Lance Alworth Named 1963 AFL Most Valuable Player

Lance played in an era when it was permissible to hit and whack on receivers all the way down the field. Imagine Lance today with all of the room and leeway receivers are given!

Comparing players of different eras, drawing definitive conclusions is chancy. Still, thought it would be interesting to compare an player some believe to be the best wide receiver ever, Jerry Rice, to a player others believe to be best ever, Lance Alworth.

Rules were different each player’s era, the five- yard bump rule was not in effect during Alworth’s days for example, whereas it was in place the entirety of Rice’s career.

Alworth’s 11 years his teams passed 416 times per season on average and Rice’s teams passed 525 times per season, or, 109 more per season on average his 136 games over his first 9 seasons.

Factors such as the overall excellence of & impact of success each player’s teams had on Alworth & Rice production are left open for subjective opine, as playing on artificial turf vs natural grass & other differences variously which would just serve to muddy the comparison even more.

Alworth’s career total 136 games played & Rice’s first 136 games same, stats:

ALWORTH 542 10,266 85 18.9 ~ 4577 pass attempts by his teams 136 games
JERRY RICE 682 11,403 116 16.6 ~ 4727 pass attempts by his teams 136 games

Essentially, Rice caught 1 more pass a game on average, for 8+ yards. That the upshot, make of it what you will factors mentioned and others not considered.

Of note, Rice averaged just under one td catch a game & Alworth a bit more than half a td per game. Of 150 more passes attempted Rice’s teams over the course each player’s first 136 games, Rice had 140 more catches than Alworth.

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OK, now let’s muddy the waters a bit:

John Hadl & Tobin Rote / Joe Montana & Steve Young… Dwight Clark & John Taylor / Don Norton & Gary Garrison, Paul Lowe, Keith Lincoln & Dick Post / Roger Craig, Tom Rathman & Ricky Watters, Mix / McIntyre & Chargers tight ends too compared 49er’s… we won’t even deliberate the defenses here.

When in doubt, consider the eyeball test – one’s own bias a preferred era taken into account & too ‘style points’. As such, I give Alworth’s ‘Bambi’ the edge (as an aside, Paul Warfield, Otis Taylor, Fred Biletnikoff & Charley Taylor are the other receivers still stand out my recollection as most graceful/poetic in cleats.)

So who was better, Alworth or Rice? While you’re at it, which set AFL football cards is ‘best’, and tropic island Mary Ann or Ginger?

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My sentiment is there’s no such thing a ‘best ever’ beyond one’s own subjective take. If it were just an matter ‘stats’, Emmitt Smith (for example) would be the consensus best running back pro football history; that he doesn’t rank top 5 all-time in my opinion is a result factors to include his total number opportunities, quality of his teammates – especially his numerous all-star & greater (even Hall of Fame) offensive lineman in particular. That he played behind great lines and on great teams & carried the ball more than anyone else also factors to consider.

That he played on artificial turf (did it help him as a result or more so hurt him, wear and tear?) another discussion. My book of bias, the two best runningbacks I’ve seen remain Gale Sayers and Jim Brown, in either order… your mileage may vary. The cool factor (‘style points’), I give the edge to Sayers, a man who played most his career as a one-man army quality his offensive teammates considered.

Back to Smith: one answer might be he should have more rushing yards and tds than anyone else since he received more opportunities. That he kept getting the ball however also can’t be denied; apparently he kept getting the job done, ‘got by with a little help from his friends’, nod the Beatles.

Having beaten this horse to death, final analysis: ‘who was best’ the two wide receivers in question? There’s no such thing as a definitive ‘greatest’ whatever, just personal preference/favorite… the two, mine remains Lance Alworth.