You couldn't stop Don Hutson. You could only hope to contain him.
Don Hutson, the greatest receiver in NFL history, did. He revolutionized the game as a vertical pass receiver. And, he dominated the game like no other player before or after. Jerry Rice, who is often (and incorrectly) referred to as the greatest receiver in NFL history, had peers, receivers who were as physically gifted as he was, who put up comparable numbers. Hutson had no peers. None. He played eleven seasons, and accomplished the receiver triple crown, leading the league in receptions, yards and touchdowns, in his seventh, eighth, ninth and tenth seasons. He did it five times, overall. Rice? He did it once in his twenty-one years played. Don't get me wrong, I think Rice was a fabulous player. I became a big Niners fan in the early Eighties because Joe Montana was their quarterback (we Gregorys are Fighting Irish fans), and Jerry Rice was one of my favorite players. But there were other receivers that were every bit as good as he was. Sterling Sharpe put up numbers that were just as good, and he didn't have Joe Montana or Steve Young throwing him the ball. He had the young, but talented Brett Favre before he became an NFL MVP. He had Don Majkowski during his one healthy, great season in 1989. The rest of the time, he was catching passes from Anthony Dilweg, Randy Wright, Blair Kiel and Mike Tomczak. The Packers had no running game, and no other receiving threat. Defenses knew that the ball was going to Sharpe, and they still couldn't stop him. His numbers were every bit as good as those put up by Jerry Rice. Then, there were guys like Herman Moore, Michael Irvin and Cris Carter.
Hutson's 99 TD receptions mark set in 1945 stood for forty-four years until the great Steve Largent broke his record. But Largent played fourteen seasons to Hutson's eleven, and, from his third season on, the league played sixteen games. NFL teams played eleven games in the Thirties and Forties. It took Largent 200 games to do what Hutson did in 116.
And since it's often brought up how great a pitcher Babe Ruth was, well, look at what Hutson did during his career besides dominating as a wide receiver (or, split end as the position was referred to). While Jerry Rice, Steve Largent, Calvin Johnson, Randy Moss et all were sitting on the sidelines relaxing, watching the defense, Hutson was playing left end, and defensive back. In addition to his 99 receiving touchdowns, he also intercepted thirty passes. That's one more than four-time All Pro cornerback Darrell Revis has in his eleven year career playing defensive back full time. Look at Don Hutson's 1942 season. He caught 74 passes for 1,211 yards (the first 1,000 yard season in NFL history) and 17 touchdowns. AND, he intercepted seven passes. Oh, and Hutson was also the Packers' kicker.
If we're talking absolute statistical dominance of a sport, there's Babe Ruth, Ted Williams, Don Hutson, Wayne Gretzky and Wilt Chamberlain. Ruth changed the game of baseball forever. So did Hutson.
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Originally Posted by joshuanip
Did any of them change the way the entire sport played?
People emulated Jordan, but he didnt alter the game, like Babe did.
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