The Greatest Player You’ve Never Heard Of
Don Hutson played wide receiver for the Green Bay Packers from 1935-1945. To say that this man dominated would be an understatement. Throughout his 11 year career, he led the NFL in touchdowns 9 times. The two times that he didn’t lead the NFL, he was second and only one touchdown behind the leader. When Hutson’s career had ended he had so many more touchdowns than anyone else that you could combine the careers of the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th most receiving touchdowns and they still wouldn’t have more than him.
While Don Hutson had nearly every record when he retired, maybe his most impressive one was in the year 1942. That year, he recorded 17 touchdowns in 11 games, an average of 1.55 touchdowns a game! The next time a player had more touchdowns was 42 years later in 1984 when Mark Clayton had 18 touchdowns. And so far, the only player who has ever had a better touchdown to games ratio, while leading the league in touchdowns, is Jerry Rice in 1987 when he scored 22 touchdowns in 12 games.
Don Hutson is often considered the first true deep threat wide receiver. But he was also a fantastic defender. Back then a lot of players, including him, played both ways. Hutson led the NFL with 6 interceptions in 1940, and three years later he recorded 8 interceptions in 10 games.
Not that being a star on defense and the best player in the NFL on offense was enough, but Hutson was also a great kicker, leading the league in field goals once and extra points three times.
Don Hutson helped lead the Packers to three championships, and is a first ballot hall of famer. He was also a unanimous vote for the NFL top 100 after 100 years. And when considering the best wide receivers of all time, you might prefer more athletic ones like Randy Moss or Calvin Johnson. But if the criteria is how much they dominated their competition, Don Hutson has to be at the top of the list.