Rumors started to circulate that the warts-and-all access needed by the Peyton Manning-produced show was scaring off potential subjects, and those seemed verified when Netflix announced that there would be no “Quarterback” in July 2024, pivoting instead to a different position on the football field, one that’s often been characterized by people who have NO issue being in the spotlight. Welcome to “Receiver,” an 8-episode chronicle of the 2023-24 season through the eyes of five ball-catchers from four different teams. Fans of these players, teams, and really football in general, will find this to be an easy watch, even if it’s hard to shake the feeling that much of what we’re seeing has been through multiple approval processes, sometimes playing more like advertising for the NFL than an honest pulling back of the curtain.
Once again, the producers have to be given credit for finding season-long narratives worth telling. (One wonders what would happen if they picked wrong and got a dull season like, I don’t know, the one Kyle Pitts had in Atlanta.) They ended up with three players who made the NFC Championship game, one who struggled with injury for the first time in his already-notable career, and a legend who seemed stuck in a broken program until a coaching change gave him hope for the future. As a card-carrying Detroit Lions fan, the inclusion of Amon-Ra St. Brown means I would have watched 45 episodes, even if reliving the trauma of the circus catch from the NFC Championship game may not have been good for my mental health. He’s joined by competitors from that game in Deebo Samuel & George Kittle (not technically a receiver but a show called “Tight End” might get an unintended audience) from the San Francisco 49ers, Justin Jefferson of the Minnesota Vikings, and Davante Adams of the Las Vegas Raiders.
All five men feel genuine in the moments chosen by the producers and editors, but there’s a sense if you look hard that these illusions of personal access have been very carefully considered. Davante’s frustration with the first half of the Raiders seasons is there, because it has to be, but one never really feels like they’re dealing with the triumphs and tribulations of the position as much as skipping through a highlight reel of five pretty darn good seasons. Part of the problem is in the structure that forces so much jumping around among the five participants by virtue of being chronological. Given the success of “Quarterback” and the likely success of “Receiver,” I doubt anyone will fix something they don’t think is broken, but there’s a stronger version of this concept that stays with a single player through the whole season for maybe two full episodes instead of forcing us to remember where we’re at in the year and that player’s journey before jumping to another one.