How do you measure greatness? Is it in championships, statistics or some combination of the two?
We ask this question because many Steelers fans want to argue the merits of who is the greatest receiver in team history. Could it be Pro Football Hall of Fame members John Stallworth or Lynn Swann, both of whom also won four Super Bowls, Hines Ward, a key member of a couple of Super Bowl teams himself, and the team's all-time receptions and yardage leader, or current star, Antonio Brown?
There really is no easy answer and the criteria are different, depending on who you ask.
Winning certainly matters. Players who win championships are viewed differently than those who don't. It's one reason people give for not placing Dan Marino among the best quarterbacks in NFL history, even though, based on talent alone, he certainly belongs in the conversation.
But should winning a championship in the ultimate team sport that is football be considered an individual success? Probably not. But even Brown admits it should definitely be a factor.
"I can't be considered up there with the Swanns and Stallworths until we win the Super Bowl," Brown has told me several times in the past.
Can't is a strong word, especially given his overall production when compared to the others. In fact, Brown is, without a doubt, the greatest receiver in team history.
"I think he is," former Steelers guard Craig Wolfley, who played with Swann and Stallworth and has worked as a sideline reporter throughout the careers of Ward and Brown, told me. "If you look at everything he does, from making the tough catches to the routine ones, to everything in between."
He might even be ascending to all-time great status, a question he posed himself on Twitter, recently.
Am I the best WR in the generation? If I stop today where would you rank me? #Fantalk #Letsbehonest
— Antonio Brown (@AB84) June 3, 2018
Swann finished his career with 336 receptions for 5,462 yards and 51 touchdowns in 116 career games. Brown has 582 receptions for 7,848 yards and 52 touchdowns — in the last five seasons, a span of 77 games.
No receiver in league history had recorded 100 or more receptions in five consecutive seasons until Brown's last five seasons. But the fact Brown has now played one fewer career game than Swann but blows his numbers away — 733 receptions, 9,910 yards and 59 touchdowns — can't be ignored.
Those who would argue for Swann to be ranked ahead of Brown would say Swann beats Brown in a very important category — four Super Bowl wins. But Brown has been to a Super Bowl as a rookie in 2010, even though the Steelers lost that game. And though he wasn't a huge factor for most of his rookie season, his 58-yard catch late in the AFC playoffs against Baltimore set the Steelers up for the game-winning score that helped them get there.
Stallworth might have a better argument with Brown than Swann, whose career was spectacular but shorter.
In 14 NFL seasons, Stallworth appeared in 165 games and caught 537 passes for 8,723 yards and 63 touchdowns. But he also got off to a slow start, catching just 130 passes in his first five seasons. Stallworth didn't have his first 1,000-yard season until 1979 and also had just three 1,000-yard seasons in his career. Swann, by the way, had none.
But the lack of 1,000-yard seasons was because Swann and Stallworth not only played at the same time — at least until Swann retired after the 1982 season — but because the Steelers threw the ball so little. How little? Terry Bradshaw averaged 23.2 passing attempts per game in his career. By comparison, Ben Roethlisberger has averaged 20.8 COMPLETIONS per game in his career.
Even though the Steelers began opening things up later in his career, leading to Stallworth's better numbers, his best season — 80 receptions, 1,395 yards and 11 touchdowns in 1984 — would be considered a poor season for Brown, who has had more than 1,400 receiving yards in four of the past five seasons, including leading the league in yardage twice, while reaching double digits in touchdowns three times.
Certainly, both Swann and Stallworth had their share of acrobatic catches. In fact, some consider Swann to be the gold standard in that category. But Brown is no slouch in that area, either.
In terms of pure statistics, Ward has some that can match Brown. He was the first Steelers receiver to top 100 receptions in a season, catching 112 passes in 2002. And his six 1,000-yard seasons match Brown for the team record, while his, 1,000 receptions, 12,083 yards and 85 touchdown catches remain team benchmarks.
And, like Swann and Stallworth, Ward has done the one thing Brown hasn't — win a Super Bowl.
But of these four receivers, his career yards per reception of 12.1 yards is easily the lowest. And though he was very productive, he never led the league in a single receiving statistic.
Some will point to his blocking ability as a reason he should be ranked at the top, and blocking was a big part of his game. But is that enough to offset the huge advantage Brown has over him in receiving statistics? Probably not.
After all, Ward averaged 55 yards receiving per game in his career, a full 30 yards per game less than Brown. And, as mentioned, his yards per catch average of 12.1 is more than a full yard less than that of Brown.
Of course, Brown can end any arguments about which Pittsburgh receiver is the best by winning a Super Bowl, something he and the Steelers will try to do again in 2018.
At his current career pace, Brown has a shot at the all-time receptions record of Jerry Rice, who had 610 catches in his first eight seasons, 123 fewer than Brown. Rice played until the ridiculous age of 42 and had a combined 185 catches after the age of 40, but with the way Brown trains and takes care of his body, he might be able to catch the 1,549 receptions Rice had in his career.
Over the past five years, his 582 receptions are 101 more than anyone else in the league. His 7,848 yards are nearly 1,000 more than the next closest player, while his 52 touchdowns are six more than the next closest player. They also surpass anything Rice did during any five year period of his career.
"He's one of the all-time greats," Wolfley told me. "And he works hard at it. That's what makes it so special."
