By Craig Peters
Vikings receiver Justin Jefferson has dazzled on the field for four seasons, routinely landing in highlight reels.
This summer, he'll shine on screens in a new way, thanks to Netflix's new docuseries, Receiver, which was announced by the streaming service and the NFL Tuesday morning as a follow-up to its smash hit Quarterback.
Receiver documented the 2023 seasons of Jefferson and four other pass catchers (Raiders WR Davante Adams, Lions WR Amon-Ra St. Brown, 49ers WR Deebo Samuel and TE George Kittle) who have combined for 17 Pro Bowls.
"The natural progression is from a pass to a catch, so we're excited to dive into the Receiver world after the success of our Quarterback series," Netflix Vice President of Nonfiction Sports Gabe Spitzer said in a release. "NFL Films and Omaha Productions have delivered again in finding unique and dynamic athletes who will further highlight the drama of this sport on and off the field."
Receiver is set to premier in summer 2024, following the success of Quarterback, which hit the Netflix Global Top 10 for three weeks after its summer 2023 release by spotlighting Patrick Mahomes, Kirk Cousins and Marcus Mariota.
"We were thrilled last summer to see audiences all over the world diving into the lives of NFL quarterbacks," NFL Films Supervising Producer Joe Zucco said in a statement. "We believe the extraordinary skills, dedication and passion of the NFL's great wide receivers – and one tight end – will make a perfect follow-up."
The series is produced by NFL Films and Omaha Productions, with executive producers Ross Ketover, Pat Kelleher and Keith Cossrow from NFL Films, and executive producers Peyton Manning and Jamie Horowitz from Omaha Productions.
"We are excited to be working again with Netflix and NFL Films to give fans unprecedented access to what it's like to play receiver at the highest level," Manning said. "As we did with Quarterback, we look forward to telling the stories of five incredible receivers, each with their unique personality, skillset and motivation for what drives them to be the best."
About Netflix
Netflix is one of the world's leading entertainment services, with more than 260 million paid memberships in more than 190 countries enjoying TV series, films and games across a wide variety of genres and languages. Members can play, pause and resume watching as much as they want, anytime, anywhere, and can change their subscription plans at any time.
About NFL Films
NFL Films is widely recognized as the most honored filmmaker in sports and continues to produce innovative franchises and documentaries across multiple networks and platforms, including Quarterback on Netflix, Hard Knocks on HBO/Max, Peyton's Places on ESPN+, eight "30 for 30" films on ESPN, and recent premium programming across Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, Peacock, Paramount+, MGM+, Fox, NBC, CBS, NFL Network, NFL+ and The Roku Channel. In 2023, NFL Films productions earned seven No. 1 rankings on five different platforms. Bullies of Baltimore was the No. 1 ranked "30 for 30" film premiere in the history of the ESPN+ platform, Quarterback was the No. 1 series on Netflix for eight days and Top 10 in 16 countries, The Pick is In was the No. 1 ranking Roku Original documentary premiere of all time, Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the New York Jets was the No. 1 unscripted series for six straight weeks on Max, and Kelce became the No. 1 movie or series on Amazon Prime Video, only to be surpassed by Bye Bye Barry just two months later as the platform's No. 1 documentary of all time in the U.S. Completing the extraordinary year, HBO's Hard Knocks: In Season with the Miami Dolphins became the No. 1 series on Max in the final week of 2023. With 136 Sports Emmy Awards to its credit, NFL Films remains a gold standard in premium sports content, providing an elevated and connected viewer experience with unprecedented access to the athlete story.
About Omaha Productions
Omaha Productions is a media company launched by Peyton Manning following his retirement from the NFL. Omaha focuses on developing content that unifies and uplifts people and communities. Omaha Productions executive produces ESPN's Emmy-award-winning Monday Night Football with Peyton and Eli along with alternative telecasts for college football, NBA, golf, F1 and The UFC. The company also produces ESPN+'s Places franchise featuring series from Peyton Manning, Eli Manning, Abby Wambach, Vince Carter, David Ortiz, Ronda Rousey, P.K. Subban, Sue Bird and John McEnroe. Omaha executive produced the Netflix series Quarterback and shows for ABC, A+E Networks and NBCUniversal. Omaha has also teamed up with the NFL to reimagine the Pro Bowl and launch the inaugural NFL FLAG Championships, a youth flag football tournament airing on ESPN in July. The Omaha Audio Network provides daily sports talk in partnership with ESPN. More info here: omahaproductions.com.
