Golden oldie a bit of a surprise

When I started ranking football players I counted on a few givens, the sun would come up the next day, the property taxes would come due and Jerry Rice would be the No. 1 receiver.

Then I really looked at the stats of the first great wide receiver.

Here are the 40 greatest wideouts in pro football history.

Rank, player, years, total
1. Don Hutson, 1935-1945, 31916.7
2. Jerry Rice, 1985-2004, 31914.9
3. Marvin Harrison, 1996-2007, 26102.2
4. Randy Moss, 1998-2007, 25708.5
5. Paul Warfield, 1964-1977, 25333.4
6. Terrell Owens, 1996-2007, 25106.1
7. Lance Alworth, 1962-1972, 24687.5
8. Cliff Branch, 1972-1985, 24622.8
9. James Lofton, 1978-1993, 24265.2
10. Andre Reed, 1985-2000, 24212.3
11. Fred Biletnikoff, 1965-1978, 23504.9
12. Bullet Bob Hayes, 1965-1975, 23123.4
13. Harold Jackson, 1968-1983, 23112.4
14. Steve Largent, 1976-1989, 23057.4
15. Raymond Berry, 1955-1967, 23050.0
16. Tim Brown, 1988-2004, 22955.8
17. Cris Carter, 1987-2002, 22862.8
18. Gary Clark, 1985-1995, 22591.8
19. Isaac Bruce, 1994-2007, 22587.9
20. Michael Irvin, 1988-1999, 22505.1
21. Crazylegs Hirsch, 1946-1957, 22504.0
22. Torry Holt, 1999-2007, 22368.6
23. Harold Carmichael, 1971-1984, 22078.5
24. Dan Maynard, 1958-1973, 22078.0
25. Art Monk, 1980-1995, 21927.6
26. Mark Clayton, 1983-1993, 21882.0
27. John Stallworth, 1974-1987, 21880.8
28. Stanley Morgan, 1977-1990, 21778.6
29. Gene Washington, 1969-1979, 21593.8
30. Irving Fryar, 1984-2000, 21449.0
31. Dante Lavelli, 1946-1956, 21444.5
32. Charlie Joiner, 1969-1986, 21432.3
33. Pete Pihos, 1947-1955, 21387.1
34. Del Shofner, 1957-1967, 21357.5
35. Charley Taylor, 1964-1977, 21290.8
36. Jimmy Smith, 1992-2005, 21260.5
37. Tommy McDonald, 1957-1968, 21185.5
38. Wes Chandler, 1978-1988, 21147.3
39. Bobby Mitchell, 1958-1968, 21143.5
40. Billy Howton, 1952-1963, 21073.8

I was surprised Harrison was so high. He's not as loud as Moss and Owens, but year-after-year he puts up the numbers. Moss, though, if he stays focused may end up challenging Rice and Hutson.

Some players I initially thought were going to be higher were Steve Largent, Art Monk and Charlie Joiner. Largent was hurt by the Seahawks not being a contender. Monk and Joiner didn't put up big numbers on a consistent basis. They just played forever.

One player you don't see is Lynn Swann. Swann has some great highlight reel catches, but he was only a top player for a couple of seasons. Those great Steelers teams won on defense, defense, defense and Franco Harris.

Swann ranks No. 45 on my list. Isaac Curtis, who played at the same time but for a lesser team -- the Bengals -- in a lesser division, is No. 42. How can Swann be in the Hall of Fame and Curtis not be in as well?