Seattle Seahawks legend Steve Largent moved down one spot on the NFL’s all-time receiving yards list Thursday night, nearly 37 years after his final NFL season.
San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Mike Evans passed Largent during a 27-7 win over the Los Angeles Rams in Melbourne, Australia. Evans entered the season opener with 13,052 career receiving yards, 37 shy of Largent’s 13,089, and finished with six catches for 49 yards and a touchdown. That pushed Evans to 13,101 career receiving yards.
For Seahawks fans, the milestone is another reminder of just how far ahead of his era Largent was. His 13,089 yards were not simply a strong career total when he retired after the 1989 season. They were the NFL record.
Steve Largent Retired as NFL’s Receiving King
Largent finished 14 seasons with Seattle with 819 receptions for 13,089 yards and 100 touchdowns.
All three figures were NFL career records when he retired.
In fact, the Seahawks credit Largent with holding six major league receiving records at the end of his career: receptions, receiving yards, receiving touchdowns, consecutive games with a reception, seasons with at least 50 catches and seasons with at least 1,000 receiving yards.
That is what makes Largent’s gradual slide down modern career leaderboards different from that of an ordinary former star.
He played his final game in an era before the NFL became as pass-heavy as it is today, yet his yardage total remained elite enough to keep him inside the league’s top 20 deep into the 2020s.
Largent averaged 16.0 yards per reception over his 200-game career and posted eight 1,000-yard seasons. He led the NFL in receiving yards in 1985 with 1,287 and topped 1,000 yards six times in a seven-season stretch from 1979 through 1986.
Mike Evans Passed Largent During 49ers Win
Evans needed only 38 yards Thursday to move ahead of Largent and reached the mark before halftime.
He had five catches for 47 yards at the break, then added one more reception after halftime: a 2-yard touchdown from Brock Purdy in the third quarter that extended San Francisco’s lead to 17-7.
Evans finished with six receptions for 49 yards and one touchdown as the 49ers pulled away for a 27-7 victory. Purdy threw three touchdown passes in the win, while San Francisco’s defense held the Rams scoreless in the second half.
The performance left Evans at 13,101 career receiving yards, 12 ahead of Largent.
The game itself was also historic, marking the NFL’s first regular-season game in Australia and drawing more than 100,000 fans to Melbourne Cricket Ground.
Largent’s Place in Seahawks History Hasn’t Changed
Evans passing Largent alters a line on the NFL record book. It does not change Largent’s standing in Seattle.
He became the first player inducted into the Seahawks Ring of Honor in 1989 and the first Seahawks player elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, earning induction in 1995 in his first year of eligibility.
Seattle also retired Largent’s No. 80, and the franchise’s annual Steve Largent Award bears his name. The honor is given to the player or coach who best represents the spirit, dedication and integrity associated with the organization.
Those distinctions help explain why Largent remains a central figure in Seahawks history long after his statistical records have been surpassed.
His production also came entirely in Seattle. Largent spent all 14 of his NFL seasons with the Seahawks from 1976 through 1989 after Houston drafted him in the fourth round and traded him to Seattle before his rookie season.
By the time he finished, he had helped define a franchise that had entered the NFL the same year he arrived.
Largent’s name may continue moving down statistical leaderboards as the league evolves and more receivers pile up numbers in modern passing offenses. But there is a major difference between eventually being passed and setting the standard in the first place.
When Steve Largent walked away from the Seahawks in 1989, 13,089 receiving yards was the standard every other NFL receiver was chasing.
That remains a much bigger part of his legacy than where the number sits on the leaderboard today.
Seattle Seahawks Legend Steve Largent Passed on All-Time List During 49ers-Rams