WEEK EIGHT CRYSTAL BALL - THURSDAY: Tales of a Young Recordsetter
Published continually since 1994
My friends, THE GURU understands that Vikings (3-3, 2-1 away) at Chargers (4-3, 2-2 home) does not stir your Thursday Night Football soul. I get it.
That’s often the case with interconference meetings between non-rivals, especially when a game pits two squads that have promise but are struggling to find their way. My advice to both teams - and surely they’ll ask me - would be simple: Carpe diem.
(TOMMY BIRD frantically looking online to see which teams “Carpe Diem” played for.)
A shining example of seizing the day is a trendsetter who worked for both of tonight’s combatants: running back Rickey Young, a transcendent player who spent his entire nine-year pro career in San Diego (1975-77) and Minnesota (1978-83).
How transcendent? As a hybrid fullback/tailback Young led the entire league in receptions in 1978 as a Charger with 88 catches1, eclipsing the previous record of receptions by a running back. The old record was held by the great Chuck Foreman, who set the mark in 1975 as a Viking with 73 receptions.
Also a gifted runner, Young wasn’t a one-year wonder out of the backfield: he actually retired as the NFL’s all-time leader in catches for a running back with 408, just ahead of Little Joe Washington (395), Lydell Mitchell (376), Foreman (350) and Ed Podolak (288).
Young was seemingly an out-of-nowhere success story but, in truth, his achievements were a direct result of his great football roots, including his time at Jackson State, the school most recently known as a coaching stop for Deion Sanders.
How loaded was JSU back in the day? Well, the 1974 team included three NFL future Hall of Famers alone in running back Walter Payton, linebacker Robert Brazile and offensive tackle Jackie Slater, father of former Patriots special teams star Matthew. Give me that crew any day of the week, folks.
Wondering how good the football was at Historically Black Colleges and Universities back then? Well, check this out: Jackson State was only good enough to place third in the Division II Southwestern Athletic Conference with a 4-2 record (7-3 overall). First place was a tie between Eddie Robinson’s Grambling State Tigers and Alcorn State.
So, perhaps Rickey Young’s success wasn’t that big of a surprise at all.
As for tonight, no major injuries to report though the Vikings will be short a Van Ginkel (Andrew) and a Ham (C.J.), the latter being THE CHIEF’s worst nightmare. The man loves him some pork products.
Let’s call this one 26-22, Chargers. You can catch the action at 8:15 pm on the Jeff Bezos Network. Al Michaels, Kirk Herbstreit and Kaylee Hartung will be on the call, per usual.
One last note: LE GURU is in the hurt locker, coming off of an uninspiring Week Seven effort of 8-7 (.533). The season record is now 59-48 (.551) and we are looking for any signs of life over here. Thoughts and prayers appreciated.
That’s all for tonight, folks. Enjoy the game and God bless!
Thanks, Pro Football Reference, for all of this information.