Packers: James Lofton is one of most underrated receivers in history

The Green Bay Packers have had some of the best, most underrated receivers in NFL history.

Sterling Sharpe, Donald Driver, Jordy Nelson, and Davante Adams are all names that Packers fans can easily remember. But one name fans cannot forget is James Lofton. The Pro Football Hall-of-Famer had a fantastic career, and it all started with the Green Bay Packers.

Lofton was drafted out of Stanford in the first round of the NFL Draft by the Packers in 1978. He would go on to spend his first nine seasons in Green Bay before finishing up with the Raiders, Bills, Rams, and Eagles.

The California native would go on to make seven Pro Bowls in Green Bay and four consecutive All-Pro teams from 1980-83. In Green Bay Packers history, Lofton finished second in receiving yards (9,656), ninth in receiving touchdowns (49), and fourth in average yards per reception (18.2).

The former Stanford Cardinal started all 136 games in his career when playing for the Packers. He played seven full seasons out of his nine total on Lombardi Avenue. He missed just eight games in total while playing in northeast Wisconsin. He was durable, underrated, and one of the better receivers in NFL history.

Lofton was named to the 1980s NFL All-Decade Team due to his elite performance in Green Bay for almost a decade. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2003.

The reason that he could be forgotten by some fans is because he was a great player in a time when the Packers were not very good, which was rare. This was the period between the Vince Lombardi era and the beginning of Brett Favre’s time in Green Bay.

Lofton is one of the best receivers in NFL history. He is also one of the most underrated because he produced at a high level without much else around him. Never forget the player that was James Lofton.