Receivers have been on my mind. They often are. I love the pure act of catching a football. That's why the receivers that catch the football well are often my favorite players. As a life long Minnesota Vikings fan I've been blessed with a tradition of pass-catching excellence.
John Gilliam
Sammy White
Ahmad Rashad
Anthony Carter
Cris Carter
Randy Moss
Percy Harvin
Stefon Diggs
Adam Thielen
Hassan Jones, Jake Reed, Nate Burleson, and Sidney Rice also provided more pass-catching fun for the Vikings. Reed dropped a few more footballs than I would've liked but he was a fun receiving pair with Cris Carter. The trio of Carter, Moss, and Reed was pass-catching poetry. They were so beautiful.
Receivers have been on my mind recently for a less fortunate reason. For the third time in the last 15 years the Vikings traded one of my favorites. Stefon Diggs was traded to Buffalo. Very sad. In 2005, Randy Moss was traded to Oakland. Incredibly sad. In 2013, Percy Harvin was traded to Seattle. So sad, Each was one of the most fun football players to ever play for the Vikings. Each was a personal favorite. It's often been said that receivers can be difficult. Apparently, each of the three ruffled some feathers during their time in Minnesota. That's why they were all sadly sent away. But they sure were fun to watch play football. At least the Vikings got a nice return on each. Hopefully, the Vikings use the return on Diggs better than they did with the return on Moss and Harvin.
Present receivers have been on my mind because of the trade of Diggs. For the past few years the Vikings have fielded one of the best receiving duos in the league. Diggs and Thielen. My goodness, their pass-catching excellence reminded me of the weekly pass-catching tutorials once given by the Arizona Cardinals' duo of Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Bolden. In Vikings lore, a similar weekly tutorial was given by Carter and Moss. The trade of Diggs, and yesterday's signing of Tajae Sharpe, give the Vikings a current receiver group that looks something like this:
Adam Thielen
Tajae Sharpe
Olabisi Johnson
Chad Beebe
Alexander Hollins
Davion Davis
Dillon Mitchell
Bralon Addison
Well, it looks a little better than it did on Tuesday.
Past receivers were on my mind yesterday when Diggs asked the Twitter world for their top five receivers of all-time. I sure wish that his past Twitter activity was as trivial. Anyway, most of the responses included some combination of receivers that have played this century. The only "old-timer" was Jerry Rice. I know that it's often an age thing but the recency biases of football fans never ceases to amaze me. Even as a developing football fan in the 1970s it wasn't just Lynn Swann, Fred Biletnikoff, Cliff Branch, Drew Pearson, Harold Carmichael, John Stallworth that were on my mind. I was well aware then of past passing-catching greats like Don Hutson, Mac Speedie, Dante Lavelli, Elroy Hirsch, Tom Fears, Pete Pihos, Raymond Berry, Lance Alworth, Bobby Mitchell, etc. And those are just some of the the Hall of Famers. Ken Kavanaugh, Harlon Hill, Billy Wilson, Bobby Walston, Del Shofner, Gary Collins, Boyd Dowler, Otis Taylor were among the historically overlooked receivers often on my mind as an itty bitty fan in the 1970s. Today's fans only seem to know the receivers that played during their lifetime. I was the only that responded to Diggs' question that listed a player that played before 1980. The topic, and the lack of history in the responses, got me thinking about my picks for the top receivers of all-time. I'll expand it from Top 5 to Top 10.
1. Jerry Rice
2. Randy Moss
3. Don Hutson
3. Lance Alworth
4. Cris Carter
5. Paul Warfield
6. Raymond Berry
7. Larry Fitzgerald
8. Julio Jones
9. Marvin Harrison
10. Elroy Hirsch
Or something like that. The order changes often, even daily, and maybe Steve Largent or Steve Smith Sr. pop into it. In my opinion, Cris Carter is the best pass-catcher to ever play. That doesn't mean that I think that he was the best receiver. I my opinion, Randy Moss is the most physically gifted receiver to ever play. That doesn't mean that he was the best receiver. One supposed receiving great that'll never appear in my top 10 is Terrell Owens. The pure act of catching a football is important to me. Owens had too much trouble catching a football to ever be considered great.
Past and present, receivers are on my mind. Future too. Maybe the 2020 NFL Draft will bring the next pass-catching great to Minnesota.
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