AFL/NFL 1,000 Yard Receivers State by State Rank and Overview: Installment 1

The following database is a continued effort by the author to distinguish which U.S. states contribute the most to the game of American football. The focus of this section of the ongoing work is to determine the state by state rank for production of 1,000 yard receivers in AFL/NFL history.

To date the thousand yard receiving barrier has been broken 700 times by 269 different players. While in times past it was an epic feat, in recent years it has become much more commonplace, but regardless of current trends, the thousand yard season remains an accomplishment worthy of note.

As with the previous state by state football ranking articles this author has done, the state the player is attributed to is his state of birth. Also in keeping with the established format, there are two ranking systems: overall number of performances, in this case 1,000 yard receiving seasons, and per capita score.

In this case the per capita score is derived by dividing the state’s number of AFL/NFL 1,000 yard receivers by the state’s population, and then the zeros before the number are dropped to produce a visually more palatable score.

Below you will find the cumulative results of the data. On the left we have the per capita rank of each state. On the right we have the overall number of performances rank of each state.

The remainder of this database and subsequent links show the statistical data of every thousand yard receiver for each state in rank of per capita score.

The information for this database was compiled using the following sources: Profootballreference.com, NFL.com, and Wikipedia.com.

Feel free to help: If you find any of the information contained within this database to be misplaced or inaccurate, feel free to let the author know in the comments section. Not only is it not an annoyance, it is appreciated.

Per Capita Score: 1,016

1,000 Yard Performances: 47

Coming in first by a substantial amount in per capita score is Louisiana. Studying the data, you’ll notice that Louisiana is not a one trick pony. They have continually produced great receivers throughout the history of the sport.

Their most substantial contributor is Reggie Wayne, with 8 thousand yard seasons.

Per Capita Score: 836

1,000 Yard Performances: 25

In a per capita scoring system such as this, it doesn’t hurt to be the birth state of Jerry Rice, especially if the state in question happens to be populated by fewer than 3 million people.

Rice’s NFL record 14 thousand yard receiving performances makes up the lion’s share of Mississippi’s list of thousand yard receivers, though there are other solid contributors such as Eric Moulds and Harold Jackson.

Per Capita Score: 541

1,000 Yard Performances: 16

From second to third we have roughly a 300 point drop off. Arkansas’s most substantial contributor is Rod Smith, with 8 thousand yard performances.

It is also of note that the 1,000 yard receiving season, in a sense, was invented by an Arkansas born player. Don Hutson’s 1,211 yards receiving in 1942 marked the first time the 1,000 yard plateau was eclipsed by a receiver.

Per Capita Score: 539

1,000 Yard Performances: 10

West Virginia is fourth because they have less than 2 million people, and one of them happened to be Randy Moss.

There really isn’t much else to say here. Moss’s brilliant career and 10 thousand yard performances take West Virginia from a no-show to a fourth place contender on our per capita list.

Per Capita Score: 439.83

1,000 Yard Performances: 86

By the slimmest of margins, Florida comes in fifth on our per capita list. In fact, with discrepancies in census numbers, it is just as likely that South Carolina belongs in this spot as Florida.

Florida’s 86 thousand yard performances ranks first above Texas by 5 in overall number, and Florida’s list of receivers include many of the all-time greats: Michael Irvin, Isaac Bruce, and Andre Johnson just to name a few.