Today's Tidbit... NFL Scoring Leaders Of Old

Most everyone knows that kicking specialists did not become common in the NFL until the 1960s. Before then, kicking specialists were rare because substitution rules limited the ability to send kickers into games for a play or two, and rosters were limited to 16 players in 1925 and 30 in 1938 before increasing to 40 in 1964.

The combination meant that position players doubled as the punters and kickers. Linemen sometimes kicked, but drop kicking and punting were typically handled by backs.

Dutch Clark drop kicking with the Detroit Lions. (John Tunney, Pro Football Journal)

The list below from a 1961 Four Roses promotional brochure shows the NFL scoring leaders from 1932 -when the NFL began keeping official statistics- to 1960. Many on the list are well-known names, with eleven making the Pro Football Hall of Fame.