WR tradition

Earlier this week, I praised the Vikings' WR tradition, and lamented their current WR situation.

I've been looking closer at pro-football-reference.com's list of team leaders. The Vikings' top two receiving yardage leaders are Cris Carter (12,383) and Randy Moss (9,142). It's worth noting that Anthony Carter comes in at 3rd (7,636), Jake Reed 4th (6,433), and Sammy White 5th (6,400).

Here are the teams that do not even have one WR with as many receiving yards as the Vikings' #2 receiver: Arizona, Atlanta, Baltimore, Carolina, Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Tennessee, Houston, Kansas City, Miami, New Orleans, New York (Giants), Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Tampa Bay.

That's 16 teams, half the league, that don't have a single WR with more team receiving yards than the Vikings' second best compiler. Actually, 6 of those teams don't have a single WR with as many yards as Anthony Carter has for the Vikings, and he's their #3 (Atlanta, Baltimore, Chicago, Cincinnati, Houston, Tampa Bay).

Only 5 teams have a WR with more team receiving yards than Cris Carter has with the Vikings: Andre Reed on the Bills, Marvin Harrison on the Colts, Jerry Rice with the 49ers, Steve Largent with the Seahawks, and Isaac Bruce with the Rams.

I think it's fair to say that the Vikings do have one of the great WR traditions in the NFL. It's a shame that it's nothing now.

Here are my some other franchises with great WR traditions:
Cowboys (Michael Irvin, Drew Pearson, Bob Hayes)
Packers (James Lofton, Sterling Sharpe, Don Hutson)
Colts (Marvin Harrison, Ray Berry)
Dolphins (Mark Clayton, Mark Duper, Paul Warfield)
Raiders (Tim Brown, Fred Biletnikoff, Cliff Branch)
Steelers (John Stallworth, Lynn Swann, Hines Ward)
49ers (Jerry Rice, Terrell Owens, Dwight Clark)
Rams (Isaac Bruce, Torry Holt, Elroy Hirsch, Henry Ellard, Tom Fears)
Redskins (Art Monk, Charlie Taylor, Gary Clark)

Of these teams, the Rams are clearly the most impressive. Tom Fears is a HOFer (for a long time, he held the record for receptions in a game with 18), as is Crazy Legs Hirsch. Bruce and Ellard are not HOF WRs, but they're still excellent, and Holt has been one of the top 2-5 WRs for almost a decade.