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NFL Power Rankings: 30 best TE of all-time

By Jeffery Reynolds

Dec 20, 2014; Santa Clara, CA, USA; San Francisco 49ers tight end Vernon Davis (85, left) speaks with San Diego Chargers tight end Antonio Gates (85) after the game at Levi
Dec 20, 2014; Santa Clara, CA, USA; San Francisco 49ers tight end Vernon Davis (85, left) speaks with San Diego Chargers tight end Antonio Gates (85) after the game at Levi /
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Aug 3, 2014; Canton, OH, USA; General view of the busts of 1966, 1967 and 1968 enshrinees at the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
Aug 3, 2014; Canton, OH, USA; General view of the busts of 1966, 1967 and 1968 enshrinees at the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports /

Several ends provided a preview of what could happen from the tight end position

There are eight offensive ends who made the Hall of Fame from the 20s, 30s and 40s. Of course, they don’t qualify as tight ends as the position hadn’t evolved yet, but what they accomplished was a prediction of the future of the tight end position. (After the 1940s, for HOF categorization purposes, ends were separated between wide receivers and tight ends.)

From the early classes of the Hall of Fame, the following men were inducted as offensive ends:

"Morris (Red) Badgro 1927, 1930-1936 Guy Chamberlin # 1919-1928 Ray Flaherty # 1926-1929, 1931-1935 George Halas # 1920-1928 Bill Hewitt 1932-1939, 1943 Don Hutson 1935-1945 Wayne Millner 1936-1941, 1945"

It’s a bit difficult to try to categorize the early guys, because the forward pass was so new that the positions weren’t really differentiated. However, we can say with relative assurance that Badgro, Chamberlin, Flaherty, Halas, Hewitt and Millner would be analogous to today’s tight end position. Don Hutson is generally considered the first great pass catcher, so we can put him more in the WR position.

Red Badgro is a compelling case for one of the greatest ends of the early days of the NFL. He was considered a devastating blocker, and also had several noteworthy catches, as memorialized on the HOF website:

"In 1934, he tied for the NFL’s pass-catching crown with 16 receptions, a significant number in those defense-dominated days when most NFL teams concentrated on grind-it-out football. He also had the distinction of being the first player to score a touchdown in the NFL championship series that began in 1933. Red made many other key catches that were converted into Giants’ victories, including a 15-yard reception that was a key play in a long drive for the game’s only score in a 3-0 New York divisional title win."

As dominant as these early ends were, though, nobody could have foreseen how the tight end position would evolve.

Next: The No. 30 Tight End in NFL History

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