Agree to disagree, I include the "football player" in my wr analysis. And JE ain't done yet, WW is. We'll see how those off the charts numbers stack up when 11 quits.
Time out! First, your comment about Morgan being left off this list being the same on the silly scale as someone putting WW over JE is laughable.
Also, this whole I include "football player" in my analysis is also kinda. lame WW was a tremendous football player and an elite ST player. JE is more versatile and explosive with a bigger catch radius but WW over JE is a no brainer as all time WR here.
When the discussion comes up about the greatest WR of all time I dont think anyone would arguse that WW would not be in the discussion of slot receivers. JE (As much as I love him) is not in this discussion.. period.
Also, the difference between them in career punt returns is 2 yards per return. And this is with WW having 264 returns in his career (on top of his real job) to JE current 151.
Looking at these numbers:
Some perspective on WW put return ability as compared to another all time great..
WW had 264 punt returns with a 9.8 yard avg
Dion Sanders had 212 returns with a 10.4 average.
Sanders was considered a great return man.
WW was doing punt returns while catching over 100 balls a year (something he did 5x). He was so good at returns and so durable that they risked this guy's health to do this job.
JE was really a punt return guy only when he got here. so for several years that is all he had to worry about and the wear on him was much less
WW also did 48 returns at age 31 and over which will lower his average a bit because at that point he had a ton of wear and tear on him.
WW also averaged slightly higher TD per game over JE despite playing in 76 more games YTD career wise.
WW Yards per game career avg is 14.8 yards per game higher than JE's avg yards per game..
That is with 253 of WWs receptions coming at an age of 31 or older.
Incidently WW had 183 kick returns with a 22.6 careeer yard per return avg
JE has had 28 returns with an avg of 20 yards per return.
So while JE was a 2 Yd better punt returner WW was a 2 yard better KR.
Given the fact that WW is borderline HOF, given the fact that he had 5 seasons over 100 receptions and 2 over 120, given the fact that he was also an elite Special Teams guy, given the fact that WW was a great locker room guy, and probably the most durable player the pats ever had at the WR position (given his incredible production) I am gonna give the nod to Wes here and his 672 receptions for the pats.
Sure, JE made the catch when it counted and if you want to put JE over WW for that go ahead. I just like to be more objective. Its certainly no where near the absurdity of leaving Morgan off a Pats all time WR list. Not even close.
I get it, The trend here is to bash the old and give extra credit to the current and WW did leave to a bitter rival. But that dosent erase what he did here with incredible high level consistency.
