Steve Smith All-Time Receiving Yards Leader

Lore & Background

A five-time Pro Bowl selection and four-time All-Pro (including a 2011 selection from Pro Football Focus), Smith emerged as one of the NFL's most productive wide receivers in history, leading the league in catches, receiving yards, and touchdowns in 2005. At the time of his retirement, Smith ranked seventh in NFL career all-purpose yards (19,180), seventh in NFL career receiving yards (sixth among wide receivers all-time) (14,731), twelfth in career receptions (1,031), and 26th in receiving touchdowns (81). Smith amassed (89) total touchdowns in the regular season and (100) total touchdowns including the postseason. Smith emerged as one of the most statistically efficient wide receivers of all-time, in the 2005 NFL season Smith became the only player in NFL history to lead the league in receiving yards, receiving touchdowns and receptions (receiving triple crown) despite being on a team that was ranked (28th) in pass attempts. In the 2008 NFL season Smith became the only player in NFL history to lead the league in receiving yards per game despite being on an offense that was last in pass attempts. In 2008, Smith produced the highest yards per team pass attempt (RY/TPA) in the modern era with a rating of (4.03). Smith also has the highest yards per route run (YPRR) in NFL history with a rating of (3.87) from 2008. Smith is currently tied for 5th all-time in 100-yard receiving games alongside Andre Johnson and Terrell Owens with (51). Smith’s dominance extended into the postseason, where he averaged 91.0 receiving yards per game (minimum 10 playoff games), though this is not the NFL record.

In Their Own Story

Bank of America Stadium, late October, 2003. The crowd noise is a low, sustained roar that vibrates through the turf. Smith lines up in the slot, left hand on his hip, eyes tracking the quarterback's cadence. The snap comes, the pocket slides three steps left, and the receiver across from him is already late. Smith breaks his route at the marker, plants his outside foot, and the ball arrives exactly where he told it to. He tucks it, spins, and is met by a linebacker at the first-down marker. No highlight. No slow-motion replay. Just a quiet, perfect catch that moves the chains and keeps the drive alive. He jogs back to the huddle, pulls his helmet off, wipes his forehead with his wristband, and says nothing. The next play, he'll do it again. That was Steve Smith—fifteen years of doing it again.

Reader's Guide

Smith attended University High School in Los Angeles, and was a letterman in football and track & field. In football, he played running back and defensive back, and was an All-Metro League selection as well as an All-California Interscholastic Federation selection. Smith graduated from University High School in 1997. In track & field, he set a handful of school records, was named as an All-City selection as a high-hurdler, and also excelled in the triple jump and 300m hurdles. He had personal-bests of 14.95 seconds in the 110m hurdles and 38.73 seconds in the 300m hurdles. After graduating from high school, Smith attended Santa Monica College. While playing for the Santa Monica Corsairs football team, Smith was noticed to be a talented football player, and earned a starting position. During this time, Smith was teammates with future NFL wide receiver Chad Johnson. While impressing spectators with his performance on the football field, Santa Monica's head coach, Robert Taylor, encouraged Smith to not play for riches or fame, but to play so that he might earn a scholarship to a Division-I school. He also advised Smith and Johnson to not do touchdown celebrations. Smith took Taylor's advice to heart, and excelled in his academics, not missing a single day of classes while attending Santa Monica. After completing two years at Santa Monica College, Smith transferred to the University of Utah, where he established himself as a standout wideout for the Utah Utes football team in the Mountain West Conference where he was a teammate of future NFL running back Mike Anderson. While at the University of Utah, Smith set a record for yards per catch with a 20.6 average, and was chosen to play for the conference's all-star team twice. In his first season on the team, he ranked 4th in the NCAA in both punt return yards (495) and yard per return (17.1). However, he missed their bowl game in his final season due to injury. After the Blue–Gray All-Star game on December 25, 2000, Smith began to receive attention from various NFL scouts. He was named offensive MVP of the January 13, 2001, East–West Shrine Game. Smith finished his time at Utah with 78 receptions for 1,608 yards and 12 touchdowns, with another 1,365 return yards and 4 touchdowns on special teams. He and his wife have endowed an athletics scholarship at the University of Utah. The Carolina Panthers chose Smith in t

Did You Know?

• Smith was selected by the Panthers in the third round of the 2001 NFL draft.
• He spent 13 seasons in Carolina and three with the Baltimore Ravens.
• Smith led the league in catches, receiving yards, and touchdowns in 2005.
• Smith averaged 91.0 receiving yards per game in the postseason (minimum 10 playoff games), though he does not hold the NFL record.