Did you know that as of week 17 of the NFL football season that the top three  receivers in yardage gained and five of the top eight in the league all grew up in Louisiana? What adds to the irony is that they all came from within 120 miles of each other in south Louisiana.

Per statistics provided by the NFL, the duo of Ja’Marr Chase (New Orleans) and Justin Jefferson (Destrehan) lead the NFL with 1,612 and 1,479 yards respectively. In third place was CeeDee Lamb of Opelousas. In fifth place is Brian Thomas Jr. from Walker and in 8th place is Malik Nabors from Lafayette.

When the report came out this led the K104 Downs Law Friday Night Scoreboard Show out of Monroe, which local resident and former Jonesboro-Hodge High School coach, Joey Pender, is a mainstay on to take a look at the all-time best receivers from Louisiana in NFL history. 

Giving local residents a thrill was learning that two that have connections with Jonesboro-Hodge High School and Jackson Parish are on the all-time list of yardage gained in the NFL.

Checking in at #11 overall with 6,838 yards was Charley Hennigan, who prepped at Minden High but had family in Jackson Parish and coached at JHHS in the early 1960’s, before becoming a star receiver with the Houston Oilers of the old AFL from 1960-66. 

Just one spot behind at #12 overall is Jonesboro-Hodge High School graduate Marty Booker. The son of Jonesboro residents,  Vera and Calvin Booker, gained 6,703 yards during an eleven year career from 1999-2009 with the Chicago Bears, Miami Dolphins and Atlanta Falcons that included twice gaining 1,000 yards in a season (2001-02)  and being a Pro Bowl selection in 2002.

List of All Time NFL Receiving Yardage Leaders from Louisiana