NFL teams rarely draft a specialist in the first round of the NFL Draft. Names like P Ray Guy or K Sebastian Janikowski are examples of specialists picked in round one, but another one is Pittsburgh Steelers WR Louis Lipps, according to Lipps himself.
How could that be? He’s a receiver.
Well, Lipps believes he was drafted by the Steelers in the first round of the 1984 NFL Draft at No. 23 overall due to his kick and punt return abilities.
“My whole four years in college, how many catches did I have?” asked Lipps on The Christian Kuntz Podcast. “I had 94 catches in four years. So I know damn well they didn’t draft me to receive, they drafted me for punt returns. I worked my way into the lineup, I busted my ass to get in that lineup as a receiver.”
Although Lipps did not have prolific collegiate catch numbers, he did have strong years his junior and senior seasons in college. In 1982 he recorded 38 receptions for 468 yards and two touchdowns, In 1983 he increased his receiving stats to 42 catches for 800 yards and five touchdown, which are impressive stats at the wide receiver position for that era.
Despite being a first-round pick, head coach Chuck Noll wasn’t gifting playing time to anybody. Lipps certainly worked his way into the lineup. But, despite his claim that he wasn’t drafted to be a wide receiver, in his rookie year he caught 45 passes for 860 yards and nine touchdowns en route to winning Rookie of the Year and a Pro Bowl appearance.
Those numbers made Lipps the number two receiver for Pittsburgh behind only Hall of Fame John Stallworth. While Pro Football Reference lacks target data for Lipps in 1984, he caught 10% of the total passes thrown that season (45 of 443).
Lipps didn’t even have to wait to make an impact in the passing game. In his first career game he tallied six catches for 183 yards and a touchdown.
However, despite his great day in the air Lipps remembers it for the Steelers fans anticipating his first ever punt return.
Even with Lipps’ great receiving season, he still excelled in the punt return game. Lipps had 53 returns for a league leading 656 yards and one touchdown. If the Steelers did draft him primarily to return punts, those numbers would have satisfied them.
Though Lipps sells himself short for his receiving ability coming out of college, it clearly motivated him to become a great player. Due to his ability in both the receiving and return game Lipps was inducted into the Steelers Hall of Honor in 2021.
