Pass Catching Streaks

[MarbleEye]

I don't know offhand how far the NFL goes with this kind of statistic. I know years ago there was a record I believe first attributed to Don Hutson that Lance Alworth supposedly* broke for catching passes in consecutive games. Jerry Rice ran this record to a very high number.

Problem is, in todays era, catching 1 pass In a game isn't all that much of a feat. Especially when Rice was upset that his team (Raiders I think at the time) didn't throw a sideline pass while he was behind the LOS late in the game to preserve the streak in the game that ended it.

So, in an era when the league leader in receptions catches 7 or 8 balls a game, what are the records for most consec. games with 2 or more receptions in a game? 3 or more? 4 or more? etc on up to like 7 or so.

I think that a long streak at a higher number than 1 is a lot more impressive and telling of a skilled durable receiver today.

Does anyone out there know any of these numbers / records and who holds them?

* RE: Alworth, wasn't there a statistical revision years later that resulted in his "streak" actually having been broken in the middle somewhere? And I was thinking Hutson held the record, but didn't Bobby Joe Conrad have a long pre Alworth streak as well?

[conace21]

I don't know offhand how far the NFL goes with this kind of statistic. I know years ago there was a record I believe first attributed to Don Hutson that Lance Alworth supposedly* broke for catching passes in consecutive games. Jerry Rice ran this record to a very high number.

Problem is, in todays era, catching 1 pass In a game isn't all that much of a feat. Especially when Rice was upset that his team (Raiders I think at the time) didn't throw a sideline pass while he was behind the LOS late in the game to preserve the streak in the game that ended it.

So, in an era when the league leader in receptions catches 7 or 8 balls a game, what are the records for most consec. games with 2 or more receptions in a game? 3 or more? 4 or more? etc on up to like 7 or so.

I think that a long streak at a higher number than 1 is a lot more impressive and telling of a skilled durable receiver today.

Does anyone out there know any of these numbers / records and who holds them?

* RE: Alworth, wasn't there a statistical revision years later that resulted in his "streak" actually having been broken in the middle somewhere? And I was thinking Hutson held the record, but didn't Bobby Joe Conrad have a long pre Alworth streak as well?

Other way around. Alworth's record was legitimate; Hutson had his streak broken against Cleveland in 1941, right in the middle of the streak. Pro Football Chronicle had a nice article about it; I think they were the ones to discover the dubious record. He recorded an interception, but caught none of the four Packers completions on the day. In reality, Alworth broke Bobby Joe Conrad'a 94 game streak, and he broke Tommy McDonald's 93 game streak

[Bob Gill]

I don't put any stock in consecutive-game streaks of any kind, but I seem to recall that Dan Abramowicz had a long streak that broke or threatened the record at the time, whatever it was. Ditto for Mel Gray of the Cardinals a few years later.

[John Grasso]

I remember Harold Carmichael having the record. In 1980 he was the record-holder
with 127 straight games.

Wikipedia has this list of multiple catches:
Most consecutive games, 1+ pass receptions: 274, Jerry Rice 1985–2004[1]:s-12
Most consecutive games, 1+ pass receptions to start a career: 190, Marvin Harrison 1996-2008
Most consecutive games, 2+ pass receptions: 147, Tim Brown 1993–2002
Most consecutive games, 3+ pass receptions: 82, Reggie Wayne 2009–2014[88]
Most consecutive games, 4+ pass receptions: 34, Sterling Sharpe 1992–1994
Most consecutive games, 5+ pass receptions: 30, Antonio Brown 2013-2014
Most consecutive games, 6+ pass receptions: 16, Marvin Harrison 2002–2003
Most consecutive games, 7+ pass receptions: 9, Antonio Brown 2014
Most consecutive games, 8+ pass receptions: 8, Antonio Brown 2014
Most consecutive games, 9+ pass receptions: 6, Marvin Harrison 2002
Most consecutive games, 10+ pass receptions: 4, Calvin Johnson 2012
Most consecutive games, 11+ pass receptions: 2, by 15 players, most recently by Odell Beckham 2014 [89]

[BD Sullivan]

The 1979 game in which Carmichael broke the streak record had them throw him a pass at the line of scrimmage on the Eagles' first play. He extended it to 127 before it ended the following year.

Steve Largent passed Carmichael in 1986, finishing with 177. He was passed by Art Monk in 1994, who finished with 183. Monk was then supplanted by Rice in 1998.

[MarbleEye]

Other way around. Alworth's record was legitimate; Hutson had his streak broken against Cleveland in 1941, right in the middle of the streak. Pro Football Chronicle had a nice article about it; I think they were the ones to discover the dubious record. He recorded an interception, but caught none of the four Packers completions on the day. In reality, Alworth broke Bobby Joe Conrad'a 94 game streak, and he broke Tommy McDonald's 93 game streak

Thank you for the correction. I had all the players, just had the storyline a bit garbled.

[MarbleEye]

I remember Harold Carmichael having the record. In 1980 he was the record-holder
with 127 straight games.

Wikipedia has this list of multiple catches:
Most consecutive games, 1+ pass receptions: 274, Jerry Rice 1985–2004[1]:s-12
Most consecutive games, 1+ pass receptions to start a career: 190, Marvin Harrison 1996-2008
Most consecutive games, 2+ pass receptions: 147, Tim Brown 1993–2002
Most consecutive games, 3+ pass receptions: 82, Reggie Wayne 2009–2014[88]
Most consecutive games, 4+ pass receptions: 34, Sterling Sharpe 1992–1994
Most consecutive games, 5+ pass receptions: 30, Antonio Brown 2013-2014
Most consecutive games, 6+ pass receptions: 16, Marvin Harrison 2002–2003
Most consecutive games, 7+ pass receptions: 9, Antonio Brown 2014
Most consecutive games, 8+ pass receptions: 8, Antonio Brown 2014
Most consecutive games, 9+ pass receptions: 6, Marvin Harrison 2002
Most consecutive games, 10+ pass receptions: 4, Calvin Johnson 2012
Most consecutive games, 11+ pass receptions: 2, by 15 players, most recently by Odell Beckham 2014 [89]

Thank you for the info. It never occurred to me to look on Wiki for a group of records so obscure and off the main type categories. I learned a couple of things here it would seem. Those streaks by Brown and Wayne are much more impressive to me than 1 catch per game, I note too that almost all of these streaks are very recent, that is in keeping with the all out passing game of today.

[Bryan]

* RE: Alworth, wasn't there a statistical revision years later that resulted in his "streak" actually having been broken in the middle somewhere? And I was thinking Hutson held the record, but didn't Bobby Joe Conrad have a long pre Alworth streak as well?

I thought there was a game early in 1964 that Alworth appeared in for one play, then sat out the rest of the game. So technically this appearance broke Alworth's consecutive game streak, but for some reason Alworth is still given credit for 96 consecutive games with a reception, and Alworth's appearance in that one game has been stricken from the record. Kind of weird....I guess it shows that people really liked Alworth. I doubt they would have done the same thing for Terrell Owens.

[BD Sullivan]

Alworth played in the 10/3/64 game against the Jets at Shea, but didn't have any receptions. Below is the writeup from the following day's San Diego Union:

"Lance Alworth was only of token use at the right flank. Alworth, his leg muscle still hindering him, played throughout the first half, but served for only a brief period in the last 30 minutes. He did not catch a pass."

[Bob Gill]

Interesting. The question now is, why should Alworth's streak be considered any more legitimate than Hutson's?