In American football, an interception (INT), also known as a pick, occurs when a pass intended for a player of the same team is caught by an opposition player, who then gains possession for their team. The National Football League (NFL) did not begin keeping official records until the 1932 season and did not begin tracking interceptions until 1940. In addition to the NFL interception leaders, league record books recognize the interception leaders of the American Football League (AFL), which operated from 1960 to 1969 before being absorbed into the NFL in 1970. The NFL also recognizes the statistics of the All-America Football Conference, which operated from 1946 to 1949 before three of its teams were merged into the NFL, since 2025.

The single-season interception record is held by Night Train Lane, who logged 14 interceptions in 1952 while playing for the Los Angeles Rams as a rookie. Prior to that, Dan Sandifer of the Washington Redskins and Spec Sanders of the New York Yanks jointly held the record, earning 13 interceptions in 1948 and 1950 respectively. The record for most seasons leading the league in interceptions is three. This was first achieved by Everson Walls, who led the league in interceptions in 1981, 1982, and again in 1985. Ed Reed was later able to match Walls by leading the league in 2004, 2008, and 2010. Bill Bradley became the first player to lead the league in interceptions in consecutive seasons (1971 and 1972), with Everson Walls being the only other player to do so (1981 and 1982). The most recent player to lead the league in interceptions is Kevin Byard of the Chicago Bears, who finished with seven interceptions in the 2025 NFL season.

NFL annual interceptions leaders

+ Key Symbol Meaning Leader The player who recorded the most interceptions in the NFL Ints The total number of interceptions the player had TDs The number of interceptions returned for a touchdown by the player (pick-sixes) GP The number of games played by a player during the season Inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame ^ Active player * Set the single-season interception record (#) Denotes the number of times a player appears in this list

+ NFL annual interceptions leaders by season Season Leader Team 6*0 11 Green Bay Packers 1 11 Brooklyn Dodgers 0 10 Detroit Lions 7*0 11 Chicago Cardinals 0 11 Pittsburgh Steelers 8*1 11 Chicago Bears 11*0 10 Washington Redskins 91 10 New York Giants 70 10 Philadelphia Eagles 101 11 Pittsburgh Steelers 100 10 New York Giants 0 10 Boston Yanks 13*2 12 Washington Redskins 120 12 Chicago Cardinals 130 12 New York Yanks 112 12 New York Giants 14* 2 12 Los Angeles Rams 121 12 Detroit Lions (2) 100 12 Chicago Cardinals 110 12 Los Angeles Rams 110 12 Chicago Cardinals 100 12 Pittsburgh Steelers (2)1 10 Detroit Lions 2 12 Baltimore Colts 110 11 New York Giants (2) 71 11 Baltimore Colts 0 12 Pittsburgh Steelers 0 12 Baltimore Colts 100 12 San Francisco 49ers 0 12 St. Louis Cardinals 90 14 New York Giants 90 14 Green Bay Packers (2) 93 14 New York Giants 1 14 Chicago Bears 121 14 Washington Redskins 91 14 Baltimore Colts 102 14 St. Louis Cardinals 103 14 Detroit Lions 2 14 New Orleans Saints 100 14 New York Giants 100 14 Dallas Cowboys 100 14 Kansas City Chiefs 110 14 Philadelphia Eagles (2) 90 14 Philadelphia Eagles 82 14 Miami Dolphins 0 14 Pittsburgh Steelers 122 14 Kansas City Chiefs 110 14 Pittsburgh Steelers 103 14 Los Angeles Rams 100 14 Baltimore Colts 100 16 Cleveland Browns 120 16 Houston Oilers 131 16 Oakland Raiders 110 16 Dallas Cowboys (2) 70 9 Dallas Cowboys 90 15 Washington Redskins 102 16 Seattle Seahawks (3) 90 16 Dallas Cowboys 101 14 San Francisco 49ers 91 12 Washington Redskins 100 16 Atlanta Falcons 91 16 Cleveland Browns 100 16 Chicago Bears (2) 80 16 Los Angeles Raiders 82 16 Buffalo Bills 2 16 Minnesota Vikings 90 16 Buffalo Bills 0 16 Seattle Seahawks 91 16 Cleveland Browns 0 16 Arizona Cardinals 91 16 Minnesota Vikings 91 16 Denver Broncos 0 16 St. Louis Rams 91 16 St. Louis Rams 91 16 New England Patriots 72 16 Tampa Bay Buccaneers 2 15 Kansas City Chiefs 1 16 Miami Dolphins 0 14 Philadelphia Eagles 2 16 Baltimore Ravens 90 16 Green Bay Packers 101 16 Tampa Bay Buccaneers 1 16 Cleveland Browns 80 16 Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2)2 16 Oakland Raiders 90 16 San Francisco 49ers 0 16 Minnesota Vikings 91 16 Baltimore Ravens (2) 101 16 New York Jets 0 15 Cincinnati Bengals 101 16 Denver Broncos 0 15 New England Patriots 101 16 San Diego Chargers (2) 92 16 Baltimore Ravens 90 14 Buffalo Bills (2)0 16 Philadelphia Eagles (2)3 14 New Orleans Saints 3 16 Green Bay Packers (3) 80 10 Baltimore Ravens 70 16 New England Patriots 0 16 San Diego Chargers (2)1 15 Green Bay Packers 91 14 Chicago Bears 81 16 Seattle Seahawks 70 16 Detroit Lions 80 16 Cincinnati Bengals 2 16 Kansas City Chiefs 71 16 San Diego Chargers ^ 80 16 Tennessee Titans 0 16 Detroit Lions 70 16 Chicago Bears 0 12 Miami Dolphins 0 16 Atlanta Falcons 62 16 New England Patriots 1 14 Minnesota Vikings 0 15 Buffalo Bills (2) 100 16 Miami Dolphins ^ 112 16 Dallas Cowboys ^ 6 1 15 Pittsburgh Steelers ^ 0 12 Philadelphia Eagles 0 12 Denver Broncos ^ 1 17 Seattle Seahawks ^ 9 5 17 Dallas Cowboys ^ 9 1 17 Detroit Lions ^ (2) 7 0 17 Chicago Bears

AFL annual interceptions leaders

+ Key Symbol Meaning Leader The player who recorded the most interceptions in the AFL Ints The total number of interceptions the player had TDs The number of interceptions returned for a touchdown by the player (pick-sixes) GP The number of games played by a player during the season Pro Football Hall of Fame member * Player set the single-season interception record(#) Denotes the number of times a player appears in this list

+ AFL annual interceptions leaders by season Season Player Team 1960 11* 0 14 Denver Broncos 1961 10 0 14 Buffalo Bills 1962 11 0 14 New York Titans 1963 12* 1 14 Houston Oilers 1964 12 1 14 New York Jets 1965 9 0 14 Houston Oilers 1966 10 0 14 Kansas City Chiefs 1 14 Kansas City Chiefs 1967 10 3 14 Houston Oilers 2 14 Buffalo Bills 1 14 Miami Dolphins 1968 10 1 14 Oakland Raiders 1969 9 1 14 Kansas City Chiefs

AAFC annual interceptions leaders

+ Key Symbol Meaning Player(s) The player(s) who recorded the most interceptions in the AAFC Ints The total number of interceptions the player(s) had TDs The number of interceptions returned for a touchdown by the player (pick-sixes) GP The number of games played by the player(s) during the season * Player set the single-season interception record (#) Denotes the number of times a player appears in this list

+ AAFC annual interceptions leaders by season Season Player Team 1946 10* 0 14 Cleveland Browns 1947 (2) 6 1 14 Cleveland Browns 0 13 San Francisco 49ers 0 14 Chicago Rockets 1948 11* 1 14 New York Yankees 1949 9 0 12 San Francisco 49ers

Most seasons leading the league Count Player Seasons Team(s) 3 , , Baltimore Ravens , , Dallas Cowboys 2 , Philadelphia Eagles , Tennessee Titans / Chicago Bears , Detroit Lions1946, 1947Cleveland Browns , Baltimore Colts , Miami Dolphins , Los Angeles Rams / Chicago Cardinals , New England Patriots / New York Jets , San Francisco 49ers / Los Angeles Raiders , New York Giants 1966, Kansas City Chiefs , New England Patriots / Philadelphia Eagles1948, New York Yankees / New York Giants , Green Bay Packers / New Orleans Saints1969, Kansas City Chiefs , Green Bay Packers , Baltimore Ravens / Oakland Raiders

See also List of NFL career interceptions leaders List of NFL annual forced fumbles leaders List of NFL annual sacks leaders

References