Mythical Beast: Don Hutson

A few days ago, when Jerry Rice got inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, someone tweeted Peter King saying that Jerry Rice was the greatest receiver of all time, and then asked who was second? King responded: “Best WR ever: Don Hutson. Google him. You’ll see.” Well, Packer fans already knew this and Cold Hard Football Facts knows this as well, but apparently much of rest of the world doesn’t quite get it. I pity them.

Don Hutson is the inventor of the receiver position, and he crushed his opponents with zero mercy or tolerance for their inability to stop him. He scoffed at feeble attempts to cover him, and devoured defenses whole. He rolled up mind-boggling stats and records, some that still stand in today’s era of air-it-football. Take a look at his Packer bio if you get a chance. The man was a beast…

This last statement got me think what kind of beast is Don Hutson? I quickly emailed Robert to get his opinion, and I included frequent commenter, Johnny Vicious, as his knowledge of beasts great and small is legendary. Just ask him, he’ll tell you. Robert was stumped, and I must admit even with my extensive knowledge of mythical beasts from playing Heroes of Might and Magic II for days on end, I couldn’t find anything that seemed to fit. Then, I got a response from Johnny.

The email only contained this:

I immediately realized he was spot on, Don Hutson was a giant pass-catching, touchdown-scoring minotaur. Stop him? Not likely. The only way for defenses to have had a chance to stop Hutson would have been to lock him in a labyrinth for eternity, destined to wander the maze alone, appeased only by the occasional sacrifice of defensive backs. RAWR!

Well-played, Johnny Vicious. Well-played, indeed