San Jose, California, USA (AP) — The first touchdown in Super Bowl history came on a pass from Bart Starr to Max McGee 59 years ago with the Green Bay Packers. The most recent was a 50-yard deep pass from Patrick Mahomes to Xavier Worthy last year.
Between those plays there have been 323 touchdowns in Super Bowl history, by ground, by air, interception returns, kickoff returns, fumble returns, and blocked punts.
Surprisingly, no one has ever returned a punt for a touchdown in the NFL’s biggest game. But that drought could end this year in a game that features two of the league’s most dynamic returners.
“I just learned about that,” New England’s Marcus Jones said this week. “Being the first in history to do it would mean a lot.”
Jones has three punt-return touchdowns in his career, including two this season. His Seattle counterpart, Rashid Shaheed, also has three, including one this season.
When Shaheed was asked this week how many he thought had occurred in the Super Bowl, he guessed at least two, before discovering the actual number.
“That’s crazy,” he said, echoing Jones in saying it would mean a lot to be the first.
After 259 punt returns ended short of the end zone in Super Bowl history, could this be the year someone does it?
It almost happened three years ago when Kadarius Toney of Kansas City had a 65-yard punt return that set up a five-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter during a pivotal moment in the Chiefs’ victory over Philadelphia.
Shaheed and Jones will try to do it a little better this year.
“Obviously, it would be history,” Shaheed said. “It would mean a lot for the team to be able to make a play that changes the game in that way. It would be incredible.”
It would be fitting if a big special-teams play had a major impact in the Super Bowl after a season that featured plenty of notable special-teams moments.
In 2025 there was a record for long field goals by special teams, an astonishing number of blocked kicks, big returns, and costly mistakes that played a key role every week.
The 44 blocked kicks tied the mark set in 2017, and there was a record 15 punt-return touchdowns—the most since 2012. There was also an NFL record of 73 field goals from at least 55 yards, including 12 from 60 or more, more than double the previous season’s maximum.
The kickoff-return rate rose to 74% from 33% last season in the second year of the so-called “dynamic kickoff.” This was the highest return rate in 15 years.
“I think a big part of that is because now you’re covering every kick and because of that you’re focusing more on the kickoffs and returns and perhaps not as much on punt returns,” Patriots special teams coordinator Jeremy Springer said.
The Seahawks, under special-teams coordinator Jay Harbaugh, were the NFL’s best team this season in net points added per special-teams play, averaging almost four points per game more than the league average. The Patriots finished in the middle of the pack, but they have Jones, who is capable of flipping a game in an instant.
“I’m not sure he has that many weaknesses and he can do it all,” Harbaugh said.
While Drake Maye, Sam Darnold, and the standout defenses of New England and Seattle will surely dominate headlines this week, the team that wins the kicking game on Sunday could end up lifting the Lombardi Trophy.
