PRO FOOTBALL: THE PLAYOFFS : Tom Fears, 65, Takes It Sitting Down as Carter Breaks His Playoff Record

The little guy who caught all those passes in the Minnesota Vikings’ upset playoff win over the San Francisco 49ers Saturday broke the record of a big guy who just got his first Social Security check.

When 5-foot 11-inch, 166-pound Anthony Carter gained 227 yards with 10 receptions at Candlestick Park, he broke the NFL’s one-game playoff reception yardage record of 198 yards, set with 7 catches by Tom Fears on Dec. 17, 1950, when the Rams beat the Chicago Bears, 24-14, in a conference championship game.

Fears, a 6-2 1/2, 215-pound wide receiver and tight end in the 1950s, saw Carter break his 38-year-old mark while watching the game at his Palm Springs condominium. He turned 65 this month.

“He didn’t get my single-game receptions record, though,” quipped Fears, who still holds the NFL one-game catches mark of 18, set on Dec. 3, 1950 against the Green Bay Packers.

“I might still hold the yardage record, too, if the Vikings hadn’t been throwing all those long bombs in the second half, with a 10-point lead--I couldn’t believe some of that play-calling,” he said.

“Carter is a hell of a player, as are a lot of those guys who came over from the USFL.”

How long ago was 1950? Long enough so that Fears can’t remember who his quarterback was.

“I want to say it was (Bob) Waterfield, but I’m not sure,” he said. “(Norm) Van Brocklin was starting to take over about then . . . maybe they both played. I do remember I was beating Johnny Lujack (who played both offense and defense) all day. And I remember we beat the Bears, after they’d beaten us twice in the regular season.”

Actually, both quarterbacks played that day.