Fears’ Receiving Record Has Yet to Be Surpassed

Los Angeles arguably produced no finer athlete than Tom Fears, who attended Manual Arts High in the early 1940s.

And 49 years ago today at the Coliseum, Fears had his greatest game in an NFL uniform. Playing for the Rams, he caught a record 18 passes in a 51-14 victory over Green Bay. The record still stands.

It was the Rams’ final regular-season game, and the victory clinched a playoff berth.

The early 1950s Rams were an offensive juggernaut, with quarterbacks Norm Van Brocklin and Bob Waterfield rolling up records for yardage and points. The team won the 1951 NFL championship.

After Fears’ 18-catch, 189-yard game, the Rams had reset several NFL records:

* Total yards gained in a 12-game season, 5,420.

* First downs in a season, 278.

* Passes completed in a season, 253.

* Touchdown passes in a season, 31.

Fears, on his 27th birthday, needed 12 catches to break his NFL record of 77. When he caught his 14th pass, he had tied the NFL one-game record held by four others, among them Don Hutson.

His 84-catch record lasted 10 years.

In one 75-yard scoring drive, the 6-foot-2, 210-pound Fears caught six passes for 47 yards.

Fears played nine seasons with the Rams and retired in 1956. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1970. He was later an assistant coach under Vince Lombardi at Green Bay, and was the first head coach of the New Orleans Saints.

He later coached the Southern California Sun of the World Football League.

Also on this date: In 1948, 37-year-old UCLA basketball coach John Wooden won his first Bruin game, a 43-37 verdict over UC Santa Barbara, before 2,200 at the UCLA men’s gym. There would be 619 more UCLA victories before his 1975 retirement. . . . In 1966, in his UCLA varsity debut, sophomore Lew Alcindor scored 56 points in leading UCLA to a 105-90 victory over USC at Pauley Pavilion. . . . In 1956, sophomore Wilt Chamberlain made his Kansas varsity debut, scoring 52 points to lead the Jayhawks to an 87-69 victory over Northwestern. . . . In 1958, the Dodgers traded outfielder Geno Cimoli and pitcher Phil Paine to St. Louis for outfielder Wally Moon. . . . In 1997, Steve Hamilton, who played in the NBA and major league baseball, died at 63.