Top Five Receivers in Super Bowl History
In this year’s Super Bowl, the Kansas City Chiefs defeated the Philadelphia Eagles in a 38-35 thriller. With Super Bowl LVII fresh on our minds (and since I’m already experiencing football withdrawals!), I thought it’d be fun to research and share the top five receivers in Super Bowl (SB) history. There are many statistics that can be used to achieve this list. For this post, we’ll be looking at total touchdowns (TD’s), receptions, receiving yards per game, and SB’s played. I’m including wide receivers (WR’s) and tight ends (TE’s). Running backs were not listed on the website from which I obtained my research. Also, single-game performances will not be discussed.
WR’s and TE’s have always been my favorite football players. As a kid growing up in the 1970’s, dozens of the premiere WR’s were plastered all over my bedroom walls. SPORT magazine provided me with full page photos of my heroes in action. It was known for its groundbreaking use of color photography.
Touchdowns
Let’s begin with the top five most career TD receptions by a player in Super Bowl history. As shown in the chart below, WR Jerry Rice leads the pack with eight TD’s. He played in four Super Bowls with the San Francisco 49ers. Second place honors go to TE Rob Gronkowski (known as “Gronk”) with five TD grabs in five Super Bowl appearances: three with the New England Patriots, and two with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Four players share third-place with three scores each: WR Antonio Freeman (Green Bay Packers, two SB’s), WR Cliff Branch (Oakland/ L.A. Raiders, three SB’s), WR John Stallworth (Pittsburgh Steelers, four SB’s), and WR Lynn Swann (Pittsburgh Steelers, four SB’s). Finally, there are a whopping 16 pass catchers that garnered two touchdowns.
Receptions
Once again, Jerry Rice takes 1st place with 33 catches. Gronk is a close second at 29. Kansas City Chiefs’ star TE Travis Kelce caught 22 balls in three SB’s. WR Danny Amendola had 21 grabs (New England Patriots, three SB’s), At the #5 spot is TE Jay Novacek with 17 receptions (Dallas Cowboys, three SB appearances).
Receiving Yards per Game
Initially, I was going to use total receiving yards, but since some players played in more (or less) Super Bowls, I felt that receiving yards/ game is a better indicator of the athletes performances. Jerry Rice 147.3, Larry Fitzgerald 127.0, Antonio Freeman 115.5, Tee Higgins 100.0, Danny Amendola 92.7. Don’t you agree that it’s impressive that four out of five receivers averaged 100 yds/ game on the biggest stage in all of sports?
The #1 Receiver in Super Bowl History
Based on the aforementioned top receivers’ statistics, Jerry Rice is the clear leader! He enjoys the most TD’s (8), receptions (33), and receiving yards/ game (147.3). Most, if not all NFL experts have crowned Rice as the greatest receiver of all time (GOAT). In addition to his Super Bowl accolades, he tops most if not all regular season receiving records. As far as which receivers rank #2-5, I’ll leave that up to the experts. Especially since there have been many amazing single-game Super Bowl performances.
P.S.- The Bomb
For millions of fans, myself included, the greatest thing in all of sports is a receiver’s reception of a long pass, known as a “bomb” for a TD. The longest completion for a TD in a Super Bowl occurred in Super Bowl XXXVIII (Feb 1, 2004). Carolina Panthers’ quarterback Jake Delhomme hit WR Muhsin Muhammad for an 85-yard strike.