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Number Crunching: #14
by Chris Brophy
10/7/2009
Quarterbacks have dominated the list in recent articles which is no surprise but whilst number 14 has some superb contenders at the QB position to be named the Diner’s all time great at the number, it is a receiver that edges them all out. It’s been over 60 years since he last caught a football but he is still regarded as one of the all time greats, not just at his position, but of the NFL. Read on to learn more about the first prolific receiver in NFL history.
FD’s All Time #14: Don Hutson, Wide Receiver (Green Bay Packers)
 In the first few decades of pro football running the football and defense was king. Striking through the air was a trick or desperation play but the arrival of two players into the league in the 1930’s seen the pass become a genuine part of any quality offense. Don Hutson was one of those players (the other will be a player we will come to later in this series) and he took catching the football to a level that may never be surpassed in many ways.
In college Hutson attended Alabama where he was named All-American in 1934 and then in 1935 he helped the Crimson Tide win the Rose Bowl with 6 grabs for 165 yard and 2TD’s. However, there was no draft in 1935 so Hutson could decide where he went to play pro ball but interest was not too intense as some coaches felt he lacked the build to survive the rigours of pro football. He did receive two offers though one from the Green Bay Packers and the other from the Brooklyn Dodgers and he accepted both! This left the league office with a bit of a quandary so NFL President Joe Carr decided Hutson would go to Green Bay because the Packers contract was post marked seventeen minutes earlier.
Hutson would make an immediate impact. In only his second game he would catch his first TD pass an 83 yarder from Packers from QB Arnie Herber. It would be the first of a record 99 receiving TD’s and that record would stand for 44 years! In his rookie season he would catch 18 passes at a whopping 23.3 yard average (420 yards) in only 9 games and he followed it up in his second season by leading the league in all the major receiving categories receptions, yards and touchdowns. He would also help the Packers to their 4th NFL Championship as they defeated the Boston Braves 21-6 with Hutson catching the opening score on a 48 yard strike from Herber.
Within two years of being a pro footballer Hutson had established himself as one of the true superstars able to stretch the field as a receiver but like all players of the day he played both ways being an effective safety as well as handling kicking duties. He would record 30 career interceptions between 1940 and 1945 including leading the league in 1940 with 6 picks and added 172 extra points and 7 field goals as a kicker during his pro playing years.
As a receiver though he was not only head and shoulders above the rest of the league, he was challenging marks that many thought were impossible at the time. In 1939 he helped the Packers to another NFL title as over the season he recorded 846 receiving yards, nearly 300 yards ahead of the next best total. In 1941 he became only the second player ever to catch over 50 passes in a season when he grabbed 58 balls and then he followed that up in 1942 with a mind blowing set of numbers 74 receptions, 1211 yards and 17 receiving TD’s! The four digit barrier was something most passers of the day struggled to break, never mind receivers. Hutson was proving to be unstoppable.
 He was responsible for effectively inventing pass patterns and developing the chemistry and understanding with the receiver and quarterback. In a time when passing was just a case of guys either running flat out down the field and chasing a ball tossed up for luck or running over the middle hoping to avoid being chopped down (no pass interference in those days) Hutson changed the game of football forever. Button hooks, double moves and plenty more, Hutson made life for defenders so difficult.
His feats in the 1941 and ’42 seasons had earned him the NFL’s MVP award both seasons and whilst he would never quite reach those heights again he would produce three more excellent seasons and another NFL Championship in 1944 before he shocked the football world and retired following the 1945 season.
By the time it was all said and done Hutson had amassed 488 receptions for 7991 yards and 99 TD’s. He held 18 major NFL records and had led the league in receiving eight times as well as being the league’s top scorer 5 times. To put the icing on his career cake he had won three NFL titles and being All-NFL nine times in his eleven seasons! All those receiving numbers were miles ahead of anyone of the same era and marks that would stand for a long time. He had defined the position of wide receiver, making them a vital part of any offense and not just an edge blocker who would be asked to pull off a desperation play on occasion.
Although his numbers have now been passed by many (lesser) players when taken in context of the time he played it is quite easier to get an appreciation for what he did and as a charter member of the Hall of Fame, he can claim to have been a major influence on the way football has developed. Any receiver earning millions in today’s game should take a minute and tip his cap to the first great receiver in NFL and FD’s all time number 14.
Honourable Mentions:
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Otto Graham, Quarterback (Cleveland Browns)
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YA Tittle, Quarterback (Baltimore Colts, San Francisco 49ers, NY Giants,)
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Dan Fouts, Quarterback (San Diego Chargers)
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Ken Anderson, Quarterback (Cincinnati Bengals)
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Eddie LeBaron, Quarterback (Washington Redskins, Dallas Cowboys)
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Steve Grogan, Quarterback (New England Patriots)
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Brad Johnson, Quarterback (Vikings, Redskins, Buccaneers, Cowboys)
 The strongest contender to oust Hutson was former Browns QB Otto Graham who is always a contender in the greatest quarterbacks of all time debate. The fact he also wore #60 is what held him back here but there is no denying his quality and he is one of American sports all time winners having compiled a 105-17-4 record at the Browns and winning a division or league title ten times. He also won a professional basketball title with the NBL’s Rochester Royals.
Our all time #13 – Dan Marino often gets pigeon-holed with the title of greatest quarterback never to win a championship but the same could be said of YA Tittle. He would help keep the 49ers competitive but found his best form when traded to the Giants in 1961 and helped them claim three straight Eastern Division titles with double digit winning seasons. Teaming up with the likes of Del Shofner and Frank Gifford, Tittle would become a prolific passer in his later years and tie the record for TD passes in a season with 36 in 1963 a record that stood until Dan Marino passed it in 1984. It’s worth noting that Tittle also wore some numbers in the 60’s (#63 and #64) before settling on #14.
Before Marino was dominating through the air in the 80’s and breaking Tittle’s mark for TD passes he was also set a mark to break by former Chargers triggerman Dan Fouts who had set the passing yardage in a single season record that Marino would also crush in 1984. Fouts was the centrepiece of the Air Coryell offense which led the league in offense five times (1980-1983 and 1985) and passing seven times (1978-1983 and again in 1985). He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1993.
The best quarterback not in the Hall of Fame could well be former Bengal Ken Anderson who set an NFL record with a passing percentage of 70.6 for the 1982 season. Voted 1981 NFL MVP Anderson led the Bengals to their first ever Super Bowl where they lost 26-21 to the 49ers.
Eddie LeBaron, known by his team mates as the Littlest General, took over at quarterback from Sammy Baugh for the Redskins. No easy task, he managed to more than hold his own and then joined the Dallas Cowboys and led them through their early years. He also had a short stint in the CFL.
Quarterbacks don’t come much tougher than Steve Grogan who played sixteen seasons with the New England Patriots. He first stepped in for Jim Plunkett who proved to be a bust with the Patriots before finding himself with the Raiders and Grogan would also outlast class of ’83 member Tony Eason. In 1976 he set a record for most rushing TD’s by a quarterback with 12 and in 1978 led the Patriots to a best ever (at the time for the franchise) 11-3 record. A year later he would throw for 28TD’s. In Super Bowl XX he replaced a struggling Eason but despite hitting Irving Fryar with a TD he couldn’t prevent a massive defeat to the Bears.
Finally we have Brad Johnson. A former London Monarch who went on to become a world champion with the Buccaneers. After NFL Europe he took over from Warren Moon as the Vikings QB. After being injured and losing the job to Randall Cunningham he was traded to the Redskins in 1999 where he became only the second QB in franchise history to throw for over 4000 yards and helped the Redskins to their first play-off appearance since 1992. He would then move to the Buccaneers as a free agent and was their quarterback as they won their first ever Super Bowl in 2003.
Learn More about past NFL greats in our History Archive
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