards: 1,759

Rushing TDs: 11

Receptions: 67

Receiving Yards: 555

Receiving TDs: 3

26. Roger Craig, RB, SF – 378.60 pts

Year: 1985

Rushing Yards: 1,050

Rushing TDs: 9

Receptions: 92

Receiving Yards: 1,016

Receiving TDs: 6

25. Ahman Green, RB, GB – 381 pts

Year: 2003

Rushing Yards: 1,883

Rushing TDs: 15

Receptions: 50

Receiving Yards: 367

Receiving TDs: 5

24. Terrell Davis, RB, DEN – 381.50 pts

Year: 1998

Rushing Yards: 2,008

Rushing TDs: 21

Receptions: 25

Receiving Yards: 217

Receiving TDs: 2

23. Marvin Harrison, WR, IND – 381.50 pts

Year: 2002

Receptions: 143

Receiving Yards: 1,722

Receiving TDs: 11

22. Antonio Brown, WR, PIT – 382.1 pts

Year: 2014

Receptions: 129

Receiving Yards: 1,698

Receiving TDs: 13

21. LaDainian Tomlinson, RB, SD – 382.2 pts

Year: 2002

Rushing Yards: 1,683

Rushing TDs: 14

Receptions: 79

Receiving Yards: 489

Receiving TDs: 1

20. Randy Moss, WR, NE – 2007

Year: 2007

Receptions: 98

Receiving Yards: 1,493

Receiving TDs: 23

19. Tom Brady, QB, NE – 386.04 pts

Year: 2007

Passing Yards: 4,806

Passing TDs: 50

Interceptions: 8

Rushing Yards: 98

Rushing TDs: 2

18. Antonio Brown, WR, PIT – 386.20 pts

Year: 2015

Receptions: 136

Receiving Yards: 1,834

Receiving TDs: 10

17. Cam Newton, QB, CAR

Year: 2015

Passing Yards: 3,837

Passing TDs: 35

Interceptions: 10

Rushing Yards: 636

Rushing TDs: 10

16. Drew Brees, QB, NO

Year: 2011

Passing Yards: 5,476

Passing TDs: 46

Interceptions: 14

Rushing Yards: 86

Rushing TDs: 1

15. Arian Foster, RB, HOU – 390 pts

Year: 2010

Rushing Yards: 1,616

Rushing TDs: 16

Receptions: 66

Receiving Yards: 604

Receiving TDs: 2

14. Chris Johnson, RB, TEN – 392.90 pts

Year: 2009

Rushing Yards: 2,006

Rushing TDs: 14

Receptions: 50

Receiving Yards: 503

Receiving TDs: 2

13. Edgerrin James, RB, IND – 393.30 pts

Year: 2000

Rushing Yards: 1,709

Rushing TDs: 13

Receptions: 63

Receiving Yards: 594

Receiving TDs: 5

12. Aaron Rodgers, QB, GB – 395.42 pts

Year: 2011

Passing Yards: 4,643

Passing TDs: 45

Interceptions: 6

Rushing Yards: 257

Rushing TDs: 3

11. Marshall Faulk, RB, STL – 399.90 pts

Year: 1999

Rushing Yards: 1,381

Rushing TDs: 7

Receptions: 87

Receiving Yards: 1,048

Receiving TDs: 5

10. Jerry Rice, WR, SF – 400.4 pts

Year: 1995

Receptions: 122

Receiving Yards: 1,848

Receiving TDs: 15

9. Steven Jackson, RB, STL – 411.4 pts

Year: 2006

Rushing Yards: 1,528

Rushing TDs: 13

Receptions: 90

Receiving Yards: 806

Receiving TDs: 3

8. Emmitt Smith, RB, DAL – 412.8 pts

Year: 1995

Rushing Yards: 1,773

Rushing TDs: 25

Receptions: 62

Receiving Yards: 375

Receiving TDs: 0

7. Marshall Faulk, RB, STL – 419.7 pts

Year: 2001

Rushing Yards: 1,382

Rushing TDs: 12

Receptions: 83

Receiving Yards: 765

Receiving TDs: 9

6. Peyton Manning, QB, DEN – 421.98 pts

Year: 2013

Passing Yards: 5,477

Passing TDs: 55

Interceptions: 10

Rushing Yards: (-31)

Rushing TDs: 1

5. LaDainian Tomlinson, RB, SD – 439.8 pts

Year: 2003

Passing Yards: 21

Passing TDs: 1

Rushing Yards: 1,645

Rushing TDs: 13

Receptions: 100

Receiving Yards: 725

Receiving TDs: 4

4. Priest Holmes, RB, KC – 440.7 pts

Year: 2002

Rushing Yards: 1,615

Rushing TDs: 21

Receptions: 70

Receiving Yards: 672

Receiving TDs: 3

3. Priest Holmes, RB, KC – 445 pts

Year: 2003

Rushing Yards: 1,420

Rushing TDs: 27

Receptions: 74

Receiving Yards: 690

Receiving TDs: 0

2. Marshall Faulk, RB, STL – 459.9 pts

Year: 2000

Rushing Yards: 1,359

Rushing TDs: 18

Receptions: 81

Receiving Yards: 830

Receiving TDs: 8

1. LaDainian Tomlinson, RB, SD – 479.1 pts