Who has the NFL single-game receiving record?
The Los Angeles Rams put together an amazing performance in the 1989 NFL season.
During that season, Rams wide receiver Willie "Flipper" Anderson put together the greatest game for a receiver in NFL history.
Anderson will forever be in the NFL record books with his performance. One day he will never forget is November 26, 1989.
Los Angeles Rams at New Orleans Saints, 11/26/89
On November 26th, 1989, the Rams would travel to New Orleans to meet up with the Saints. Flipper Anderson would put together a game that would land him in the NFL record books. The Los Angeles Rams would find Flipper Anderson early and often.
Flipper Anderson would torch the Saints secondary for 15 catches for 336 receiving yards and one touchdown. This still stands as the highest total receiving yards by one player in a single game in the NFL.
It wasn't just a standout effort, it was very much an anomaly for Anderson. Outside of that 15-catch showing against the Saints, Anderson didn't have more than four catches in any other game in that 1989 season. In addition to the 336-yard game, he only had one other game in which he cracked 100 yards.
Anderson would average 26 yards per reception for the Los Angeles Rams in the 1989 NFL season. Anderson was the Rams' No. 2 receiver behind multi-time Pro Bowl wideout Henry Ellard, and Anderson finished third on the team in receptions behind Ellard and tight end Pete Holohan.
The Rams went 11-5 that year and lost to the eventual Super Bowl champion San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Championship Game.
Flipper Anderson would win one Super Bowl ring during his 10-year NFL career, with the 1997 Denver Broncos. He may not be in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, but he is in the NFL record books and it looks like it will be for a long time. The record was set in 1989 and it still holds in the year 2020.
Former Detroit Lions wide receiver Calvin Johnson came the closest to beating Anderson's 336 receiving yard total. Johnson gained 329 yards on 14 catches during a game in 2013 against the Dallas Cowboys.
Who has a shot at breaking the NFL single-game receiving record?
The single-game receiving record has been held by Flipper Anderson for 31 years now and it may fall under one of those records that may never be broken.
There is one wide receiver in the NFL today that could potentially snap the 31-year streak. Tyreek Hill of the Kansas City Chiefs could potentially break the record.
Hill recorded 269 receiving yards against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during Week 12 of this season. Hill is the fastest wide receiver in the NFL and is equipped with the best young quarterback in the NFL in Patrick Mahomes.
The young QB-WR tandem will have a lot of time and opportunities to break the record.