The Associated Press All-Pro first team for the 2024 NFL season featured three former Alabama defensive backs. Green Bay Packers safety Xavier McKinney finished second in the NFL with eight interceptions, Baltimore Ravens cornerback and former Hoover High School star Marlon Humphrey picked off six passes and Denver Broncos cornerback Patrick Surtain II led the league with 132 return yards on his four interceptions.
In their NFL careers, Humphrey has 19 interceptions, McKinney 17 and Surtain 11. Maybe the list of former Alabama high school and college players with the most NFL interceptions will get a new member in the top 10 one of these seasons. Only one of the top 10, North Alabama’s Jackrabbit Jenkins, has played in an NFL game in the past 22 seasons.
Even though the NFL offenses pass much more than when most of the players in the top 10 were active, interceptions are harder to come by.
In the 1970s, the NFL began to adopt rules that prevented defensive players from hitting, chucking or pushing potential receivers during their routes, as they had been allowed to do except when the football was in the air. This old style of pass coverage gave defenses much more leeway to disrupt pass patterns and spoil timing routes than they have today, and that created more interception opportunities.
In 1978, the NFL adopted a rule that aimed to eliminate contact with receivers more than 5 yards past the line of scrimmage. But it wasn’t until 1996 that the NFL announced its officials were going to crack down and strictly enforce that rule.
In 2001, the NFL announced its roughing-the-passer rule would be more stringently enforced, kicking off a wave of regulations aimed at protecting quarterbacks.
The rule changes have made completing passes easier and intercepting passes harder. In 1977, the season before the 5-yard rule, NFL quarterbacks completed 51.32 percent of their throws and had 5.74 percent of their passes intercepted. In 2024, the completion rate was 65.3 percent and the interception rate was 2.2 percent.
Even the increase in opportunities – from 9,786 passes in 1977 to 17,811 in 2024 – did not make up the difference in the quantity of interceptions. In 1977, 562 passes were intercepted in the NFL. In 2024, the interception total was 387.
Minnesota Vikings safety Harrison Smith had more career interceptions than any other player who appeared in the 2024 season, and he ranks tied for 104th on the NFL’s all-time list with 37.
Three players from Alabama high schools and colleges who appeared in NFL games during the 2024 season have at least 20 interceptions – Buffalo Bills cornerback Kareem Jackson with 22 and Dallas Cowboys cornerback Trevon Diggs and Pittsburgh Steelers safety Minkah Fitzpatrick with 20 apiece. All three are Crimson Tide alumni.
In his 15th NFL season, Jackson played 32 defensive snaps in two games. Fitzpatrick had his first interception since 2022 last season. Since intercepting 11 passes in 2021, Diggs has six interceptions and has missed 21 games because of knee injuries.
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Lance Alworth - San Diego Chargers - File Photos
Kansas City Chiefs safety Bobby Hunt covers San Diego Chargers wide receiver Lance Alworth during an AFL game on Dec. 18, 1966, at Balboa Stadium in San Diego.James Flores/Getty Images
The 10 players with Alabama football roots who have recorded the most interceptions include:
1. Bobby Hunt, Lanett High School,Auburn: 42 interceptions
Dallas Texans 1962, Kansas City Chiefs 1963-1967, Cincinnati Bengals 1968-1969: A safety, Hunt was an All-AFL selection on a championship team as a rookie in 1962 and led the AFL with 10 interceptions in 1966 for another AFL championship team. While he’s tied for 67th in NFL history in interceptions, Hunt is 39th in interception-return yards with 755.
2. Eric Davis, Anniston High School,Jacksonville State: 38 interceptions
San Francisco 49ers 1990-1995, Carolina Panthers 1996-2000, Denver Broncos 2001, Detroit Lions 2002: A cornerback, Davis was a first-team All-Pro once and a Pro Bowler twice and returned four of his interceptions for touchdowns. Not counted in Davis’ total are six postseason interceptions, including four in three games during the 1994 playoffs, when the 49ers won Super Bowl XXIX.
3. Andy Nelson, Athens High School: 33 interceptions
Baltimore Colts 1957-1963, New York Giants 1964: A safety, Nelson was a first-team All-Pro in 1959 on the Colts’ second straight NFL championship team. The previous season, he led the NFL with 199 return yards on eight interceptions.
4. Lee Roy Jordan, Excel High School, Alabama: 32 interceptions
Dallas Cowboys 1963-1976: A middle linebacker for most of his career, Jordan was a first-team All-Pro once and a Pro Bowler five times and reached a high of six interceptions in 1975. Jordan had four playoff interceptions that don’t show up in his total, including two in the 1971 postseason, when the Cowboys won Super Bowl VI.
5. Wes Hopkins, John Carroll Catholic High School in Birmingham: 30 interceptions
Philadelphia Eagles 1983-1993: A safety, Hopkins earned first-team All-Pro recognition in 1985, when he reached a career-high six interceptions.
5. Don Hutson, Alabama: 30 interceptions
Green Bay Packers 1935-1945: The NFL’s first star receiver, Hutson was a member of the inaugural class for the Pro Football Hall of Fame. But in the days of two-way football, he also played defensive back, leading the NFL with six interceptions in 1940 and with 197 return yards on eight interceptions in 1943.
7. Mike Washington, Lee High School in Montgomery, Alabama: 28 interceptions
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 1976-1984: Washington was the right cornerback for the Bucs for most of their first eight seasons of existence. He intercepted a career-high six passes in 1981.
8. Jackrabbit Jenkins,North Alabama: 27 interceptions
St. Louis Rams 2012-2015, New York Giants 2016-2019, New Orleans Saints 2019-2020, Tennessee Titans 2021, San Francisco 49ers 2022: A cornerback, Jenkins got the most out of his interceptions by returning eight for touchdowns. That’s tied for eighth in NFL history.
9. Hanford Dixon, Theodore High School: 26 interceptions
Cleveland Browns 1981-1989: A cornerback, Dixon was a first-team All-Pro twice and a Pro Bowler three times. He had five interceptions in 1984 and 1986.
10. Speedy Duncan, Druid High School in Tuscaloosa: 24 interceptions
San Diego Chargers 1964-1970, Washington Redskins 1971-1974: A noted punt and kickoff returner, Duncan also spent five seasons of his career as a starting cornerback, and he was an AFL all-star in the first three of those. He returned three of his interceptions for touchdowns, including a 100-yarder in 1967.
10. Zeke Moore, Booker T. Washington High School in Tuskegee: 24 interceptions
Houston Oilers 1967-1977: Moore caught on as a kick returner with the Oilers, but became a starting cornerback, reaching a career high of six interceptions in 1970, the second of his two Pro Bowl seasons.
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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on X at@AMarkG1.
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