James Lofton: An Unheralded Hall of Famer

764 career receptions, 14,004 receiving yards and 75 career receiving touchdowns over a 16-year NFL career from 1978-1993.

Certainly Hall-of-Fame-worthy numbers, right? And James Lofton's 2003 induction certainly proved the above credentials make him worthy of induction into Canton.

Lofton was drafted #6 overall in the 1978 NFL Draft by the Green Bay Packers out of Stanford. During his third and fourth years in the league, 1980 and 1981, he topped 1,200 receiving yards and had 71 receptions each season. He would stay with the Packers through 1986, topping 1,000 yards each year from 1983-1985 and leading the league in yards per catch in 1983 and 1984. He also went to seven of his eight career Pro Bowls during his nine seasons in Green Bay.

Lofton played for the Los Angeles Raiders in 1987 and 1988, but only had 69 receptions in those two seasons before joining the Buffalo Bills in 1989. He would play in three Super Bowls with Buffalo, and would make his eighth and final Pro Bowl in 1991 as he became the oldest player (at the time) to top 1,000 receiving yards in a season. He played for the Bills through 1992, then split 1993 (his final season) between the Los Angeles Rams and Philadelphia Eagles.

Lofton was the first NFL receiver to top 14,000 yards for his career and also the first player to score a touchdown in the 1970's, 1980's and 1990's. He is a member of the NFL's All-Decade Team for the 1980's and the Green Bay Packer Hall of Fame.

After retirement, Lofton worked NFL games for Westwood One radio from 1999-2001 before becoming the San Diego Chargers' WR coach from 2002-2007 and then serving in the same capacity on the Oakland Raiders' coaching staff in 2008. He returned to Westwood One in 2009 and he teams with Dave Sims for Sunday night games.

When thinking about the NFL's all-time great wide receivers, Lofton's name probably doesn't come to mind immediately, which is probably because he spent the majority of his career playing in the obscurity of pre-Brett Favre Green Bay. But there he is, among the all-time leaders in many of the most important categories for wide receivers.