Cincinnati Bengals: 15 greatest wide receivers of all-time
By John Buhler
. WR. (1979-86). Steve Kreider. 12. player. 56
- 150 career receptions
- 2,119 career receiving yards
- Nine career touchdown receptions
- Career 18.6 receiving yards per game
Steve Kreider had a strong collegiate career at the Division II level. He played for Lehigh, where he won a national title in 1977, earning All-American honors at wide receiver for the Mountain Hawks. Despite his small school status, Cincinnati would use a sixth-round pick on Kreider in the 1979 NFL Draft.
Kreider spent his entire professional career with the Bengals, which coincided with undoubtedly the best era of Cincinnati football in the 1980s. After being used sparingly in his first two years in the league, Kreider had arguably his best professional season in 1981.
This was the same 1981 NFL season where the Bengals won the AFC for the first time. However, the Bengals would fall in Super Bowl XVI to Joe Montana and the San Francisco 49ers. That year saw Kreider haul in 37 balls for 520 yards and five touchdowns, in what was quarterback Ken Anderson’s MVP season.
Kreider would go on to be a rotational player in the Bengals’ passing game through the 1984 NFL season. This year saw the Bengals effectively begin their quarterbacking transition from the incumbent Anderson to the former Maryland standout and second-round pick Boomer Esiason. This would correlate to Kreider’s lack of production in his last few years in the league.
After having 42 catches for 554 yards and two touchdowns in 1983, Kreider’s overall numbers would get progressively worse. He had 243 receiving yards in 1984, 184 in 1895 and 96 in his last professional season in 1986. Kreider might have been a career Bengal, but didn’t stick with the team during its second trip to the Super Bowl in 1988.
Overall, Kreider finished his NFL career with 150 receptions for 2,119 receiving yards and nine touchdowns. His 18.6 yards per game receiving is forgettable. However, Kreider’s best season in 1981 was a huge part of the prolific West Coast offense that helped Cincinnati reach the Super Bowl for the first time in franchise history.