Don Hutson The First 1000 yd Receiver in the NFL

[Booth]

I was reading all the posts about 1000 yd receivers and it got me wondering who was the first to do it. Hutson did it in only 11 games in 1942. He was the best WR of his time. He ran a 10-flat 100-yard dash. That year he had a 200 yd receiving game with just 5 catches, a 41.4 yd average.

Don Hutson, a Green Bay Packers wide receiver in the 1930s and 1940s, set many NFL records, including:

• Career touchdowns: Hutson scored 99 touchdowns, a record that stood for over four decades.
  
  
• Career receptions: Hutson caught 488 passes, which was 200 more than his closest competitor when he retired.
  
  
• Receiving yards: Hutson led the NFL in receiving yards seven times, including four straight times from 1941 to 1944.
  
  
• Receiving touchdowns per game: As of 2016, Hutson still holds the highest career average touchdowns per game for a receiver, at 0.85.
  
  
• NFL MVP: Hutson won the NFL MVP award twice.
  
  
• All-pro: Hutson was named to the NFL's official 11-man all-pro team every year but once.
  
  
• Joe F. Carr Trophy: Hutson won the Joe F. Carr Trophy twice, in 1941 and '42.
  
  
• NFL championships: Hutson helped the Packers win NFL championships in 1936, '39, and '44.

 

[Freethinker]

Awesome. Happy to learn some football history.

 

[Carolina Speed]

I was reading all the posts about 1000 yd receivers and it got me wondering who was the first to do it. Hutson did it in only 11 games in 1942. He was the best WR of his time. He ran a 10-flat 100-yard dash. That year he had a 200 yd receiving game with just 5 catches, a 41.4 yd average.

Don Hutson, a Green Bay Packers wide receiver in the 1930s and 1940s, set many NFL records, including:

• Career touchdowns: Hutson scored 99 touchdowns, a record that stood for over four decades.
  
  
• Career receptions: Hutson caught 488 passes, which was 200 more than his closest competitor when he retired.
  
  
• Receiving yards: Hutson led the NFL in receiving yards seven times, including four straight times from 1941 to 1944.
  
  
• Receiving touchdowns per game: As of 2016, Hutson still holds the highest career average touchdowns per game for a receiver, at 0.85.
  
  
• NFL MVP: Hutson won the NFL MVP award twice.
  
  
• All-pro: Hutson was named to the NFL's official 11-man all-pro team every year but once.
  
  
• Joe F. Carr Trophy: Hutson won the Joe F. Carr Trophy twice, in 1941 and '42.
  
  
• NFL championships: Hutson helped the Packers win NFL championships in 1936, '39, and '44.

Great information on Don Hutson Booth! Thanks! This got me thinking about another Don. Don Maynard. the greatest NY Jet receiver of all time. The West Texas Jet and "Country" were some of his nicknames.
I couldn't find anything on how fast he was, but he told Joe Namath that he could get a step on the defense in SB III and he burned George Atkinson for a 52 yard TD and then caught the game winning 6 yard TD, and he and Broadway Joe won Super Bowl III!
Maynard wasn't the first player to go over 1,000 receiving yards in a season, but he was the first to get to 10,000 career receiving yards!
Here are a few of Maynards career accomplishments.

*NFL Super Bowl Champion (III)
*Pro Football Hall of Fame
*First WR to get to 10,000 career receiving yards
*88 career TD receptions
*His 18.7 yards per catch is the highest for anyone with 600 receptions
*2 x first team AFL All Star
*4 x AFL All Star
*AFL All-Time Team

Maynard was Christian who never touched alcohol. There are more awards, but the highest compliment that was given to him by everyone who knew him was that he was a good and humble man whom everyone liked.

 

[Don Wassall]

I just noticed this thread. Don Hutson was the Babe Ruth or Wayne Gretzky of wide receivers, but over time his name recognition has faded. Now when fans think of great White receivers of the past names like Lance Alworth and Steve Largent come to mind, but Hutson was the gold standard for many years and still is from a sheer domination perspective. He was ranked #9 of the NFL's greatest players several years back, with this short clip narrated by Peter King putting his career in perspective: