Pretty wild NFL stat I just discovered after learning Antonio Gates had just joined the elite club of players with 100 TD catches. He entered the league in 2003 and is now seventh on the all-time TD catch list. Here’s the crazy part: the year before, in 2002, all six of the players ahead of him on that list were active players on various NFL teams!
In fact, that top six was in the league together for five years: 1998-2002. Only Cris Carter left after the 2002 season, so when Gates came in, five of the six (and six of what is now the top seven) were still there until 2004 at least.
I was watching all kinds of NFL in that late '90s to early '00s period (just as I do to this day), so I totally remember all those guys being the star wideouts of the league. But I don’t think I appreciated how ridic it was to have this Hall of Fame crew all active at the same time. I think the closest analogue in baseball would be runs scored, so it would be like if there was a five year period in which Rickey Henderson, Ty Cobb, Barry Bonds, Hank Aaron, Babe Ruth, and Pete Rose were all kicking around the league, and then in the sixth year Babe Ruth retired but Willie Mays came in as a rookie. But that scenario sounds more like something you’d see in a lighthearted comedy about the world’s biggest baseball fan going to heaven.
And now look at the career rushing yards leaderboard.
No active players listed until you get down to 16, Frank Gore. Heck, the only guy in the top 15 who played in the last 5 years is LaDainian Tomlinson. The NFL evolves like no other.
Kind of cool, but not that surprising if you think about it. To be a career TD reception leader, you have to a) have a long career, and b)be truly exceptional in the dead-ball era, or merely really good in the pass-happy NFL time.
So we’re thinking about guys with 10-20 year careers, most of which will have happened after 1985 or so. Not so surprising that they overlap. (remember, current guys like Megatron aren’t through yet, so they’re not at the top of the list, even though they may well be by the time they’re done)
What could possibly make you think that they were the greatest wrs ever? They simply played in a 16 game era and in a time when the rules were changed to favor the offense.
Which is why Don Hutson (#10 on the list) can easily be considered the second best (after Jerry Rice, of course) WR ever. There is no one on the top 200 of WR touchdowns who played at the same time as him, yet he put up 99 touchdowns over a 10 year career. To accomplish what he did at a time when defenses could literally maul you to stop a catch and every team ran the ball 2000 times a game is pretty damn impressive. Hell, he also helped invent the modern pass routes.
Also, I’m not really an expert here, but it’s possible that the 90’s to early 00’s was a peak time for star receivers, when rule changes made passing easier, but defenses had not yet completely adjusted to shutting down #1 threats. I imagine it might be easier for a star receiver to pile up receiving touchdowns when they’re going against a generic 1995 pass defense, as opposed to having Revis or Sherman follow them around the formation all game.