Players With the Most Receiving Touchdowns in an NFL Game

No player in the last 34 years has caught five touchdown passes in an NFL game. In fact, it’s a feat that’s only been accomplished three times in league history.

While there have been 39 instances in which a player has recorded four TD catches in a game, five has been an elusive number since the great Jerry Rice became the most recent player to hit it in 1990.

With the passing game more prolific these days, it’s something that certainly isn’t unreachable. But even in the last 10 years, only two players have threatened to get five, the most recent being Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce , who caught four TD passes from Patrick Mahomes in October 2022 against the Las Vegas Raiders .

Here is a list of the players with the most receiving touchdowns in an NFL game.

1 Bob Shaw (5), Oct. 2, 1950

Bob Shaw was the first player in NFL history with five receiving touchdowns in a game

At 6-foot-4, 226 pounds, Bob Shaw, who won a national championship at Ohio State, was quite the athlete.

He played three seasons for the Cleveland/Los Angeles Rams between 1945 and 1949 (he didn’t play in 1947 or 1948) and finished his NFL career by playing one season with the Chicago Cardinals in 1950.

During the offseason of his rookie year, he played for the Toledo Jeeps of the National Basketball League.

In his final year in the NFL, Shaw led the league in touchdown catches with 12. Five of those came during a 55-13 victory over the original version of the Baltimore Colts (not the one that became the Indianapolis Colts ) on October 2, 1950.

Shaw opened and closed the game’s scoring with a touchdown grab and hauled in three more in between, ultimately finishing the contest with eight catches for 165 yards and five touchdowns.

His 40-yard touchdown catch from quarterback Jim Hardy started things off, and the two connected four more times for scores in the second half. Hardy threw for six touchdowns and completed 13 of 30 passes for 281 yards.

Shaw finished the year with 48 catches for 971 yards and 12 scores, earning his lone trip to the Pro Bowl. After that season, he left for the Canadian Football League, where he played three seasons. Shaw later returned to the NFL as an assistant coach, spending time with the San Francisco 49ers , New Orleans Saints , Chicago Bears , and Buffalo Bills .

2 Kellen Winslow (5), Nov. 22, 1981

Kellen Winslow notched five receiving TDs for the Chargers in a win over the Raiders in 1981

After a quarter and a half against the Oakland Raiders on November 22, 1981, it seemed like an ordinary game for San Diego Chargers tight end Kellen Winslow. Then he found his groove and he made his AFC West rivals pay.

With the Raiders holding a 21-14 lead late in the second quarter, Winslow caught fire. After failing to account for any of the first 14 Chargers points, he hauled in a 15-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Dan Fouts to begin a string of four consecutive touchdown catches in a 55-21 victory.

The 6-foot-5, 251-pound tight end out of Missouri played a significant role in the Chargers scoring 41 unanswered points by catching two touchdown passes to end the half, giving San Diego a 28-21 lead at the break. He closed the first half with a 29-yard touchdown reception.

In the third quarter, Winslow continued his scoring streak by taking in a 4-yard touchdown pass and then adding a 5-yard scoring catch to extend San Diego’s lead to 41-21.

In the fourth quarter, Chargers running back Chuck Muncie tossed a 3-yard pass to Winslow that went for a touchdown and capped the scoring at 55-21. Winslow finished his afternoon with 13 catches for 144 yards and five touchdown receptions.

He finished the season with a league-leading 88 receptions and a career-high 10 touchdown catches, earning Pro Bowl and First-Team All-Pro honors.

Fouts tossed six touchdown passes in the game, connecting with wide receiver Charlie Joiner on a 6-yard strike in between Winslow’s fourth and fifth scores.

3 Jerry Rice (5), Oct. 14, 1990

49ers legend Jerry Rice joined the five-TD club against the Falcons in 1990

It’s no surprise to see the player widely considered the best wide receiver ever to play in the NFL make an appearance on this list.

On October 14, 1990, San Francisco 49ers legend Jerry Rice caught five touchdown passes during a 45-35 shootout victory over the Atlanta Falcons . Rice, the NFL’s all-time leading receiver, finished the game with 13 catches for 225 yards and his five scores.

Hooking up with Hall of Fame quarterback Joe Montana, Rice got things going with a 24-yard touchdown grab early in the first quarter. After the Falcons tied things up, Montana hit Rice again in the opening frame, hitting him with a 25-yard scoring strike.

They connected again midway through the second quarter on a 28-yard touchdown connection that put the Niners in front 28-14. San Francisco led 31-21 at the half.

Rice accounted for the first two scores of the second half. He caught a 13-yard pass from Montana for the only scoring of the third quarter and opened the fourth by taking in a 15-yard TD pass that put his team up 45-21.

Rice finished the season with the wide receiver version of the Triple Crown, leading the league in catches (100), receiving yards (1,502), and touchdown catches (13).

4 39 Players Tied With 4

Travis Kelce was the most recent player with four receiving TDs in a game

Rice and Shaw nearly hit the five-TD mark twice, but both came up one short. Rice caught four touchdown passes on November 14, 1993, against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers .

Shaw accomplished the feat while playing for the LA Rams on December 11, 1949, recording four TDs against the team now known as the Washington Commanders .

• Marvin Jones caught four TDs in a game for two different teams. While playing for the Cincinnati Bengals on October 27, 2013, he took in four touchdown passes against the New York Jets . He also did it as a member of the Detroit Lions against the Minnesota Vikings on October 20, 2019.
• Green Bay Packers wide receiver Sterling Sharpe did it in back-to-back seasons. On October 24, 1993, he caught four touchdown passes against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He scored four more times against the Dallas Cowboys on November 24, 1994.
• Kansas City Chiefs running back Jamaal Charles caught four touchdown passes against the Oakland Raiders on December 15, 2013.
• Don Hutson of the Green Bay Packers was the first player to ever catch four touchdown passes in a game, doing it on October 7, 1945, against the Detroit Lions.
• As mentioned, Kansas City tight end Travis Kelce is the most recent player to haul in four touchdown passes, accomplishing the feat on October 10, 2022, against the Las Vegas Raiders.
• Eleven Hall of Famers have caught four touchdown passes in a game, those being Rice, Hutson, Terrell Owens, Randy Moss, Isaac Bruce, Paul Warfield, Bob Hayes, Lance Alworth, Mike Ditka, Elroy Hirsch, and Dante Lavelli.
• Eric Decker, Joe Horn, Marcus Robinson, Irving Fryar, Mark Ingram, Don Beebe, Wesley Walker, Jimmie Giles, Daryl Turner, Roy Green, Earnest Gray, Jerry Butler, Ahmad Rashad, Harold Jackson, Dave Williams, Ben Hawkins, Roy Jefferson, Frank Jackson, Art Powell, Harlon Hill, and Cloyce Box also recorded four TD passes in a game.

All stats courtesy of Pro Football Reference unless stated otherwise.