Not only are the final three games of the season crucial for the Ravens postseason hopes, but also for wide receiver Torrey Smith who find himself chasing history. Smith enters tonight’s game with 963 yards receiving, a career-high, he’s just 239 yards away from the Ravens franchise mark of 1,201.
Who holds that season-high total? Derrick Mason? Todd Heap? Mark Clayton? Qadry Ismail?
Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. And wrong again.
Michael Jackson recorded the Ravens’ season-high receiving yard total in the team’s inaugural season, 1996.
Sadly, many fans in Baltimore may hear Jackson’s name and remember him as the King of Pop, not as one of the franchise’s most dominant players in the early years. These post-Super Bowl XXXV fans often forget about the young history of the franchise.
Jackson’s 1,201 yards receiving were also a career-high for him. He reached the end zone 14 times in 1996. Can you say ‘fantasy stud’?
Jackson totaled 918 yards in 1997 and concluded his eight-year NFL career with 477 yards in ’98.
Smith has averaged 74.1 yards per game this season, which would give him 1,185.3 on the year. He’ll need a breakout game or two to catch Jackson’s mark and etch his name in Ravens history.
Hat tip to aviewoflife on Reddit for pointing out this statistic.
