The Seattle Seahawks, on the backs of an incredible defense and Offensive Player of the Year Jaxon Smith-Njigba, are in the Super Bowl and facing the New England Patriots.
While a lot of attention will be on Sam Darnold, Smith-Njigba has a chance to do something that no wide receiver, including the great Jerry Rice, has ever done before.
According to Dante Koplowitz-Fleming of NFL.com, JSN can, with a win over the Patriots, become the first WR in NFL history to lead the league in receiving yards and win the Super Bowl in the same season before turning 24 years old.
Jaxon Smith-Njigba can make NFL history not done by Jerry Rice in Super Bowl
If the Seahawks win the Super Bowl, Smith-Njigba would become the fourth wide receiver to lead the league in receiving yards and also win the Super Bowl in the same season.
Cooper Kupp, now with the Seahawks, did as such with the Los Angeles Rams during their Super Bowl title a few years ago. Drew Pearson accomplished this feat in 1977 with the Dallas Cowboys.
But Jerry Rice did this twice with the San Francisco 49ers in his Hall of Fame NFL career. While very impressive, JSN, with a win over the Patriots, would have a very noteworthy addition to this feat.
“But unlike the trio before him, Smith-Njigba – who turns 24 on Feb. 14 – would be in a category of his own should Sunday go Seattle’s way,” Koplowitz-Fleming writes. “No player has led the NFL in receiving yards and won the Lombardi Trophy before turning 24 years old, let alone in the same season.”
More: Why Seahawks’ Jaxon Smith-Njigba vs. Christian Gonzalez is Super Bowl’s biggest matchup per ESPN
Rice, Pearson, and Kupp all accomplished this feat – leading the league in receiving yards and winning the Super Bowl – after they turned 24 years old.
Smith-Njigba is only 23 years old, and with a win over the Patriots, not only would he be the first player to ever lead the league in receiving yards and win a Super Bowl before turning 23 years old, but he’d be the first to do so in a single season.
No other player has ever led the league in receiving yards and won a Super Bowl before turning 24 years old. JSN is one win away from NFL immortality.
Just one of those feats is impressive enough, and having both in the same season is remarkable. To do both of those before turning 24 years old would be a stunning accomplishment.
