Nelson sets Packers receiving record, continues 'amazing year'
GREEN BAY, Wis. -- No wide receiver in the first 93 years of Green Bay Packers history ever had a 1,500-yard season. Jordy Nelson made sure that wouldn't extend to a 94th year.
With 86 receiving yards Sunday in the Packers' win over Detroit, Nelson became the franchise's all-time single-season leader. Nelson's 1,519 receiving yards this season topped Green Bay's previous best mark of 1,497 yards set by Robert Brooks in 1995.
"Probably had one of the quieter 1,500-yard seasons that the league has seen," quarterback Aaron Rodgers said. "He's a guy you can really count on to bring it every single week. He goes up against top corners and makes a lot of plays. He's incredibly intelligent. He just does it all. He blocks for his teammates, he's a great leader for us.
"I wouldn't trade him for anybody in the league. There's a lot of great receivers in this league, but he's the guy I want lining up for me."
With receivers like Calvin Johnson, Julio Jones and Dez Bryant destroying NFL secondaries on a regular basis, that's quite a compliment from Rodgers.
Nelson is one of four wide receivers with 1,500-plus yards this season. Jones, Demaryius Thomas and Antonio Brown are the other three.
Though Nelson had 1,263 receiving yards in 2011 and 1,314 yards in 2013, this was the first season in his seven-year that he was named to the Pro Bowl.
"Jordy Nelson's had an amazing year, obviously," head coach Mike McCarthy said. "As a coach, it's what you're looking for. He's the example, he's what a Green Bay Packer, what you want every young guy to come in and take a look at. Just the way he goes about his business, the way he approaches work every single day. He's the same person every day, and just the way he works his craft.
"I couldn't be happier for him as a person. He's as fine a young man that we've had here. I'm just really proud of what Jordy accomplished."
Nelson finished second in the NFL among receivers this season with 13 touchdown catches.
There have only been five other receivers in Packers history to ever even have more than 1,300 yards: Brooks, Sterling Sharpe (twice), Antonio Freeman, Javon Walker and James Lofton. Nelson now sits alone in the 1,500-plus-yard club.
Nelson was also just two receptions away from 100 catches this season. Only Sharpe (twice) and Brooks have ever reached that mark.
In the locker room, Nelson tried to remember everyone that he wanted to thank who helped him on his way to joining Green Bay's record books.
"It starts a long time ago as a kid," Nelson said. "I've been blessed with some extremely great coaches through my football career and growing up. Obviously, all my teammates. It's a group effort out there.
"Obviously getting the opportunity to play with Aaron and the opportunity he gives us. It's an honor to be a part of the history of the Packers. You can't ask for anything else.
"It's a complete honor, something I'll be able to look back on when everything is said and done and be pretty proud of."
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