Shortest NFL Players of All Time

The odds were against these 10 shortest players in NFL history, ever even having pro football careers.

The odds of playing in the NFL are so astronomical they’re hard to believe.

Of the almost 1.1 million high school football players in the United States, just 6.5 percent of those will get to play in college. Of the players that make it to college, just 1.1 percent of those make it to the NFL.

Want to make the odds even harder? Try making it to the NFL when you’re barely above the height required to get on carnival rides — a group of players whose numbers are so small (no pun intended) that we can’t begin to calculate those odds.

Here’s a look at the shortest players in NFL history and how they made it all the way to the greatest heights of the game.

10. Boston Scott

Matt Rourke / AP Photo

Height: 5-foot-6

Weight: 119 pounds

Position: Running Back

College: Louisiana Tech

NFL career: Philadelphia Eagles (2018-present)

Bottom line: Boston Scott starts off our list, tied with six other players as one of the shortest NFL players at 5-foot-6. He was an All-State football player and state champion in weightlifting at Zachary (La.) High before staying in his home state for college to play for Louisiana Tech.

Scott had his best season at Louisiana Tech as a senior in 2017 when he surpassed 1,300 all-purpose yards and scored 15 touchdowns on his way to All-Conference USA honors. Scott was drafted by the New Orleans Saints in the sixth round of the 2018 NFL Draft and has played for the Philadelphia Eagles since 2018.

9. Jaret Patterson

Washington Commanders RB Jaret Patterson

Terrance Williams / AP Photo

Height: 5-foot-6

Weight: 195 pounds

Position: Running Back

College: Buffalo

NFL career: Washington Football Team/Commanders (2021-present)

Bottom line: Jaret Patterson began grabbing headlines at St. Vincent Palotti (Md.) High School where he starred alongside future No. 2 overall pick Chase Young and racked up 558 yards of total offense in a single game in his senior season.

Patterson was lightly recruited out of high school and ended up at the University of Buffalo, where he was a three-time All-MAC selection and the MAC Most Valuable Player in 2020 — he also set the NCAA FBS record with eight touchdowns in a single game against Kent State in 2020.

Patterson and Young are now teammates in the NFL on the Washington Commanders, where they’ve played together the last two seasons.

8. Noland Smith

KevG163 / Twitter

Height: 5-foot-6

Weight: 155 pounds

Position: Wide Receiver/Return Specialist

College: Tennessee State

NFL career: Kansas City Chiefs (1967-69), San Francisco 49ers (1969)

Bottom line: Weighing in at just 155 pounds, Noland Smith is one of the lighter players to make this list and had a nickname that befit his stature — “Super Gnat” set numerous punt return records at Tennessee State before playing three NFL seasons with the Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers.

In an interesting twist, Smith guest-starred on the hit television series “MASH” as a football player named “Superbug” in 1970.

7. Deonte Harris

Matt Rourke / AP Photo

Height: 5-foot-6

Weight: 170 pounds

Position: Wide Receiver/Return Specialist

College: Assumption

NFL career: New Orleans Saints (2019-present)

Bottom line: Deonte Harris set the NCAA record — regardless of division — with 14 total returns for touchdowns during his career at NCAA Division II Assumption, where he also set school records for touchdowns (45) and all-purpose yards (6,173).

Harris made the New Orleans Saints as an undrafted free agent in 2019 and was an NFL All-Pro and made the Pro Bowl as a return specialist as a rookie and has 3,433 all-purpose yards through his first three seasons.

6. Tarik Cohen

Bruce Kluckhohn / AP Photo

Height: 5-foot-6

Weight: 191 pounds

Position: Running Back/Return Specialist

College: North Carolina A&T

NFL career: Chicago Bears (2017-21)

Bottom line: Tarik Cohen’s size scared away big-time college football programs, but he took advantage of his one Division I opportunity at North Carolina A&T, where he was a three-time FCS All-American, three-time MEAC Offensive Player of the Year and won the Deacon Jones Award as the top HBCU player in the country in 2016.

Cohen took the NFL by storm for a brief period after the Chicago Bears selected him in the fourth round of the 2017 NFL Draft, earning NFL All-Pro honors and making the Pro Bowl as a return specialist in 2018.

5. Jacquizz Rodgers

Tampa Bay Buccaneers RB Jacquizz Rodgers

Chris O’Meara / AP Photo

Height: 5-foot-6

Weight: 205 pounds

Position: Running Back

College: Oregon State

NFL career: Atlanta Falcons (2011-14), Chicago Bears (2015), Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2016-18)

Bottom line: Jacquizz Rodgers first made his mark as one of the greatest players in Texas high school football history, rushing for over 2,000 yards three years in a row and helping lead Lamar Consolidated High to a Class 4A Division I state championship.

Rodgers finished his high school career with more than 8,000 rushing yards and a state-record 135 touchdowns. He played college football at Oregon State, where he rushed for over 1,000 yards in each of his three seasons, was the 2008 Pac-10 Offensive Player of the Year and a three-time All-American.

Rodgers went on to play eight seasons in the NFL for three different teams, putting up over 3,600 yards of total offense. Rodgers’ older brother, James, is 5-foot-8 and also played in the NFL.

4. Darren Sproles

Roger Steinman / AP Photo

Height: 5-foot-6

Weight: 190 pounds

Position: Running Back/Return Specialist

College: Kansas State

NFL career: San Diego Chargers (2005-10), New Orleans Saints (2011-13), Philadelphia Eagles (2014-19)

Bottom line: The best player on this list is Darren Sproles — he was an All-American at Olathe North (Kan.) High before becoming a three-time All-Big 12 selection and All-American at Kansas State, where he finished his career with the sixth-most all-purpose yards in NCAA history.

Sproles went on to play 15 seasons in the NFL for three different teams, setting the NFL record with 2,696 all-purpose yards in 2011. He was also a two-time NFL All-Pro, three-time Pro Bowl selection and won a Super Bowl with the Philadelphia Eagles in 2017.

3. J.J. Taylor

Winslow Townson / AP Photo

Height: 5-foot-5

Weight: 185 pounds

Position: Running Back/Return Specialist

College: Arizona

NFL career: New England Patriots (2020-present)

Bottom line: J.J. Taylor was named California Offensive Player of the Year at powerhouse Centennial High before jumping at one of his few Power Five offers at the University of Arizona.

Taylor had more than 1,000 yards of total offense in each of his final two seasons at Arizona before leaving school early for the NFL, making the New England Patriots as an undrafted free agent in 2020.

2. Trindon Holliday

Mark Humphrey / AP Photo

Height: 5-foot-5

Weight: 162 pounds

Position: Wide Receiver/Return Specialist

College: LSU

NFL career: Houston Texans (2010-12), Denver Broncos (2012-13), New York Giants (2014), Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2014), San Francisco 49ers (2014)

Bottom line: If you watched Trindon Holliday play football just once, on any level, you probably remember it for several reasons. Few players have been as short as Holliday and played at as high a level, and few players, regardless of height, have ever been as fast. He won a BCS national championship at LSU and was an All-American sprinter, once recording a 10-second 100-meter dash and running a 4.34-second 40-yard dash at the NFL combine.

Holliday went on to play five seasons in the NFL for five different teams, finishing his career with 2,224 return yards.

1. Jack Shapiro

Staten Island Stapletons RB Jack Shapiro

Wikipedia

Height: 5-foot-1

Weight: 119 pounds

Position: Return Specialist

College: NYU

NFL career: Staten Island Stapletons (1929)

Bottom line: Jack Shapiro is one of the remarkable oddities in NFL history. Standing just 5-foot-1 and 119 pounds, he played a handful of games in 1929 for the Staten Island Stapletons — a franchise that only existed from 1929 to 1932.

Before playing in the NFL, Shapiro played high school football in The Bronx at just 85 pounds before earning a football scholarship at New York University after starting his career there as a walk-on. Shapiro died in 2001, at 93 years old.