Unlike my list on running backs, where most of the entrants into our top 10 were old time guys, several of the entrants into this list are more modern. That's because back in the old days, receivers did not play such a huge role in the offense. Throwing the ball was frowned upon because of the risk involved with putting it in the air. In fact, the term "wide receiver" did not really come about until the late 70s and beyond. Back in those days, positions that we would call wide receiver were actually called things like "flanker," "slot back," or "split end." These were the literal meanings of where these guys lined up in the formation. Flankers flank the interior line and were usually motion backs. Slot backs line up in the slot between a split end and a tackle, off the line of scrimmage. Split ends line up on the line of scrimmage when there was no tight end to cover the tackle. All of these guys were eligible receivers, but in the early days of football, their job was mostly to block downfield for a ball carrier (assuming he got to the second level of the defense. Nowadays, receivers can line up very wide in the formation (hence the name wide receiver). However, in those days, very rarely did anybody line up so wide off of the line of scrimmage. Everybody had to be tight because of their assignments as blockers.
As the forward pass continued to evolve as an offensive tactic, the roles of flankers, slot backs, and split ends changed as well. Instead of blocking, they entered pass patterns. As the game evolved further and passing game tacticians such as Don Coryell ("Air Coryell") and Bill Walsh (the West Coast Offense) started to replace a true running game with a short passing game, the old names of these positions changed into the catch-all term "wide receiver." Today, you still see receivers lining up in positions like those mentioned above, but instead of the term slot back, you hear the term slot receiver. Split ends and flankers are generally called wide receivers now. Because of the importance of the passing game in just about any offensive strategy, you only see these guys line up close to the line in very obvious running situations or goal-line packages.
On this list, to make the top 10, I considered not only the modern wide receiver, but also traditional flankers, slot backs, and split ends who caught a lot of passes. A good wide receiver has to be versatile in that they can catch short passes and run after the catch, speed by somebody on a 9 route, come across the middle and not be scared, and of course block downfield. I'm pretty sure that the number one receiver on this list will be obvious to everyone, but I'll keep the suspense as high as possible for as long as possible. Let's now take a look at the TOP 10 WIDE RECEIVERS IN NFL HISTORY!
10) Cris Collinsworth (Cincinnati Bengals 1981-88)
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| From gatorcountry.com |
Cris Collinsworth is now more known as Al Michaels' wingman in the NBC Sunday Night booth (in addition to gigs at NFL Network and formerly at Fox). However, back in the day, Collinsworth could catch. As hard as it is to believe, the Bengals actually made the Super Bowl in the 1980s, not once but twice! Both times they lost to Joe Montana's 49ers, but the Bengals made the Super Bowl, and Collinsworth was a big reason why. In his rookie season in 1981, he took advantage of his huge 6 foot 5 inch frame to dwarf much smaller cornerbacks and create a very large target for quarterbacks. He had 1,000 yards receiving that year, the first of 4 1,000 yards seasons he would have. He caught at least 60 balls every year from 81 to 86, with the exception of the strike year in 82. Collinsworth provided such a reliable target that he made good quarterbacks out of guys like Ken Anderson and Turk Schonert (who?). Quarterbacks love a "safety net," a receiver who is always reliable to catch a pass thrown his way, within a certain yardage. Collinsworth was that guy because of his big frame. By the the time Boomer Esiason took over the QB job in Cincy, Collinsworth was starting to decline as injuries started to pile up, but he still did catch 3 balls for 40 yards in Super Bowl XXIII, the last game of his career.
9) Irving Fryar (New England Patriots 1984-92; Miami Dolphis 1993-95; Philadelphia Eagles 1996-98; Washington Redskins 1999-2000)
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| From espn.go.com |
Fryar was somewhat of a journeyman in his time, but at every stop he made a significant contribution. He made the Super Bowl once, with New England, and scored the Pats only TD in their 46-10 humbling at the hands of the Bears. Fryar never did have spectacular numbers at any one of his stops in his career, but he was a model of consistency. He had 5 seasons of 1,000 receiving yards (12,785 yards for his career). He scored 84 touchdowns, but only had 1 season of double digits (1997 with Philadelphia). However, Fryar also made a name for himself as a kick returner. During his early days in New England, Fryar was a featured punt and kickoff return man. He took a total of 3 kicks all the way for touchdowns. Nowadays, you don't see much of that. The combination receiver/return man (and especially combo running back/return man) is sort of a lost breed. Many coaches feel like premier offensive players should be running kicks back, no matter how fast, because of the nature of collisions involved in returning kicks. In today's game with the kickoff coming from the 35 yard line, this risk gets reduced substantially. Later in his career, Fryar stuck with receiving, which explains the noticable uptick in his receiving stats later in his career. Had he just focused on receiving and not return kicks during his early days in New England, he might be in the Hall of Fame.
8) Bobby Mitchell (Cleveland Browns 1958-61; Washington Redskins 1962-68)
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| From profootballhof.com |
Bobby Mitchell was a central figure in the integration of the Washington Redskins in the early 1960s. After the Redskins drafted highly touted Syracuse running back Ernie Davis, they traded him to Cleveland for flanker Bobby Mitchell. Davis would eventually be diagnosed with leukemia and would never play a professional game. Mitchell would go on to be one of the best receivers in Redskins history. While in Cleveland, Mitchell made a name for himself as a receiving threat as teams geared up to stop the nearly unstoppable Jim Brown. This allowed flankers like Mitchell to face man-to-man coverage downfield and very easily get open as teams focused all of their efforts on stopping Brown. In Washington, Mitchell made his money getting some good old fashioned YAC yards. For running backs, YAC is Yards after Contact. For receivers, it's Yards after the Catch. Whenever he caught the ball, he was a threat to take it all the way, and very often he did, scoring 91 total touchdowns and racking up over 14,000 all purpose yards in his career. It helped that starting in 1964, Sonny Jurgensen was throwing him the ball. After retiring as a player, he entered the front office for the Redskins, but left the organization after feeling slighted by Jack Kent Cooke when he passed Mitchell over for the general manager position in favor of Bobby Beathard. Also, Stever Spurrier gave his number (49) to little known tight end Leonard Stephens in 2003.
7) Michael Irvin (Dallas Cowboys 1988-99)
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| From redskins-blog.com |
While the photo(s) at right are supposed to provide a little humor in this post, they remind us that nobody is above the law, not even diva wide receivers. Nevertheless, as a football player, Irvin was a playmaker. I even heard once that he called himself "the playmaker," but that must be some kind of rumor. As part of the Cowboys' championship teams of the mid-90s, he provided the deep threat to complement Emmitt Smith's elusive running game. From 1991 to 1998, Irvin recorded seven 1,000 yard seasons (and the 8th was 962), and was a constant threat to go deep, as he possessed a very good balance of size (6-2 207 lbs.) and speed for a featured receiver. All in all, he would go on to catch 750 balls for over 11,000 yards for his career. In the playoffs, he upped his level of play even futher. In the 1995 NFC title game, he caught 7 balls for 100 yards and 2 TD's in the Cowboy's win over the Packers. Of course, Irvin is also well known for his multitudes of legal troubles (hence the mug shot for his photo). Irvin's rap sheet includes arrests for cocaine possession, assault, sexual assault (although the accuser falsified the report in that case), and more drug arrests following his retirement. There was a debate as to whether or not he would get in the Hall of Fame. He did, but the uproar over Irvin being in the Hall of Fame and not Art Monk reached such a fever pitch that year that even curmudgeons like Peter King and Dr. Z. couldn't keep Art out.
6) Randy Moss (Minnesota Vikings 1998-2004, 2010; Oakland Raiders 2005-06; New England Patriots 2007-10; Tennessee Titans 2010)
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| From boston.com |
"Straight cash, homie." This was Moss's now infamous response when asked if he would cut a check to pay one of my many fines. Moss's attitude off the field is almost as wild as his play on it. Nobody can doubt Moss's abilities as a football player. The only thing that kept him from being a first round draft pick out of Marshall was his attitude and history of bad behavior. The Vikings took a chance on him in 1998. Cris Carter was starting to enter the latter stages of his career and Moss would provide a deep threat complement to Carter's intermediate range consistency. Moss played a huge role in the Vikings setting all kinds of offensive records in 1998. Unfortunately for the Vikings that year, their defense would not complement the offense as they lost in the NFC Championship game. Moss was traded in 2004 to Oakland for two draft picks, including a first rounder. It is well known that Al Davis craves speed above all other aspects of evaluating players. However, it was in Oakland that Moss had his first real instance of quitting on the job. The Raiders traded him to New England in 2007 for only a 4th rounder. All he did that year was play a huge role in New England's (almost-perfect) Super Bowl run...and loss to the Giants. This is to date, Moss's only Super Bowl appearance. In 2010, Moss decided to quit again, and nobody wanted him despite him stating that he wanted to play. Thus his career ended unceremoniously. Moss was a superb receiver, and he could very well have been the greatest if he wanted to be. He obviously didn't, but despite his crybaby attitude, he still did enough to make it to #6 on our list. If you're not convinced,
looking at this highlight package might sway you a little bit.
On that note, we pause our countdown of the top 10 wide receivers in NFL history. We'll be back later of course with the HMs and the top 5. Hope you enjoyed this first part of our list. Here is hoping I get power back soon!
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