Wes Welker carried the Patriots offense as the receiving corps began to decline in the late 00s. From 2007 to 2012 with the team he accrued a historic 672 receptions, 7,459 receiving yards, 37 TDs, and a 72.6 catch%, among other amazing statistics. He has been unfairly maligned since his dropped pass in super bowl 46. Unfortunately, the average football fan does not recognize that games are rarely won or lost on a single play. Welker was scapegoated for that super bowl loss despite the fact that Aaron Hernandez and Deion Branch had several critical drops. Branch even dropped what would have been a TD pass that could have put the game away.
Strangely enough, no player's legacy was impacted more by the Patriots two super bowl losses to the Giants than Welker. With his monster 11 reception 103 yd game in 42, he likely would have been named MVP had the Patriots won. Then in 46 he had the aforementioned drop, which was his only drop of the game by the way. That play was fervently latched on to by the media and the NFL fanbase at large. As a result, Welker earned a reputation as a "choker" despite being far and away the best Patriots receiver in both super bowl losses. That's not to mention his invaluable contributions in the regular season and in the playoff games that got the Patriots to those two super bowls in the first place.
He was the first receiver in NFL history with three 110 reception seasons and also the first to have five 100 reception seasons. In just six seasons with the Patriots he became their all time receptions leader. Four all-pro teams, 5 pro bowls, and a 3x receptions leader. All this despite being an undrafted, overlooked player. The fact that he was able to finish his career with 9,924 receiving yards is a tremendous feat considering the years he spent being wasted in Miami by Nick Saban. The NFL media tried to explain away his success but nothing they said held water. Welker showed he was still a great receiver in Denver despite battling injuries and age.
Wes Welker should be remembered as a historic player for his achievements and for singlehandedly revolutionizing a position. Something else to consider is that in the 20 years before 2007, there had been just nine 1000 yd receiving seasons by white receivers. In the years after Welker's 2007 season up to 2021, there were 47.
