Netflix's 'Receiver': What we learned about 5 stars' NFL seasons on the show (2024)

Pain. One must endure a lot of it to play in the NFL. That might be the biggest initial takeaway from Netflix’s new docuseries “Receiver,” an eight-episode journey that followed five stars through the 2023 season.

George Kittle and Deebo Samuel Sr. of the San Francisco 49ers are two of the show’s subjects. By its final episode, which documents their team’s Super Bowl loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, Kittle and Samuel are straining through agonizing injuries as they claw to the finish line. They cross it, but their play is compromised in defeat, and that, of course, unlocks a whole new world of ache.

The show’s documentation of the 49ers’ gut-wrenching defeat sets the table for this upcoming 2024 season. But the series is at its most revelatory before then, showing the physical price that can come with playing the sport.

The Minnesota Vikings’ Justin Jefferson is hospitalized after coughing up blood after a big hit to the back. The Detroit Lions’ Amon-Ra St. Brown reveals he continued playing in 2023 despite tearing his oblique muscle off the bone. A particularly poignant behind-the-scenes shot shows the Las Vegas Raiders’ Davante Adams, suffering from a shoulder injury and slumped against a stadium hallway wall, before he opts for a lidocaine injection to re-enter a game.

All three stars, along with Kittle and Samuel, are featured in “Receiver.” The look into their occasionally intertwined journeys helps foster an appreciation for how difficult it is to succeed in the NFL.

Davante. Jettas. Kittle. Deebo. Amon-Ra.

RECEIVER is available now on @netflix 🔥 pic.twitter.com/nnSJ19oIcI

— NFL (@NFL) July 10, 2024

“Not gonna lie, I got f—ed up on that first play,” Kittle says after taking a brutal hit near the beginning of the series.

The show then cuts straight to a documentary-style interview with the star tight end, who professes his love for football.

“I don’t know if you guys would like it as much as I do,” Kittle says.

Kittle probably isn’t wrong. What fans should enjoy is the deeper level of access the show provides into the NFL lives of the tight end and his four compatriots. “Receiver” does a good job of humanizing its subjects.

We get to know Adams’ family through backyard barbecues and by watching Raiders games from the vantage point of his wife, Devanne. We enjoy a deeper look into the letters Kittle’s dad, Bruce, writes for his son before every game. We develop a better appreciation for how Jefferson’s older brothers, Jordan and Rickey, motivated him to become the highest-paid receiver in NFL history. And we get to hear St. Brown speak fluent German and French.

One of the series’ most touching moments comes when the Detroit wideout, filming an interview for the TV preview show of a Thanksgiving Day game, thanks his mother — German native Miriam Brown — in her native tongue. The moment draws tears from everyone involved in the exchange, including St. Brown’s father, John Brown.

We also hear from Samuel’s girlfriend, Mahogany Jones, and see them interact with their 2-year-old son, Tyshun “Deebo” Samuel Jr.

“Deebo used to be all about football, all the time,” Jones says. “But our son brings out the soft side in him.”

Says Samuel: “My teammates noticed that I’m playing better now (after my son was born). They call it ‘dad strength.’”

I binged all eight episodes of “Receiver” over the past few days. Let’s revisit some of the highlights from each episode.

Episodes 1 and 2: ‘Great Expectations’

We’re introduced to Samuel, St. Brown and Kittle — whose family takes a party bus to and from each game — to kick off the show.

Not long into the opener, Brock Purdy makes a cameo. The 49ers quarterback has a fanboy moment on the bench sitting next to Samuel, who’d just trucked through several New York Giants defenders.

“What goes through your mind, bro?” Purdy asks Samuel about his destructive runs after the catch.

“Bro, I swear it just happens,” Samuel responds. “I don’t like to get tackled.”

There’s amazement in Purdy’s voice.

“Like, this isn’t high school,” he says. “These are grown men (you’re running through). It makes no sense.”

The initial episode covers the 49ers’ early-season stomping of the Dallas Cowboys, during which Kittle scored four touchdowns and incurred a $13,699 fine for revealing an undershirt that read “F— Dallas.” That was an homage to what 49ers linebacker Gary Plummer wore in 1994 during the height of the epic 49ers-Cowboys rivalry.

“I don’t regret it one bit,” Kittle tells the camera. “Not one bit. And I might do it again given the opportunity.”

The secondary introductory episode shows us Jefferson and the rise of his trademarked touchdown dance, the Griddy. Because each player is mic’d up, there’s audio access into the blue injury tent — after Jefferson pulls his hamstring — offering fans a rare look (or listen) behind the curtain.

Justin Jefferson started hitting The Griddy because his mom called him boring 💀 pic.twitter.com/Zk6sRf1s8o

— Netflix (@netflix) July 13, 2024

Episode 3: ‘Moving Target’

Adams grows increasingly frustrated with the Raiders’ slow start to the season, setting the table for some juicy perspective on the team’s upcoming coaching change.

“I gotta get the f— outta here before I lose my f—ing life,” Adams says on the sideline during a Week 6 game against the New England Patriots. “I ain’t never been hit this many f—ing times in my career. Every game, I get f—ed up.”

The Raiders suffer through major offensive dysfunction under coach Josh McDaniels and quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, and Adams is not shy venting about it. It’s one of the most compelling parts of the series.

Episode 4: ‘Give Me the Damn Ball’

The Raiders fire McDaniels. Interim head coach Antonio Pierce benches Garoppolo in favor of rookie Aidan O’Connell, setting up another reverberant comment from Adams.

“I signed off on that,” Adams says. “That’s just the reality of it. I love Jimmy, and he’s a great guy. But something had to happen in order for us to have a chance down the stretch and for me to remain a Raider, in all honesty.”

That type of turmoil plays excellently on television. It’s worth noting that all five of the show’s featured players were involved in compelling 2023 seasons. Jefferson battled through multiple injuries during a high-stakes year that’d ultimately see him sign a record contract extension. St. Brown’s surging Lions team — which took Detroit by storm — would face Kittle, Samuel and the 49ers in a white-knuckle NFC Championship Game. The 49ers played into overtime of the Super Bowl.

There are no duds in that lineup. Netflix capitalized on some good fortune.

Episode 5: ‘Long Road Back’

We see the Kittle family’s pregame focus-building ritual. And then the show moves to the 49ers’ most rousing regular-season win of 2023: their 42-19 dismantling of the Philadelphia Eagles in early December. Samuel scored three touchdowns in that game.

St. Brown comes from possibly the most interesting family of any player in the NFL. His mother insisted he learn to speak German and French. His father, a former bodybuilder and two-time amateur Mr. Universe, intensely trained the family’s three boys on the gridiron. Two of them, Amon-Ra and Equanimeous St. Brown (who played for the Chicago Bears last season and is now with the New Orleans Saints), made it to the NFL. It’s ideal material for this show, especially when Detroit and Chicago face off in the regular season.

A quirky twist comes at the end of Episode 5 when Adams, one of Taco Bell’s brand ambassadors, visits the company’s corporate headquarters to test new food during the Raiders’ bye week. Adams had starred in a commercial featuring a Taco Bell location in his house. Adams said fans frequently ask him if he actually has a Taco Bell in his house. (Spoiler alert: He does not.)

Episode 6: ‘Win or Go Home’

We see Jefferson return from the injury that sent him to the hospital, Adams’ Raiders enjoy their second-half surge under Pierce, and St. Brown’s Lions continue their magical 2023 run.

The 49ers’ soaring season hits a speed bump against the Baltimore Ravens, but Kittle quickly turns the page by celebrating Christmas with his family. We learn through his wife, Claire Kittle, that the tight end enjoys receiving two types of gifts: shoes and LEGO sets. And apparently Kittle doesn’t assemble the LEGO sets, so they’re running out of closet space for all the boxes.

Episode 7: ‘Don’t Have a Choice’

For 49ers and Lions fans who love behind-the-scenes in-game content, this is where the red meat truly begins. Adams and Jefferson see their seasons end before the playoffs, and the show wraps up their portions — we get a rare look into a season exit interview between Jefferson and Minnesota coach Kevin O’Connell — before it delves into postseason drama.

Detroit posts rousing playoff victories against the Los Angeles Rams and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, setting up quality postgame locker room footage from both. The 49ers come from behind to beat the Green Bay Packers despite losing Samuel to a shoulder injury.

There’s a fascinating look behind the curtain into Samuel’s rush to be ready for the next week’s NFC Championship Game, during which the 49ers are set to take on St. Brown’s Lions.

There's nothing @gkittle46 loves more than a good pancake. 🥞

RECEIVER available now on @netflix pic.twitter.com/qasFwTTfDI

— NFL (@NFL) July 11, 2024

Episode 8: ‘Leaving Las Vegas’

We all know what happened next, at least on a broad level: The 49ers roared back from a 17-point deficit to beat the Lions for the NFC title. They then turned around and lost the Super Bowl in overtime to the Chiefs.

“Receiver” helps fill in the information gaps.

Kittle managed only one catch for 4 yards in the Super Bowl, and there’d been plenty of questions about his quick trip to the locker room during the 49ers’ overtime drive. “Receiver” reveals Kittle was playing with a shoulder injury he aggravated on a key fourth-down catch — and he couldn’t lift his hand over his head. Kittle advised 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan it’d be better for the team to play backup tight end Charlie Woerner while he sprinted into the locker room to receive a numbing agent for his shoulder. Kittle, suddenly able to lift his arm again, returned for the final few plays of the 49ers’ field goal drive.

Samuel also didn’t have a prolific Super Bowl, managing 33 yards on three catches while generally struggling to separate against Kansas City’s sticky man coverage (Purdy targeted Samuel 11 times). The show reveals Samuel hurt his hamstring early in the third quarter but, given the magnitude of the game, stayed in.

Pain, physical and emotional, is palpable as the Super Bowl and show end. The featured 49ers share their frustrations. And then Kittle looks ahead to 2024 — which sees training camp kick off next week.

“My dream is to win the Super Bowl,” Kittle says, “and I’m doing everything I can to climb back up the mountain to take another shot at it.”

(Top photo of Amon-Ra St. Brown, Justin Jefferson, Davante Adams and George Kittle: Axelle / Bauer-Griffin / FilmMagic via Getty Images)