We continue the series on Packer Receivers of History with Packer Tight Ends. To read the articles you missed, go to the Packer Receivers of History category page.
The 1984 draft came and went and Ed West, the tight end from Auburn, didn’t have a team…
Until the Packers picked him up as an undrafted free agent. West worked his tail off during training camp and ended up being the last player released by the Packers at the final round of cuts. Secretly, the Packers hoped he’d make it through the waiver wire until the Packers had a chance to bring him back.
Nobody picked West up and he returned to the green and gold.
One of West’s greatest regrets from college was that he never actually got to score a touchdown, and rarely got to even catch the ball. West was a part of an Auburn team that featured Bo Jackson. Needless to say West only caught 20 passes. But, all that changed when he arrived in Green Bay.
His rookie season, West caught six passes. Four of them were for touchdowns.
The Packers continued to use West in goal line situations. In both 1989 and 1990 he scored five touchdowns each. All total, West played 167 games for the Packers and started in 104 of them. He caught 202 passes for 2321 yards and scored 25 touchdowns wearing the green and gold.
West spent two seasons with the Eagles and one season with the Falcons before moving on to be a coach. Surprisingly, Ed West is not in the Packer Hall of Fame, but Packer fans have hope.