A NFL rarity & 1st on Kickoff Weekend

Ted Ginn made history during the San Francisco 49ers win over the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday. He became the first player in NFL history to return a kickoff and a punt return for touchdowns in the same game on Kickoff Weekend. He is also just the twelfth player ever to achieve that feat, half of whom did so in the past decade.

Ginn joins fine company as the previous 11 players to run back a kickoff and punt return in the same game include a pair of Pro Football Hall of Fame members, Bobby Mitchell and Gale Sayers.

Players with touchdowns on kick return and punt return

Jimmy Patton, New York Giants vs. Washington Redskins, Oct. 30, 1955
Score: Giants 35, Redskins 7
Kickoff Return for TD: 98 yards in 1st Quarter
Punt Return for TD: 69 yards in 4th quarter
Notable: Patton was a rookie with the Giants in 1955. He returned the opening kickoff 98 yards to set the pace of the game. The punt return was the first of his NFL career.

Bobby Mitchell, Cleveland Browns vs. Philadelphia Eagles, Nov. 23, 1958
Score: Browns 28, Eagles 14
Kickoff Return for TD: 98 yards in 1st Quarter
Punt Return for TD: 69 yards in 1st Quarter
Notable: Like Jimmy Patton three years earlier, Mitchell, a rookie, ran back the opening kickoff 98 yards. Also like Patton, his punt return for a touchdown covered 69 yards. The game was fairly even other than Mitchell's first quarter explosion.

Al Frazier, Denver Broncos vs. Boston Patriots, Dec. 3, 1961
Score: Patriots 28, Broncos 24
Kickoff Return for TD: 90 yards in 4th Quarter
Punt Return for TD: 55 yards in 4th Quarter
Notable: Frazier's returns in the final quarter, including the 90-yard kickoff return with four seconds remaining, weren't enough to counter the Patriots attack.

Gale Sayers, Chicago Bears vs. San Francisco 49ers, Dec. 3, 1967
Score: Bears 28, 49ers 14
Kickoff Return for TD: 97 yards in 1st Quarter
Punt Return for TD: 58 yards in 3rd Quarter
Notable: This game, like Sayers famous '65 contest in which he scored 6 TDs against the 49ers, was played on a muddy field. It took no time for Sayers to adjust to the less than desirable turf in San Francisco as he ran back the opening kickoff 97 yards. He also scored a third touchdown on a 15-yard run in the second quarter.

Travis Williams, Green Bay Packers vs. Pittsburgh Steelers, Nov. 2, 1969
Score: Packers 38, Steelers 34
Kickoff Return for TD: 96 yards in 4th Quarter
Punt Return for TD: 83 yards in 2nd Quarter
Notable: Despite Williams heroics (he also scored on a 1-yard touchdown run), the Packers needed quarterback Bart Starr's 43-yard touchdown pass to Carroll Dale with just under five minutes to play for the win. Williams helped on the game-winning drive by ripping a 31-yard gain.

Eddie Payton, Detroit Lions vs. Minnesota Vikings, Dec. 17, 1977
Score: Vikings 30, Lions 21
Kickoff Return for TD: 98 yards in the 3rd Quarter
Punt Return for TD: 87 yards in the 4th Quarter
Notable: Despite the big day by Walter Payton's brother, it was the Vikings' Chuck Foreman who grabbed headlines by rushing for 156 yards to help Minnesota clinch a playoff spot.

Michael Lewis, New Orleans Saints vs. Washington Redskins, Oct. 13, 2002
Score: Saints 43, Redskins 27
Kickoff Return for TD: 90 yards in the 2nd Quarter
Punt Return for TD: 83 yards in the 3rd Quarter
Notable: Lewis' punt return put the game out of reach after the Redskins had climbed back into the contest after trailing 20-0. Lewis became the first player in 25 years to accomplish the feat.

Dante Hall, Kansas City Chiefs vs. St. Louis Rams, Dec. 8, 2002
Score: Chiefs 49, Rams 10
Kickoff Return for TD: 87 yards in 1st Quarter
Punt Return for TD: 86 yards in 2nd Quarter
Notable: Hall and the Chiefs eliminated the Rams from the playoffs. The game marked the first time that KC coach Dick Vermeil faced the team he once led to a Super Bowl title.

Darren Sproles, San Diego Chargers vs. Indianapolis Colts, Nov. 11, 2007
Score: Chargers 23, Colts 21
Kickoff Return for TD: 89 yards in 1st Quarter
Punt Return for TD: 45 yards in 1st Quarter
Notable: Sproles started the nationally televised Sunday Night Football game in style by returning the opening kickoff 80 yards for his first-ever NFL touchdown.

Devin Hester, Chicago Bears vs. Denver Broncos, Nov. 25, 2007
Score: Bears 37, Broncos 34 (OT)
Kickoff Return for TD: 88 yards in 3rd Quarter
Punt Return for TD: 75 yards in 3rd Quarter
Notable: Hester's returns came in third quarter sandwiched around a Broncos TD. In just his second season, his kick return for a touchdown was his 9th of his career breaking the mark held by Sayers.

Eddie Royal, Denver Broncos vs. San Diego Chargers, Oct. 19, 2009
Score: Broncos 34, Chargers 23
Kickoff Return for TD: 93 yards in 1st Quarter
Punt Return for TD: 71 yards in 2nd Quarter
Notable: Royal's returns helped the Broncos improve to 6-0 in front a national television audience on Monday Night Football.

Ted Ginn, San Francisco 49ers vs. Seattle Seahawks, Sept. 11, 2011
Score: 49ers 33, Seahawks 17
Kickoff Return for TD: 102 yards in 4th Quarter
Punt Return for TD: 55 yards in 4th Quarter
Notable: Ginn's returns came less than a minute apart late in the game after the Seahawks had pulled to within two points of the 49ers.
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