SAN FRANCISCO — There have been 59 Super Bowls in NFL history, and in that time, there has been one notable scoring play that has somehow never happened: A punt return for a touchdown. 

Since the first Super Bowl was played in 1966, the game has seen almost every scoring play possible: 

• Safety? Yup. We’ve seen that before. 
• Blocked punt returned for a touchdown? Already happened. 
• Pick-six? There have been several of those. 
• Blocked field goal for a touchdown? Ask Garo Yepremian about that. 

Not only has there never been a punt returned for a touchdown, but the Super Bowl is the one game where there has never really been any long punt returns, period. There have only been two returns longer than 50 yards: Jordan Norwood had a 61-yard return for the Broncos in Super Bowl 50 and Kadarius Toney followed that up seven years later with a record-setting 65-yard return in Super Bowl LVII. Toney got tackled five yards away from the end zone to keep the drought alive. 

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You know what, let’s check out the longest punt returns in Super Bowl history. 

If a punt return touchdown is ever going to happen, this feels like the year where we could finally see one. Super Bowl XL will feature two of the most explosive returners in the NFL with New England’s Marcus Jones and Seattle’s Rashid Shadeed. 

There were only 15 punt return touchdowns in the NFL during the 2025 season and this duo combined for three of those. If anyone can do it, it’s definitely Jones, who tied for the NFL lead with an average of 17.3 yards per return. He had two punt returns of more than 85 yards this season that both ended with a score, including a 94-yarder against the Giants in December. 

If Jones gets in the open field, he could certainly make Super Bowl history. 

During Super Bowl Opening Night on Monday, Jones admitted that he had just become aware of the fact that no one had ever returned a punt for a touchdown in the Super Bowl. 

“I got educated about that about an hour ago,” Jones said. “I would love to be part of history.”

If Jones can’t end the punt return drought, then maybe Shaheed can. The Seahawks returner has been just as explosive as his Patriots’ counterpart.  

Shaheed had arguably the biggest punt return touchdown by any player this season back in Week 16 against the Rams. His 58-yard return helped spark the Seahawks to a 38-37 comeback win, a victory that helped Seattle eventually lock up the No. 1 overall seed in the NFC. 

Shaheed was the only player in the NFL this year to have both a kick return touchdown and a punt return touchdown. Basically, he knows what to do once he’s in the open field, so a punt return touchdown certainly isn’t out of the question. 

Shaheed was acquired just before the trade deadline in November and he’s been a crucial part of Seattle’s run to the Super Bowl. In the divisional round of the playoffs, he opened up the game by returning the opening kickoff 95 yards for a score in a 41-6 win over the 49ers. 

The Seahawks speedster is just the seventh player over the past 50 years to enter the Super Bowl with three return touchdowns under his belt (On top of his returns against Los Angeles and San Francisco, he also had a kickoff return touchdown against the Falcons in Week 14). In the previous six instances where a returner came in to the Super Bowl with three return touchdowns, three of the players ended up scoring on a return in the Super Bowl (Desmond Howard, Devin Hester, Jacoby Jones). All of their touchdowns came on kick returns, but Shaheed is obviously in some good company and he has the talent to possibly score on a punt. 

Back in Super Bowl 50, Norwood became the first punt returner to take a kick back at least 60 yards and that came at Levi’s Stadium. The 60th anniversary of the Super Bowl is being played in the same stadium and with two talented returners like Shaheed and Jones on the field, don’t be surprised if we see history made. 

Jones once had a walk-off touchdown on a punt return against the Jets in 2022 and he’d be more than happy if Super Bowl XL ends the same way. 

“If that was to happen, I would love to have that pressure up on myself and just take advantage of the opportunity,” Jones said. 

What this all means is that this is the one year where you won’t want to be taking a bathroom break when the punt team comes out on to the field.