Super Bowl Sunday

In the last 30 years, Green Bay Packers have been able to enjoy watching their beloved team play three times. Twice it was euphoria. One time it was heartbreak.

In those three games, there were some very underappreciated performances by the Packers wide receivers. Antonio Freeman was tremendous in both Super Bowls XXXI and XXXII, and Jordy Nelson and Greg Jennings helped carry the Packers offense along with quarterback Aaron Rodgers in Super Bowl XLV.

For the Green & Gold, this precedent of great wide receiver performances goes back to the first two Super Bowls. In Super Bowl I, Max McGee’s 7 catch, 138 yards and 2 touchdowns set the bar for what Super Bowl receivers needed to reach on the game’s greatest stage. A year later, Boyd Dowler had a 62-yard touchdown catch from Bart Starr. It is still in the top 15 for longest touchdown catches in Super Bowl history.

Fast Forward to what the modern day Packers wide receivers did on Super Bowl Sunday. Antonio Freeman, who is the last Packers player to lead the NFL in receiving yards (1,424 yards in 1998), put together two of the better back-to-back receiving performances in Super Bowl history.

𝙏𝙃𝙍𝙊𝙒𝘽𝘼𝘾𝙆 𝙏𝙃𝙐𝙍𝙎𝘿𝘼𝙔-
Antonio Freeman’s 81-yard TD propels the #Packers to a WIN in Super Bowl XXXI (1.26.97) pic.twitter.com/oDBq5Djgav

— ESPN Madison (@ESPNMadison) February 8, 2024

Against the Patriots in Super Bowl XXXI, Freeman caught an 81-yard touchdown from Brett Favre, which gave the Packers a lead they would never relinquish. He finished the game with 3 catches for 105 yards and that touchdown. A year later, Freeman was even better. He finished the loss to Denver with 9 catches for 126 yards and two touchdowns.

The opening touchdown throw from Favre to Freeman in Super Bowl XXXII is just absurd. pic.twitter.com/KDqtlK4bH1

— Aaron Nagler (@AaronNagler) July 3, 2018

Back-to-back 100 yard receiving games in Super Bowls:

John Stallworth - Super Bowl XIII (115), XIV (121)

Jerry Rice - Super Bowl XXIII (215), XXIV (148)

Antonio Freeman - Super Bowl XXXI (103), XXXII (126)

Deion Branch - Super Bowl XXXVIII (143), XXXIX (133)

Freeman is one of 15 players with at least three touchdowns scored in his Super Bowl career (8 - Jerry Rice, 5 - Emmitt Smith and Rob Gronkowski, 4 - Franco Harris, Roger Craig, Thurman Thomas, John Elway, James White, 3 - Freeman, Ricky Watters, Terrell Davis, Jalen Hurts, Lynn Swann, John Stallworth and Cliff Branch).

In Green Bay’s most recent Super Bowl victory, players like Aaron Rodgers, Clay Matthews and Nick Collins get so much of the recognition, but if not for the performances of Greg Jennings and Jordy Nelson, it is possible the Packers do not hold off the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Nelson, who was the Packers 4th wide receiver most of 2010, put together the best game of his three-year career. Nelson had 9 catches for 140 yards and a touchdown. Going into Super Bowl XLV, Nelson had just one game with 100 yards (124 yards vs the Giants in Week 16 of 2010) and his only game of more than 4 catches was two weeks earlier in the divisional round win over Atlanta, where he had 8 catches. Nelson actually struggled with drops during the game, but his 38-yard catch and run on a 3rd down and 10, was a critical play, setting up Jennings’ second touchdown catch of the day.

Happy Birthday Jordy Nelson 🎂🎊

Jordy was the definition of a dangerous receiver. Good hands, deep threat, elite route running...

• Super Bowl Champion
• NFL Comeback Player of the Year

Truly one of a kind #GoPackGo pic.twitter.com/I1KrtHkkO7

— IKE Packers Podcast (@IKE_Packers) May 31, 2020

For Jennings, he finished with just 4 catches for 64 yards, but like McGee and Freeman, he finished with two touchdown catches. He also had arguably the most important offensive play of the entire game. With the score 28-25 in the 4th quarter, his 31-yard connection with Rodgers on 3rd and long, put the Packers in position to score on a long drive, and stay off a Steelers comeback.

With 31 days left until Packers football let's look at this absolute laser from Aaron Rodgers to Greg Jennings to pick up a 31 yards and shift momentum during Super Bowl XLV.pic.twitter.com/q0aGJXZebK

— r/GreenBayPackers (@redditPackers) August 11, 2022

It is one of the most important catch and throws in franchise history when the stakes of the moment are factored in. Both Jennings and Nelson were vital to the victory that day, and still feel underappreciated.