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Austin Mack’s top 3 receivers of all time

During last Friday’s game against the Toronto Argonauts, Als receiver Austin Mack became the first player in the CFL to reach 1,000 receiving yards in 2023. Mack is in his first year in the league, but he has plenty of high-level experience outside of Canada.

He was a key part of the Ohio State football program from 2016 to 2019 where he played with great offensive players like Joe Burrow, Parris Campbell, Terry McLaurin, Chris Olave, Garrett Wilson, Justin Fields, and J.K. Dobbins.

Mack also spent time in the NFL with the New York Giants, Tennessee Titans and San Francisco 49ers.

Not only has Mack developed into an elite CFL receiver, he’s also been around great players. So, we figured it would be interesting to get his perspective on the greatest receivers in history.

Here’s the 26-year-old’s list:

3 – Larry Fitzgerald:

“My favourite receiver of all-time is Larry Fitz,” Mack said of the former Arizona Cardinals great. “When you talk about a man on and off the field, a pro, that’s Larry Fitzgerald. That’s somebody I really want to embody my game after. He’s a man I look up to.”

In 263 career games, Fitzgerald finished his career with 1435 receptions, 17,492 yards and 121 touchdowns. Only Jerry Rice (22,895) has more career receiving yards in NFL history.

2 – Jerry Rice:

“Jerry is a technician,” the Als leading receiver said. “Jerry wasn’t the fastest guy out there, but if you talk about Jerry during his time, he got in and out of his breaks, he manipulated defenders, and he made plays.”

Rice won three Super Bowls with the 49ers, and he was named Super Bowl MVP once. He went to the Pro Bowl 13 times and was a first-team all pro on 10 occasions.

1 – Randy Moss:

“I’m really close to his son Thaddeus Moss,” Mack explained. “I got a chance to train with Randy for about three off-seasons in a row. It was grueling. The work was crazy. You see workouts now, guys are getting after it, but we didn’t have a single band out there. It was just field, cleats and you and him. It was one of the hardest workouts I’ve done. You would come for a two-week span, and I was on my back on the couch for a week after because I was so exhausted.

Moss, who played 218 games primarily with the Minnesota Vikings, Oakland Raiders, and New England Patriots, amassed 982 receptions, 15,292 receiving yards and 156 touchdowns in his career.

“There’s something about Randy that projected him to greatness,” the Als receiver said. “It wasn’t anything about his talent, he was very talented, but his work ethic and what he did off the field to get himself prepared for the games is what stands out.”

The Pro Football Hall-of-Famer’s best season came in 2007 when he was with Tom Brady and the Patriots, as he finished with a ridiculous 1493 yards and a career-high 23 touchdowns.

“Obviously, he has freakish hands, freakish abilities, the fastest guy out there on the field, but his work ethic off the field. He puts the work in every day,” he said.