The Modern Saints- Modern Era Icon
- Franchise Legend
Alvin Kamara
- Position
- RBRunning Back
- Number
- #41
- Saints years
- 2017–2025
- Era
- The Modern Saints
- Franchise
- New Orleans Saints
Honors
- AP Offensive Rookie of the Year
- Tied the NFL record for rushing touchdowns in a game
- 5x Pro Bowl
Alvin Kamara is still on the roster. This page is the career; the current-season page carries his snaps, usage and efficiency from the season the site measures.
Why he’s a legend
The legacy
Alvin Kamara was a third-round pick in 2017 who was the best rookie in football by November, and has been the most versatile offensive player the Saints have had since. He is a running back whose receiving production would flatter most slot receivers, and on Christmas Day 2020 he scored six rushing touchdowns in one game — tying a record that had stood since 1929.
Why he matters
- Associated Press Offensive Rookie of the Year in 2017, with 1,554 yards from scrimmage as a third-round pick.
- Five consecutive Pro Bowl selections, 2017 through 2021.
- His six rushing touchdowns against Minnesota on 25 December 2020 tied Ernie Nevers’ NFL record, set in 1929 and untouched for 91 years.
- He has been the offensive centrepiece across the transition out of the Drew Brees era, through four different starting quarterbacks.
- A dual-threat back in the mould the modern league is built around — his receiving volume in his first four seasons was closer to a starting receiver’s than to a running back’s.
Defining moment
Six touchdowns on Christmas Day
2020 season
Against Minnesota on 25 December 2020, Kamara ran for six touchdowns, tying the single-game record Ernie Nevers set for the Chicago Cardinals in 1929. It is the oldest record in professional football and it had never been matched.
Career statistics
Current through the 2024 season
With the Saints
- Rookie Scrimmage Yards
- 1,554728 rushing and 826 receiving in 2017.
- Pro Bowls
- 5
- Draft
- 2017, 67th overall
Honors & accolades
League awards & All-Pro
- AP Offensive Rookie of the Year2017
Selections & records
- 5x Pro Bowl2017–2021
- Tied the NFL record for rushing touchdowns in a gameSix, 25 December 2020
Career timeline
9 seasons in the NFL, 9 of them in New Orleans.
- 2017New Orleans SaintsDrafted 67th overall out of TennesseeAP Offensive Rookie of the Year; first Pro Bowl
- 2018New Orleans Saints
- 2019New Orleans Saints
- 2020New Orleans SaintsSix rushing touchdowns in one game, tying a 91-year-old NFL record
- 2021New Orleans SaintsFifth consecutive Pro Bowl selection
- 2022New Orleans Saints
- 2023New Orleans Saints
- 2024New Orleans Saints
- 2025New Orleans Saints
Era context
What the league looked like while Alvin Kamara played it. Raw totals across eras are not like-for-like.
The Brees & Payton Era
2006–2020
A quarterback nobody else wanted, a coach nobody had hired, and a Super Bowl.
- The most pass-friendly rules environment in NFL history to that point; raw passing totals from these years dwarf every earlier era.
- Sixteen-game seasons throughout, with a 12-team playoff field from 2020.
- The franchise won seven division titles in this span, including four consecutive from 2017 to 2020.
The Modern Saints
2021–present
Life after the quarterback who rewrote the record book.
- Seasons expanded to 17 games in 2021, so single-season totals from 2021 onward are not directly comparable to earlier ones.
- The playoff field has been 14 teams since 2020.
- Careers in progress: statistics for active players are stated through a named season and will move.
Data & sources
Statistics on this profile are current through the 2024 season.
- An active career. Career rushing and receiving totals are not stated here because they change every week and this profile is not fed by a live pipeline; the honors and single-game records above are settled facts.
- His 2017 rookie scrimmage total is shown because it is the season the Offensive Rookie of the Year award was based on.
