Only 3 Tight Ends in NFL History... (Witten)

[percyhoward]

Witten already has more catches by age 26 than any tight end in history, and he needs only 39 yards in the next four games to pass Tony Gonzalez for yards by age 26.

Gonzalez is the all-time leader among tight ends in catches and yards. At this point in his career (12 games into his sixth season, at age 26), Gonzalez had 378 catches for 4,535 yards. Witten has 406 catches for 4,692 yards.

While Gonzalez's longevity makes him the measuring stick for career stats, Winslow got his first 5,000 yards in something like 70 games (at least 20 fewer games than any other TE), then injuries kept him from accumulating the huge career numbers.

But even comparing Witten and Winslow, what's remarkable in Witten's case is that he has played through injuries, which make more games count against him--and those are games in which his production was understandably down, because he was playing hurt.

 

[jobberone]

Quote:
Originally Posted by jobberone
Yep. A freak of nature. How did anyone that large run that fast and be that athletic. I wonder if he ever trained or was it all just au natural.

John Mackey was before my time. I have only seen clips of him and he was amazing. I don't know if he was a freak of nature physically. It was just a different era, so he was a freak for that time period

He is listed as 6'-2" and 224 lbs.

That is not that large by today's standards. It is a few pounds less than Jim Brown. Jackie Smith and Mike Ditka started the same year as Mackey and are both bigger; however, they did not move like Mackey.

I love Witten and he is today the best TE in the league and not just IMO.

But all I can do is compare what a player did against players he competed.

And I've never seen anyone since be so completely dominant at the TE position. Not Ozzie, Ditka, Gonzales, or Witten. He finished two seasons averaging more than 20 yds a catch. Can you imagine a TE with that stat now? He finished his career at over 15 ypc which is amazing. And his last season didn't help although it was 10.

You look at his size at 6-2 and 224 and say that's small. But at the time he was huge and fast compared to those he played against.

He only played ten years but he revolutionized the position much like Hayes did for WR. He was kept out of the HOF for awhile by one of the members of the board of selectors, John Steadman, a Baltimore columnist. People finally got on him for it and the next year Mackey was voted in.

Mackey is another of the historical players to have dementia probably from football.

He's also the player who caught the tipped pass in SB V which still pisses me off.

 

[monkey]

But even comparing Witten and Winslow, what's remarkable in Witten's case is that he has played through injuries, which make more games count against him--and those are games in which his production was understandably down, because he was playing hurt.

All things being equal, Witten's playing through pain the last few weeks with his ribs is just a testament to his having the right stuff. This and no helmet rumble will be a highlight for decades. He's a special player without a doubt.

I am seriously putting a Witten jersey on my wishlist too. I thought it was cool on T-Day how he gave the ball to the guy with his jersey.