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Chicago Bears: Top 10 wide receivers in franchise history

By Carlos Nazario

SAN FRANCISCO - OCTOBER 13: Wide receiver Willie Gault #83 of the Chicago Bears hustles up field with the ball during a game against the San Francisco 49ers at Candlestick Park on October 13, 1985 in San Francisco, California. The Bears won 26-10. (Photo by George Rose/Getty Images)
SAN FRANCISCO - OCTOBER 13: Wide receiver Willie Gault #83 of the Chicago Bears hustles up field with the ball during a game against the San Francisco 49ers at Candlestick Park on October 13, 1985 in San Francisco, California. The Bears won 26-10. (Photo by George Rose/Getty Images) /
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Chicago Bears wide receiver
Chicago Bears wide receiver /

4. Curtis Conway (1993-99): 329 receptions, 4,498 yards, 31 touchdowns

Okay, Curtis Conway took a lot of grief from Bears fans. Many felt he didn’t live up to the hype he had coming in. For all his failings on the field, he ended up with lofty numbers…for the Bears. For his career in Chicago, Conway ranked fourth in receptions and sixth in receiving yards and touchdowns.

Conway got off on the wrong foot after getting drafted. In his rookie season, he recorded just 19 catches for 231 yards and two touchdowns. He then suffered a variety of injuries that kept him out of games. Fans questioned his toughness for missing games due to injuries that didn’t seem too serious. Additionally, he kept complaining about playing in the Chicago cold, and that turned fans off.

When Eric Kramer took over as the starting quarterback in 1995, he and Conway clicked. Conway had back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons and recorded 19 touchdowns. He suffered a broken collarbone in 1997 and the Bears’ quarterback situation declined. Still, Conway had a pretty good career with the Chicago Bears.

3. Ken Kavanaugh (1940-41, 1945-50): 162 receptions, 3,626 yards, 50 touchdowns

Ken Kavanaugh had two Pro Bowl seasons with the Bears before he went to fight in World War II. After completing his service he returned to the Bears and continued his stellar play. Considering the fact he played in the 40s and 50s, his number of touchdowns and his yards per catch average (22.4) both ranked first for any Chicago Bears wide receiver with 100+ career receptions.

Football was in Kavanaugh’s blood. After his playing days, he became a New York Giants assistant coach and later a scout for 45 years. The Chicago Bears won four titles in the 1940s and Kavanaugh played on three of those teams.

2. Johnny Morris (1958-67): 356 receptions, 5,059 yards, 31 touchdowns

The Chicago Bears (then the Decatur Staleys) are one of the two charter members of the NFL to still be playing (the Chicago Cardinals, now the Arizona Cardinals is the other team). They’ve played since 1920. In nearly 100 years of play, the franchise has just one receiver with 5,000+ career yards. The player who did that was Johnny Morris and he last played a game 51 years ago.

To give you an idea of how porous the Bears passing game is, Morris ranks below 250 all-time. Additionally, Jerry Rice, the all-time leading receiver in the NFL, finished with 22,895 yards. That’s more than 4 times as many yards as Morris had.

Morris doesn’t get a lot of attention but he was the consummate Bear. He played a number of other positions — wide receiver, kick and punt returner, and even running back. He pitched in wherever the coaching staff asked him to play.

In addition to ranking first in receiving yards, Morris ranked fifth in touchdowns and third in receptions (again, two running backs finished ahead of him).

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