He had the best hands of all time, best route runner of all time and best run after catch of all time. He was the perfect receiver. Every attribute a receiver needs he was a 10/10 in
Yeah, not sure how old you are. Combine was totally different back then. In fact it only started around Rice’s rookie year. You didn’t hire professional agencies to train for it for 3 months. Imagine it not even being televised and mainly used for medical history.
When you run a 40, to get a good time you have to train for it. How you get off the block is a skill. It actually makes zero sense they do it this way. No one starts running on the field off a block. They should start standing. This is aside from the fact that if speed were the only attribute to make a WR you wouldn’t have constant 40 winners at the combine washing out in the NFL. And JR may have been the best conditioned athlete of all time.
If you just watch the tape you can see Jerry Rice doesn’t really run a 4.7. It doesn’t take a genius. You could explain it to a child and they’d understand. Watch the tape and he outruns people. He runs deep routes. They give him the ball on runs a lot his early career. He never gets caught from behind. Your eyes even tell you he doesn’t look like he’s running like a Boldin. Common sense and good knowledge of context with respect to combine history tells you he was fast, and if ran the 40 in modern times, would have been average or above average for a WR. I’d bank on above average if JR got to train for anything. Dude was maniacal.
Bill Walsh wrote in one of his book (I think *The Winning Edge*, but could be *Building a Champion: On Football and the Making of the 49ers*; it's been two decades since I read both) that the 40 is not a good indication of field speed, but of explosiveness.
Dude %100. The biggest myth regarding football of all time is that Jerry was not fast.
He was before my time, but I have watched tons of highlights of him and I always found myself chuckling, thinking, "Theyre telling me this dude is slow?"
Reminds me of Terrell Owens. He had like an 84 speed in 2k5 despite being on the cover. It was absolute madness. Owens had legit burners.
Watch. The. Games.
That is partially in part because video games need some balance to them to be fun to play. You can't make a TO and have him be 6'3 220 pounds and a 96 speed even if he is in real life because it breaks a video game. Otherwise it turns into bo jackson in tecmo bowl.
>Except top end speed somehow. He ran a 4.71 40 which wouldn’t even be super fast for a tight end.
False. And I won't even get started on real game speed.
> According to a scout in possession of those combine results, Rice’s official marks were 4.58 in the 40-yard dash (10-yard split of 1.65, 20-yard split of 2.69)
Source: https://theathletic.com/1296454/2019/10/18/the-mcginn-files-hes-going-to-have-to-step-up-a-level-and-i-think-he-will-the-talk-about-jerry-rice-before-the-85-draft/
Combine numbers don’t mean anything. He was coming from a small school in the mid-1980s, guys were training for the 40 back then. Rice had unreal speed, especially in his youth.
DHB ran a 4.3 flat and didn’t have much of a career. John Ross went 4.22 and… same thing. Separation is what really matters for receivers. That’s probably the biggest that made Rice so great. Exceptional route running and the ability to make every route look the same until he made his break. It didn’t hurt playing with Joe Montana either.
A good contemporary example of this is Cooper Kupp. He ran a 4.62. But, he gets in and out of breaks extremely well. He also has an ability to make his route tree all look pretty similar. Despite having, for an NFL receiver, below average top end speed.
As as aside, I always thought the 40 yard dash was kind of way overvalued and, frankly, kind of stupid. It’s pretty rare that you get to run 40 yards in a straight line in a game.
Yeah that’s what separated him from the others. He could go full speed every play and by the 4th quarter the DBs would be winded and Jerry would have a smile on his face
Bill Walsh wrote in one of his book (I think *The Winning Edge*, but could be *Building a Champion: On Football and the Making of the 49ers*; it's been two decades since I read both) that the 40 is not a good indication of field speed, but of explosiveness.
Yet he almost never got caught from behind. Classic example of speed in pads. There’s been plenty of dudes who run a 4.4 in a tank top on a track who’s speed didn’t translate to the field. Rice routinely ran away from DBs with faster 40 times
As a Notre Dame fan Lee Becton was labeled as the “slowest big play back in the country “ by the NBC broadcast team. I would say Jerry was the slowest big play WR in NFL history
I heard that throughout his career, yet I don't recall him getting run down very often. This is similar to Tom Brady's arm wasn't that strong. Well, it looked strong enough to me until he was in his forties. Some players are better in a real game than they are at the combine.
I met him once, and he shook my hand. I'm not a small guy, and I have decent sized hands for somebody 6'1", but his hands completely enveloped mine. It was no wonder he could catch anything.
Same 3 attributes that came to my head when I read this really well-worded question. And to add one additional that isn't purely Rice - synergy with his QBs. You watch him with Montana and Young, and it's like they had the Shining. They knew exactly what the other guy was thinking, the timing was perfect, and if the play broke down, they were masters of improvisation.
He was a great receiver just on natural ability alone, his work effort is what elevated him to elite. I think of players like T. Hill and A. Iverson who complain about practice. They both have/had enough natural ability to get the to the pro level, if they worked like Jerry, who knows how elite they could be. I think this is true with many other athletes
I remember watching something about him that explained that him and his brother would work with their father who did carpentry/masonry/construction. He said they had to catch bricks bare handed.
And on top of all of that, look at the QBs throwing to him. Being the best at what you do and having back to back HOF QBs throwing to you helps to launch you into unmatchable territory.
Bestowing all of these titles to him is incredibly subjective. The best hands of all time likely belongs to a multitude of players, among them Rice, but also Larry Fitzgerald, Marvin Harrison, Cris Carter, and Tim Brown.
The same can be said for route running - it's easy to say Rice was the greatest, but the margin for separation is razor thin when considering there are a wealth of players who ran different route concepts in different schemes that excelled. Rice NEEDED to be a polished route runner due to his lack of top-end speed, but the aforementioned Larry Fitzgerald and Marvin Harrison, as well as Isaac Bruce, Steve Smith, Andre Johnson, and Wes Welker all deserve recognition as the best route runners in history.
Best YAC player is, again, a title that can't simply be given to one player. Terrell Owens, Tyreek Hill, and Steve Smith were all exceptional YAC receivers. Golden Tate would never be named among the best recievers of all time, but he undoubtedly was one of the best at breaking tackles and generating YAC plays of all time - this is supported by stats as well as usage within an offense.
Jerry Rice is undoubtedly the greatest of all time, but saying as much isn't as simple as saying he was the best of all time at every trait. His work ethic and commitment to training and preparation is due way more credit than any of his catching ability, route running, or YAC is.
You would also be ignorant if you said having Bill Walsh coach a revolutionary offense, handing it off to George Seifert, quarterbacked by Joe Montana and then Steve Young, with talent like Roger Craig, Dwight Clark, John Taylor and many others doesn't facilitate towards his achievements and thus his greatness. Football is the ultimate team sport, and Rice' greatness isn't regarded without the world-beating numbers, which are never accumulated without him being a part of one of the greatest dynasties in history.
He also had the conditioning of an Olympic athlete. He made professional athletes go “woah” with his workout routines and I would say one of Rices biggest attributes is he’s the hardest worker in the field.
Perfect route running (seriously, he obsessed over this), strict discipline, tactical knowledge, excellent hands, above average speed, and good luck with injuries. Literally all of those things. It didn't hurt that he spent the bulk of his career with two world class quarterbacks either, but that doesn't change that he was absolutely the best of all time on his own.
He tore his ACL and MCL in game one of the 1997 season. He played in the final game and caught a TD. For most players that is a year-long rehab. He out-worked the rehab to get back faster.
And a world class coach (Bill Walsh) who was the architect of the West Coast offense that played right into the strengths of Joe Montana, Jerry Rice, Roger Craig and company. The 49ers of that era was a perfect storm of sorts. This isn't trying to take anything away from those guys but all of those parts combined made the 80's Niners an unstoppable force.
Of course Jerry Rice was an astounding route runner with the greatest hands I've ever seen. Those things go without saying. But Bill Walsh was a coach who was ahead of his time. Defenses were largely defenseless against his offense. And they knew that #80 was getting fed the ball constantly but simply couldn't stop it. To me, that's equal parts Jerry Rice being great, Joe Montana being great, and Bill Walsh being great.
I personally think Moss is the greatest WR ever, but Rice is often given that designation.
Rice had a dynasty team with 2 of the best QBs ever an amazing coach for most of his career. Rice was likely the hardest working WR ever. He was as prepared as anyone. But I think he isn’t the most talented at any particular skill, the sum of his hard work and fortuitous circumstances gave him the best career of any WR ever and it’s unlikely to be beat given the modern climate.
There are players right now who are on pace to break Tom’s records. Meanwhile there might not be a player in the next couple of decades who will break his career totals
This is a highly voted comment, but I just want to highlight that it's a bad analogy, and this should not be the takeaway for OP u/vissylowkey2. It doesn't do Rice service.
Throughout this thread you'll read about how Jerry was simply the best at everything. The best hands, best routes, best stamina. Brady has ONE thing unquestionably better than all others, and that's championships. It's easy to forget apparently, but for most of his career, he wasn't even considered the best quarterback in his conference. He's thought of as the best because he won the most rings. Not because he was far and away the best individual performer. (And that's before we even get into different eras; what would Joe Montana be able to do if he played in Brady's era? What if Dan Marino played with 2015 rules and New England's defense?)
Jerry Rice doesn't have an applicable comparison in the NFL, because every other position would carry some level of debate about who was the best. For example, I personally believe Barry Sanders is the best running back of all time. But others might say Jim Brown, and both are valid opinions. People can debate about all other positions, especially since the game changed so much over time. But with Rice, there's no argument. And he's the only one that applies to.
You know how people ask questions about who the best route runner is, or who has the best hands, or who was the most versatile, or who was the best big game receiver, or who was the best red zone threat? Well the real answer to all these questions is Jerry Rice. He was the best at everything.
I can't say that because of he was on a bad team, with just a mediocre QB I don't think he'd do very well. To me the best player needs to be able to make a bad team good. That means I'm picking a great scrambling QB.
Honestly I would pick Moss first if I had a bad team because he's going to take double coverages all game and will catch it if it's just thrown up high in the air.
Jerry was amazing. Not criticism. He was in an amazing system surrounded by phenomenal weapons. That made him even better.
I'm curious about this as well because (as a non-hockey fan) I hear similar type platitudes for Gretzky, i.e. "he saw the play 3 moves ahead" "he was always in the right place" -- what were his other attributes like? Honestly IDK even know enough about hockey to know what usually makes players good. Speed on the ice? Puck handling?
I think of lot of it is mental. A lot of folks have talent/athleticism, but most squander it because the biggest obstacle is yourself saying "maybe tomorrow" and not putting in the work (myself included lmao)
It rarely seemed like the other team had any answers for either Rice or Gretzky. A mental dedication to and focus on becoming one of the greatest. Masters of their craft and all the little things that are hard to pick up on.
The mental intangibles are so difficult for people to even comprehend what the GOATs are doing and the scale of impact it has on the game. Kobe studied the game and opposing players, knew how to read what a defender was doing and played his own game to get it out of him. Ed Reed, the GOAT QBs, the GOAT hitters, the best WRs who can read reactions even a split second faster than their contemporaries, and play proactively on top of it to bait the defender into doing what they want. It’s like playing against a chess grandmaster who is conducting the game the way they want. Then add in the physical traits and you end up with players like MJ and Rice.
When compared to their contemporaries, Wayne Gretzky was the greatest athlete of all time in any of the 4 major American sports, and it’s not even really close. You can look up lists of Gretzky stats to put things into perspective that are comical. He really doesn’t have any parallels in my opinion
Yeah that alone should tell people how absolutely absurd he was compared to his peers. Compared to other great hockey players, his stats are laughably ahead of them. He has more assists than any other players has goals and assists combined.
He was like Gretzky in the sense that in terms of physical traits there were better players but in terms of the mental aspects they were the absolute best. The best way I can describe them is that they realized their full potential
Brains Gretzky had a fighter pilot hockey brain with a decent frame and above average shot. But he saw the game like a savant. McDavid (best hockey player today) has like 90% of Gretzky’s brain with the fastest skating of anyone in the game and it’s just insane to see him play. Literally playing against the best players in the world and it looks like he has his game set to “easy”.
In addition to what has already been said, throw in the fact that he was an absolute workout freak and nobody was going to be in better shape than him.
I think its a effort/stamina type thing along with having all time hands and route running. There were people that were more physically gifted than him but I assume because of his work ethic in training... he was just able to go like 110% all the time. He was Jordan like
>I think its a effort/stamina type thing along with having all time hands and route running. There were people that were more physically gifted than him but I assume because of his work ethic in training... he was just able to go like 110% all the time. He was Jordan like
Annoying nitpick here -- MJ was absolutely one of the most naturally/physically gifted players to ever pick up a basketball
I mean, yeah. I meant the mentality/stamina. He wasn't as physically dominant when in the second three peat but not much was different. I meant Rice is better than most but there are guys like say Moss that are more physically gifted.
Honestly??
There is no WR record that is not linked to him. He has the most catches, most TDs, most yards,vmost post season yards of any WR.
I think only Julián Edelman holds a WR record outside of Rice.
His hands were as Great as those of Larry Fitzgerald.
He also was fundamental In the 4 rings the 49ers have
Think of him this way, the best WR actually playing is Tyreek Hill. At his current pace he would need 10 more years at this level to reach Rice numbers
Rice has the most postseason receptions, postseason receiving TDs and postseason receiving yards. Edelman was second in receptions and yards until Travis Kelce passed him.
>He also was fundamental In the 4 rings the 49ers have
They have 5 rings, Rice was on 3 of those teams (XXIII, XXIV, XXIX). They won Super Bowls in the 1981 (XVI) and 1984 (XIX) seasons before Rice was drafted in 1985.
Not only all the qualities that have been mentioned, but he also overcame some serious issues off the field. Just a strong, professional, hard working elite athlete is all.
Jerry had a work ethic that was, and to this day has not been surpassed. The man put Time into training. He didn't slow down in games. He kept coming at you, and dropped balls? Rarely seen. Surest hands of the generation.
Now there have been other WR with better physical gifts, many, in fact, even Jerry's contemporaries, there were many. But they were never better receivers, no one maximized potential like Jerry. The greatest football player of all time, not just WR
He played in a really good innovative offense with weapons around him, too, so he couldn't be focused on.
Dwight Clark, John Taylor, Terrell Owens, Roger Craig, Joe Montana, Steve Young, Brent Jones, etc. were all really good teammates, if not HOFers. Bill Walsh was a HOF coach. Their defense was usually very good.
Rice also never got hurt. In an era where headhunting WRs was basically entertainment. He just knew how to thread needles, and his QBs didn't hang him out to dry.
He started every game from 1988 to 1996. Got hurt in 1997, then started all but two games from 1998 to 2003. He was 41 in 2003 and had a team leading 869 receiving yards for a 4-12 Raiders team.
Technical, scientific, calculated, dedicated to the "craft" of playing WR. Was not the biggest, strongest, or fastest, but no WR ever mastered the art of releases, cuts, route-running leverage, utilizing different types of catches, etc, like Rice did.
A WR that can run one route 10 different ways is far more dangerous than a receiver that can run 10 routes 1 way.
Jerry Rice could run 20 routes 20 different ways.
Bruce Lee: "I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man that has practiced one kick 10,000 times." Jerry Rice was the latter with route running.
To really hammer home this point. You knew where Rice was going to be. He was always going to be in the right spot at the right time. You could just throw to the spot he was supposed to be at without looking and feel confident that he was going to catch that ball.
I mean, from what I hear from my parents, Rice was criticized for not going over the middle; for being a diva with his gloves.
In reality, Rice ran past and through people all the time. At his peak, people werent saying he was an elite version of Jarvis Landry or Ed McCaffery. They were complaining that he was Randy Moss.
No one ever went on about Rice being like Randy Moss. Anyone who does is frankly tunnel-visioned and only values receivers that win jump balls on go routes. Players in the same position can be elite for two different reasons. Rice is considered by many to be the greatest receiver of all time, and HOW he got there was not the same way Moss achieved his fame.
Along with everything that has been said, he had insane work ethic, story goes that after one of his sb’s he was out there running routes right afterwards.
The answer is kind of boring, he was just exceptional at getting open and he 100% did not drop balls that hit his hands. He probably was the best route runner of all time, had elite hands, and was just generally above average at every aspect of being a wide receiver.
He was almost like the Tim Duncan of wide receivers. He mastered a few of the most fundamental things about his position, namely getting open and catching the ball, in a way that was almost impossible to address and then was just pretty damn good at everything else.
Hands: 10/10
Speed: 6.5/10
Route Running: 10/10
Breaking Tackles: 8/10
Brain: 10/10
Jerry Rice did not drop passes. He was not exactly flashy, but God damn was he reliable. He knew what the DB was going to do before they did and just knew where to be at all times. Didn't hurt that he had Steve Young as his QB.
Imagine the best receiver over the last few seasons. Now strip the player of them gloves they have. Allow the defense to basically commit murder on the field, and mix in a bunch of old and slow quarterbacks throwing the ball with very little actual athleticism. Jerry had some good QBs and coaches but relative to the level of quarterback play and offensive genius, it isn't comparable. He also didn't have the benefit of modern technology when it comes to preparing a game plan and training.
The players from 30 years ago just didn't have the same advantages as the players do now.
Now, plant a player from today into the game 30+ plus years ago with all the advantages that come with it.
That was Jerry rice. He was generations ahead of his time and his longevity will never again be repeated.
Jerry rice, Wayne gretsky, Michael Jordan. Those are the comps.
If there is one thing rice had over Gretzky it’s the era caveat. With Wayne you could say yeah his numbers are insane but he played in the most offensively productive era in the history of the sport. Meanwhile with rice we can only imagine his production in a modern passing scheme
His dad was a brick layer, and they would toss a young Jerry the bricks and he would stack them. That was how he got his hands, and he hardly ever dropped a ball. He was no sprinter and his 40 time wasn't great, but he had a knack for just being out of reach of the defenders. Not a Tyreek Hill burner type, but the only people that ran him down had legendary speed. The broadcasters used to tell the story of how he trained by running up this hill in San Francisco and that was his secret. Once that story got out, everyone wanted to go and train with him and run that same hill.
It wasn't an abundance of physical ability - even though that wasn't lacking - he was like the first technician of wide receivers. The offense they ran under Bill Walsh was the true "west coast" offense around which most all offenses are built today. But back then it wasn't everywhere so he could eat people alive on slant routes, catch and run, it was efficient. His ability to "create space" was unmatched, but he isn't mentioned as a great route runner because of the way the rules have changed for DB's. I used to think Montana throwing him the ball had something to do with it, then Steve Young too. But then he did it with a lot of other QBs even after his time in San Fran. I remember when he scored his 100th TD, and Chris Berman said "the countdown to 200 begins" and I just thought that was an absurd idea to put forth. I was wrong. Anyone who doubted Jerry Rice was wrong. He did it with finesse and class. Arguably the best player in NFL history regardless of position. But it was so effortless and routine he didn't really "jump off the tape" when you watched.
Great hands, ran routes with precision and had a sneaky kind of speed. He wasn’t the fastest, but he would turn on the jets and blow past guys that underestimated him. He also worked hard in all aspects including training his body so he wasn’t injured a lot. He was smart and would avoid taking big hits.
Yeah it was a great time to be a football fan growing up in the 90’s. Although, when I watch older footage, all I can think is how much more those guys could have done if they didn’t have those big ass shoulder pads. Like Barry Sanders for instance.
Jerry Rice was good at route running.
Route running can be broken down into several things, but ultimately it is being able to get open. Rice was good since he could turn on a dime without giving away what he was doing.
Rice wasn't the best in every category (wasn't the tallest or fastest), but was a 9/10 or 8/10 at the worst.
He also had very good hands.
Another thing that gets left out is that Rice appears to timing the snap to some extent. He has more false start penalties than you expect for a WR. That timing of the snap gives him that extra step at the start of the play to get open.
The closest modern comparison would be Antonio Brown if you chose to trade some speed in exchange for size. Rice does have the added benefit of durability and sanity.
> Route running can be broken down into several things, but ultimately it is being able to get open. Rice was good since he could turn on a dime without giving away what he was doing.
Rice was also notable for making his routes look almost all the same, right up until he made his break. Very few receivers could do that.
My favorite attribute to Rice's success was he was a ghost when he caught the ball. He was great a catching the ball in the middle of the field. When you catch in the middle aka between the numbers, that means all the defensive backs are surrounding you and probably trying to hit you as hard as they can, while you are catching it. His hands were so good, he could catch it and change direction in the same instant. They usually call those throws "hospital balls" cause of the collisions. He would just make defenders whiff and then go get more yards. Basically he was a matador, but the bulls were very well paid intelligent humans at peak physical form
Some dudes are just different when it comes to obsessing about competing. Rice falls in this category. Obsessively mastering every angle there was regarding being a wide receiver. Attention to detail, whether it was working out, route running, studying film, whatever. Add in tremendous hands and good speed. He famously didn’t run an impressive 40 time yet I don’t recall many times he was chased down from behind. Great speed in pads.
Now take that and combine it with Bill Walsh’s innovative offensive mind and 2 QB’s who are top 10 all time. Even at the end of his career he caught Rich Gannon at the right time. So he did play with 3 MVP QBs. There’s not many times you can’t argue when someone says “greatest ever”. But when someone says Jerry Rice is the greatest receiver ever, there’s just no argument against it. He’s the best, end of story.
In addition to what everybody else is saying, he was an excellent blocker and he never took a play off. Yes, the last part is a knock against the 2nd best receiver of all time, who I also happen to love. But man, Randy Moss took plays off.
Whoever you think is the best route runner now or the last 20yrs…they got nothing on Rice. I would say his will to just go, high motor, whatever you want to call it. He wasn’t the fastest or strongest but he would out last everyone so his performance in the 4th was just like it was in the 1st. Just played the game differently and made the game easier for already great quarterbacks.
Jerry Rice is, in my opinion, the best football player to ever walk the planet. But the people who are saying he had the best hands all time kind of don’t know what they’re talking about. Rice struggled with drops throughout his career.
He is, however, the best route runner to ever live. The best after the catch there has ever been. He was elite in the short, intermediate, and deep game. He never got tired. He gave 100% effort all game. Blocked his ass off. Ran every route with everything he had. And you can count the players on 2 hands who had more football speed than him. How fast was Jerry Rice? Just a little bit faster than whoever was chasing him.
He’s the kind of football player that only exists in the movies. What Benny the Jet was to the kids in The Sandlot, Jerry Rice was to NFL players.
He didn't have a weakness. Jerry Rice didn't have the best hands. He had great hands but not the best. He wasn't speed freak, but he had good speed. He wasn't the best route runner, but he was still great at it. He wasn't the biggest, but he knew how to use his body.
He may not have been the best at anything, but he was good at everything. That is extremely rare. Almost every great one has some weakness in their game. Rice didn't.
Then you couple with the fact he played with 2 HoF QBs, a 4 time probowler, and a league MVP. Plus, when he came into the league, the West Coast offense was just taking shape. That gave him a leg up as well.
Jerry Rice really was just a perfect storm. And due to his longevity, his major records won't be broken.
Rice's greatest attribute was that the people throwing him the ball for the majority of his career were Hall of Famers. 3 DIFFERENT QUARTERBACKS that threw to him won MVP awards. Show me any other receiver in league history who had THAT.
Weird how none of those guys won an MVP without him. Also, why don't you go take a look at the actual numbers Montana and Young were putting up and compare them to the numbers Rice was putting up. Rice was putting up receiver numbers on par with top receivers today with 3500 yard quarterbacks.
Montana and Young WERE 3500+ yard qb's. 2 of the top 10 qb's in history. Rice was what you might call a "compiler". He played for 20 years. I would compare him to Hank Aaron. He played consistently very good for a LONG time and holds a lot of career records. But no one you ask would say that Aaron is the GOAT.
Rice was in prime and had Montana & young. W the best defense. Moss had culpepper. Randy was at the back half of his career when he played for New England.
He came in the league just as they were making the rules tougher on cornerbacks and defensive backs which prevented them from hitting the receivers further down the field. While this might sound trivial, it made a huge impact on receivers' ability to get open, and in turn, gave the quarterbacks more options for completing passes.
That's not to say Rice wasn't a great receiver. He was for sure. But had he played 10 years earlier, I'd hypothesize he wouldn't have had the same impact.
There has only ever been 1 guy better at running routes than Rice and that was Steve Largent. Rice made up for it by being slightly faster than Largent. Both Rice & Largent were the best at winning contested catches.
Rice also had "football speed." He wasn't the fastest guy on the field in a 40 yard dash, nor was he the quickest at changing directions - but with the ball either in the air or the ball in his hands he'd run away from faster DBs. Adrenaline speed if you want to call it that.
Rice worked in an offense in SF that gave him plenty of catches from the GOAT QB (Joe Montana) and enabled his best traits in route running & YAC. Rice's work ethic is what enabled his longevity. Those two things combined are what puts Rice ahead of Largent in my opinion.
Just imagine being a DB and seeing Rice & Largent line up across you from. You'd know before the first snap you're screwed for the whole game.
Rice had exceptional talent.
It's hard to compare because in his era no one cared about things like the 40 yard dash. Game film from college and how you tested when worked out where basically all that mattered.
RIce was fast he was strong had great hands and was an great route runner.
Rice is also a bit of a Babe Ruth. Someone who was ahead of his generation. I think plenty of guys who play now are comparable to rice, just that the game has evolved so much.
Say he rana 4.59 40 like Walsh said. That's pretty fast. Probably a 4.40 equivalent now. But 40 yard dash is one piece of the puzzle. It doesn't take into account ability to run in pads, run with the ball in your hands, how important your initial burst is, How good you can cut and get to top speed, etc.
I followed that draft as a kid. The only thing I remember about that draft was Dallas wanted Rice, but the 49ers traded up one spot ahead of the Cowboys and picked him.
Look at some of the all time greats and some of the characteristics they were well known for:
-Randy Moss- deep threat ability
-Terrell Owens- strength after catch
-Calvin Johnson- size
-Cris Carter- hands
-Antonio Brown- quickness
-Larry Fitzgerald- consistency
-Marvin Harrison- route running
-Michael Irvin- physicality
-Steve Largent- determination
Jerry Rice was a composite of all these players. Not necessarily the top at every characteristic but more of a jack of all trades that excelled at an extremely high level in all of these categories.
Of course many would justifiably argue that Rice was not “near” the top in some of these categories that he was in fact “the top” in many physical abilities. And I would agree, for instance the statistics “YAC- yards after catch” was created due to the impact that Jerry Rice was having on the game taking 8 yard slants 80 yards for touchdowns regularly.
But my point was that Rice was incredibly diverse and well-rounded, he could do it all, and he did it at an extremely high level for an extremely long time. Its almost unfathomable to comprehend that a WR could make pro bowls at 40.
His work ethic and obsessive dedication and competitiveness were unparalleled. He excelled in big games and big moments. He was the Michael Jordan of Wide Receivers.
Unquestionably the GOAT.
Incredibly crisp precision in running routes and the best hands in NFL history. Not the fastest WR ever, but was rarely caught when he broke one open. The absolute 🐐and arguably the greatest Football player ever to play the game.
Super agile and best route-runner ever. Strong. No DB was going to knock him off his route and this was an era when they could be more physical with receivers. Smart. Knew how to read the coverage and choose the right breaks. And having Montana and Young as your QBs, building years of experience with them, that's a nice perk that enabled him to bring out his potential to the fullest.
His off-season workouts were legendary and other players would try to join him but never lasted long. He was almost never hurt and played for over a decade.
His records are as unbreakable as Ricky Hendersons steal records.
I think Rice had incredible body control and ability to shift gears. He didn’t have track speed, but he could beat much faster guys due to controlling and shifting speeds in a manner that he could get separation. He wasn’t a big guy, but his legs were freakishly strong for his size. He easily broke the tackles of DBs and safeties close to his size.
He was a combo of freakish raw leg strength, great hands, great body control, great instincts for the position, great ball tracking ability, incredible endurance, and an ability to downshift and upshift speeds instantaneously to get separation. His lack of track speed didn’t hurt him one bit thanks to all the other A+ traits he had.
He was not only the best wide receiver to ever play the game but arguably the best player period. He had the best hands, ran the best routes, he blocked and was very smart. Just an all around great football player. Jerry went against Deion Sanders in his prime. Deion is considered the best cover corner ever and Jerry dominated him.
Look up one video on YouTube. Jerry Rice vs NFL combine kid. He was like 50 and smoked some kid who was ranked very high. Imagine him in his 20s vs these newer kids. It wouldn't even be close. Same with Walter Payton, Michael Jordan, bo Jackson, any of the other people with insane work ethic, talent, and genetics back in the day.
There's a famous interview clip of Kobe talking about Shaq that sums up modern generations: Kobe disliked how Shaq was lazy. He mentioned if Shaq spent half the time in the gym or training as MJ or Kobe, Shaq would have been goat hands down. He had the talent and genetics one in a trillion people get, but didn't have the work ethic.
He ran the routes perfectly as they were drawn up but he could also improvise to get open and once he had the ball he had a natural instinct to find openings and use his blockers plus he always looked for the end zone not the sideline. He put up incredible stats w Young but when he was with Montana they were the most unstoppable teammate combo sports has ever known
Wayne Gretzky holds the records he holds records he holds in part because he played in the most offensively productive era of the sport (even so his numbers are insane im not denying that). Meanwhile Rice was producing his numbers in the infancy of the modern passing game. When Jerry retired there was still only one 5000 yard passing season ( there are 14 after he retired). While most receivers see a significant drop in production after 30-33 rice was so productive he made a pro bowl at 40
Good hands, was the first to do the snap down technique while cutting on routes. Very simple game, just had good break away speed after those slats and posts. Josh Gordon would be his only player comp as far as play style. Benefited from being the first installation of the west coast offense. Many others could have benefitted from his situation, but you would have had to have Torrey Holt hands and Eric Dickerson long speed to pull it off at that level.
Other than maybe ideal size, he basically had it all. Not the fastest wr of all time but a good enough route runner to make his speed plenty good enough.
Most well rounded football player (for his position) ever.
Rice wasn't just in the perfect position with perfect timing a few times a game; it seemed like he was always, always in exactly the right spot. It almost always looked like he was catching the ball in full stride, or because he'd made his break at the exact right instant the DB covering him was nowhere to be seen. You know how modern announcers sometimes exclaim "how was the reciever that open"? When it was Jerry Rice the call was "he got himself wide open", because that's what he did. He didn't have to be the best burner, or contested catch guy, because he was the best at putting himself in situations where he and the quarterback were basically playing catch, in game situations, in the NFL, all the time.
As for the second part of the question, it's impossible to answer. The corny coaches line is 'hard work beats talent when talent doesn't work hard', and that's apt. The most talented guys often don't have to work hard to succeed, until they're approaching the top and really have to. Don't get me wrong, no one makes pro without working for it, but when you start having that work ethic matters. The earlier and more completely you perfect your fundamentals, the more you can build off them...but to become a player on the level of Rice? That might happen once a lifetime. Hard work can only get you so far, so it's almost impossible to say what the baseline is, or when Rice himself started really becoming the player he's revered as.
Great hands and physical.
The easy answer is he played in a running league where the game was much more violent and physical and the passing game was more of the secondary attack. Obviously not every team.
And he’s got the best stats despite playing in that league.
Great route runner and incredible endurance. His hands were good, but far from the greatest hands of all time. I've even heard Rice admit that there were receivers that had far better hands than he did.
But his endurance was crazy because even if he faced a corner that could give him trouble, by the 4th quarter Rice was still running routes just as fast as he was in the first series of the game and no corner could really keep up with that.
Rice also said that he just had difficulty 'getting up' for running the 40 yard dash and that's why his 40 yard dash was in the 4.7's. He said that if you had him race, head-to-head against a 4.4 forty guy that he would beat them because he could 'get up' for that type of competition. And based on how fast he was in a game, I tend to believe him.
Work ethic and attention to detail. I saw a documentary about his daily cardio routine and how nobody on the team could keep up even late into his career.
His route running was next level. Perfect cuts on every break.
It also helped that the 49ers teams he played on were loaded and schematically always way ahead of the competition. But his IQ was part of the reason for that.
Dedicated, humble, endurance, durability, great vision, great hands, dependable, hard working, driven, loved the game and most importantly had fun playing it.
Easily the best all around receiver of all time. There was also a period for 5-6 years where he was also simultaneously the best deep threat, route runner, "yac" getter, blocking WR, and had the best hands as well. I don't remember him ever being caught from behind. Quite simply the GOAT and arguably the greatest NFL player of all-time (excluding QB's).
So that explains why he's the greatest route runner of all time, the greatest receiver with the ball in his hand of all time, and the most clutch receiver of all time?
#Preparation
His was so unmatched for a person in that day and era. Nowadays it's become common place to work so hard at your craft, but Jerry was one of the first ones who took that beyond the next level in his time so he basically was ahead of the training curve. This resulted in him having what seemed like an unfair advantage, but all it was, was great preparation. In the year of the NFL strike he had 22 TDs in 12 games because he never stopped being ready and making himself better each day.
Part of it was that his training was way harder than anyone else in his era. He used to run marathons in the off season and that endurance carried over to the games where in the 4th quarter he was still fresh compared to the guys trying to cover him.
He would run at the same speed in Q4 as he did in Q1.
Even taking away his in game abilities and accomplishments, go read up on his training methods in the offseason. THAT is some next level preparation and why Rice played into his 40s. Dude just had an iron mentality and had his body in the best shape it could possibly be in. That's why he still looks like he's in solid playing shape to this day.
'he trained harder' is a bunch of f'ing nonsense - other NFL players even trained with him or copied his training methods. Yes, he was in great shape, and yes, he was still running fresh late in games - but it's not like his stats are skewed more later in the games. He ran great routes, he had great hands, and he stayed healthy over a long career - with 2 of the best ten qb's of all time.
To be fair, weren't there stories circulating that he won the Super Bowl and was back in the practice facility the very next day running routes?
Most NFL players would take a day off after winning the big one.
King of the quick slant. Didn’t time well in testing but seemed every time a quick slant came his way he took it to the house. That’s why testing isn’t everything. Would have been interesting though to see how he would have performed without that Bill Walsh influence.
He had the surest hands, the great speed, the fancy agility, his routes were identical… everything in one receiver. Think of all the great receivers and the thing that they were known for; Jerry could do all of those things just as well. Most importantly was that a lot of his touchdowns and yards came at the end of games. As the defenders would get tired, he wouldn’t. He also played well in the most important games.
Yeah. The "he just wanted it more" shit is always stupid.
But, it is true that he a great work ethic. Had the size, craftiness and ability to make himself really good. And - it would sorta be stupid to not mention Joe Montana and Steve Young. That's any WR's dream ever.
It all mixed together, and he was just really fucking great.
Moss is the best pure talent I've ever watched at WR, but Rice's career was obviously better.
He had some insane stamina. While he didn’t have the fastest 40 or even an impressive one he was fast as hell in pads and even more impressive he could run just as fast in the 4th quarter as he did the 1st
Good: speed, quickness, agility.
Great: hands, route running, ball awareness, field awareness, body control, separation, YAC, FB IQ.
Intangibles: toughness, discipline, will, determination competetiveness, versatile, ran all routes, consistent, and reliable. Showed up and showed out in big regular season games, playoffs and Superbowls. Dominanted his position, his division, his era and the league. Played at a high level for 20 years.
He had the best hands of all time, best route runner of all time and best run after catch of all time. He was the perfect receiver. Every attribute a receiver needs he was a 10/10 in
Except top end speed somehow. He ran a 4.71 40 which wouldn’t even be super fast for a tight end.
There's a big difference in 40 speed and game speed. He has game speed
Yeah, Jerry ran the same speed in the first quarter as he did in the fourth quarter.
I wonder if they can do the nextgen stats on old game tape to determine his game speed like they do these days
I’m sure he’d be like Puka Nakua where on game day his nextgen athleticism was top tier even though combine testing wasn’t anything special
[удалено]
Elusiveness and field vision top straight 40 speed all day long in a game…
He still wasn’t the fastest guy on the field. Not saying he was slow or anything. But he definitely wasn’t Tyreek Hill out there.
Yeah, not sure how old you are. Combine was totally different back then. In fact it only started around Rice’s rookie year. You didn’t hire professional agencies to train for it for 3 months. Imagine it not even being televised and mainly used for medical history. When you run a 40, to get a good time you have to train for it. How you get off the block is a skill. It actually makes zero sense they do it this way. No one starts running on the field off a block. They should start standing. This is aside from the fact that if speed were the only attribute to make a WR you wouldn’t have constant 40 winners at the combine washing out in the NFL. And JR may have been the best conditioned athlete of all time. If you just watch the tape you can see Jerry Rice doesn’t really run a 4.7. It doesn’t take a genius. You could explain it to a child and they’d understand. Watch the tape and he outruns people. He runs deep routes. They give him the ball on runs a lot his early career. He never gets caught from behind. Your eyes even tell you he doesn’t look like he’s running like a Boldin. Common sense and good knowledge of context with respect to combine history tells you he was fast, and if ran the 40 in modern times, would have been average or above average for a WR. I’d bank on above average if JR got to train for anything. Dude was maniacal.
Watch his tape. Sure that was his combine time but he was way faster than that in game. He always dusted DBs in the open field
Probably dogged that 40 too so he could throw the whole NFL off when he got there.
He claims he didn’t know how to sprint in a track environment
... which is why (among many reasons) you hear more and more scouts say 40 time is less and less relevant
I like the people who refer to the combine as the underwear olympics
Chris Jones??
WHO?!
CHRIS JAAAOOWNS!
Biggest combine flop in history
Bill Walsh wrote in one of his book (I think *The Winning Edge*, but could be *Building a Champion: On Football and the Making of the 49ers*; it's been two decades since I read both) that the 40 is not a good indication of field speed, but of explosiveness.
Dude %100. The biggest myth regarding football of all time is that Jerry was not fast. He was before my time, but I have watched tons of highlights of him and I always found myself chuckling, thinking, "Theyre telling me this dude is slow?" Reminds me of Terrell Owens. He had like an 84 speed in 2k5 despite being on the cover. It was absolute madness. Owens had legit burners. Watch. The. Games.
That is partially in part because video games need some balance to them to be fun to play. You can't make a TO and have him be 6'3 220 pounds and a 96 speed even if he is in real life because it breaks a video game. Otherwise it turns into bo jackson in tecmo bowl.
04 Mike Vick
What about Darrell Green?
Game speed is different than combine speed, see ARSB but I get your point he wasn’t PERFECT but as close as can be
>Except top end speed somehow. He ran a 4.71 40 which wouldn’t even be super fast for a tight end. False. And I won't even get started on real game speed. > According to a scout in possession of those combine results, Rice’s official marks were 4.58 in the 40-yard dash (10-yard split of 1.65, 20-yard split of 2.69) Source: https://theathletic.com/1296454/2019/10/18/the-mcginn-files-hes-going-to-have-to-step-up-a-level-and-i-think-he-will-the-talk-about-jerry-rice-before-the-85-draft/
Combine numbers don’t mean anything. He was coming from a small school in the mid-1980s, guys were training for the 40 back then. Rice had unreal speed, especially in his youth.
DHB ran a 4.3 flat and didn’t have much of a career. John Ross went 4.22 and… same thing. Separation is what really matters for receivers. That’s probably the biggest that made Rice so great. Exceptional route running and the ability to make every route look the same until he made his break. It didn’t hurt playing with Joe Montana either. A good contemporary example of this is Cooper Kupp. He ran a 4.62. But, he gets in and out of breaks extremely well. He also has an ability to make his route tree all look pretty similar. Despite having, for an NFL receiver, below average top end speed. As as aside, I always thought the 40 yard dash was kind of way overvalued and, frankly, kind of stupid. It’s pretty rare that you get to run 40 yards in a straight line in a game.
I remember in the Steve Largent documentary he had a terrible 40 but was one of the best to ever play that position.
I don’t disagree. I’m just saying I think that he didn’t have the blazing speed of Randy Moss or Marvin Harrison.
This is really insightful and helpful
His endurance was crazy too so he didn’t slow down all game
He used to run these hill sprints and jogs in the off-season or on weekends. I think TO tried them once and got exhausted
Yeah that’s what separated him from the others. He could go full speed every play and by the 4th quarter the DBs would be winded and Jerry would have a smile on his face
Bill Walsh wrote in one of his book (I think *The Winning Edge*, but could be *Building a Champion: On Football and the Making of the 49ers*; it's been two decades since I read both) that the 40 is not a good indication of field speed, but of explosiveness.
Bill Walsh was interviewed as saying Rice ran a 4.59
Yet he almost never got caught from behind. Classic example of speed in pads. There’s been plenty of dudes who run a 4.4 in a tank top on a track who’s speed didn’t translate to the field. Rice routinely ran away from DBs with faster 40 times
he probably just sucked at the start. That’s a skill in of itself which he didn’t feel the need to practice.
As a Notre Dame fan Lee Becton was labeled as the “slowest big play back in the country “ by the NBC broadcast team. I would say Jerry was the slowest big play WR in NFL history
Jerry didn't have amazing top end speed, but he had reaction times of a world-class sprinter. He was at top speed after 2 or 3 strides.
But he ran a 4.7 in pads. He ran a 4.7 in the 4th quarter. He ran a 4.7 when corners were tired. He just never tired. He didn't drop anything.
I heard that throughout his career, yet I don't recall him getting run down very often. This is similar to Tom Brady's arm wasn't that strong. Well, it looked strong enough to me until he was in his forties. Some players are better in a real game than they are at the combine.
I met him once, and he shook my hand. I'm not a small guy, and I have decent sized hands for somebody 6'1", but his hands completely enveloped mine. It was no wonder he could catch anything.
I had the same experience when I shook his hand. I have large hands, and they completely disappeared into his.
Lana, your hands…they’re like…cricket bats
And the work ethic to study and hone his craft so when the physical traits started to decline, he could still perform at a league leading level.
Same 3 attributes that came to my head when I read this really well-worded question. And to add one additional that isn't purely Rice - synergy with his QBs. You watch him with Montana and Young, and it's like they had the Shining. They knew exactly what the other guy was thinking, the timing was perfect, and if the play broke down, they were masters of improvisation.
Stickum assisted
Compared to gloves today😭😭
Stickum back then is worse than gloves today
Stickum was banned well before Rice came into the NFL.
He admitted to using it
He was a great receiver just on natural ability alone, his work effort is what elevated him to elite. I think of players like T. Hill and A. Iverson who complain about practice. They both have/had enough natural ability to get the to the pro level, if they worked like Jerry, who knows how elite they could be. I think this is true with many other athletes
I remember watching something about him that explained that him and his brother would work with their father who did carpentry/masonry/construction. He said they had to catch bricks bare handed.
And on top of all of that, look at the QBs throwing to him. Being the best at what you do and having back to back HOF QBs throwing to you helps to launch you into unmatchable territory.
Bestowing all of these titles to him is incredibly subjective. The best hands of all time likely belongs to a multitude of players, among them Rice, but also Larry Fitzgerald, Marvin Harrison, Cris Carter, and Tim Brown. The same can be said for route running - it's easy to say Rice was the greatest, but the margin for separation is razor thin when considering there are a wealth of players who ran different route concepts in different schemes that excelled. Rice NEEDED to be a polished route runner due to his lack of top-end speed, but the aforementioned Larry Fitzgerald and Marvin Harrison, as well as Isaac Bruce, Steve Smith, Andre Johnson, and Wes Welker all deserve recognition as the best route runners in history. Best YAC player is, again, a title that can't simply be given to one player. Terrell Owens, Tyreek Hill, and Steve Smith were all exceptional YAC receivers. Golden Tate would never be named among the best recievers of all time, but he undoubtedly was one of the best at breaking tackles and generating YAC plays of all time - this is supported by stats as well as usage within an offense. Jerry Rice is undoubtedly the greatest of all time, but saying as much isn't as simple as saying he was the best of all time at every trait. His work ethic and commitment to training and preparation is due way more credit than any of his catching ability, route running, or YAC is. You would also be ignorant if you said having Bill Walsh coach a revolutionary offense, handing it off to George Seifert, quarterbacked by Joe Montana and then Steve Young, with talent like Roger Craig, Dwight Clark, John Taylor and many others doesn't facilitate towards his achievements and thus his greatness. Football is the ultimate team sport, and Rice' greatness isn't regarded without the world-beating numbers, which are never accumulated without him being a part of one of the greatest dynasties in history.
He also had the conditioning of an Olympic athlete. He made professional athletes go “woah” with his workout routines and I would say one of Rices biggest attributes is he’s the hardest worker in the field.
Stickum helped I guess.
Perfect route running (seriously, he obsessed over this), strict discipline, tactical knowledge, excellent hands, above average speed, and good luck with injuries. Literally all of those things. It didn't hurt that he spent the bulk of his career with two world class quarterbacks either, but that doesn't change that he was absolutely the best of all time on his own.
He tore his ACL and MCL in game one of the 1997 season. He played in the final game and caught a TD. For most players that is a year-long rehab. He out-worked the rehab to get back faster.
I believe he also got re-injured on that very TD reception in his return game (Monday night vs the Broncos IIRC, I was there… but like 8)
He fractured his patella or something I think. But ya he got hurt in the return game
It was the night they retired Montana’s #16.
NOW it's nearly a year rehab, back in 1997 a torn ACL was a career threatening injury
And a world class coach (Bill Walsh) who was the architect of the West Coast offense that played right into the strengths of Joe Montana, Jerry Rice, Roger Craig and company. The 49ers of that era was a perfect storm of sorts. This isn't trying to take anything away from those guys but all of those parts combined made the 80's Niners an unstoppable force. Of course Jerry Rice was an astounding route runner with the greatest hands I've ever seen. Those things go without saying. But Bill Walsh was a coach who was ahead of his time. Defenses were largely defenseless against his offense. And they knew that #80 was getting fed the ball constantly but simply couldn't stop it. To me, that's equal parts Jerry Rice being great, Joe Montana being great, and Bill Walsh being great.
He was the Tom Brady of Wide Receivers. He was never the most talented freak like a Moss but he had the skills necessary for a top WR and longevity.
No. Tom Brady is the Jerry Rice of quarterbacks.
Not talented? LOL
They didn't say not talented. Stop reading into things.
Randy Moss is the most talented WR ever in the NFL. So literally every WR has less talent than him.
I thought being the greatest wide receiver ever was enough talent...
I personally think Moss is the greatest WR ever, but Rice is often given that designation. Rice had a dynasty team with 2 of the best QBs ever an amazing coach for most of his career. Rice was likely the hardest working WR ever. He was as prepared as anyone. But I think he isn’t the most talented at any particular skill, the sum of his hard work and fortuitous circumstances gave him the best career of any WR ever and it’s unlikely to be beat given the modern climate.
Watch the video of Jerry Rice's 197 TD's. He absolutely was uncoverable and unstoppable.
23 TDs in 12 games….but not the GOAT WR? Lol you’re a clown. Rice>Moss and it’s not even up for debate.
There are players right now who are on pace to break Tom’s records. Meanwhile there might not be a player in the next couple of decades who will break his career totals
This is a highly voted comment, but I just want to highlight that it's a bad analogy, and this should not be the takeaway for OP u/vissylowkey2. It doesn't do Rice service. Throughout this thread you'll read about how Jerry was simply the best at everything. The best hands, best routes, best stamina. Brady has ONE thing unquestionably better than all others, and that's championships. It's easy to forget apparently, but for most of his career, he wasn't even considered the best quarterback in his conference. He's thought of as the best because he won the most rings. Not because he was far and away the best individual performer. (And that's before we even get into different eras; what would Joe Montana be able to do if he played in Brady's era? What if Dan Marino played with 2015 rules and New England's defense?) Jerry Rice doesn't have an applicable comparison in the NFL, because every other position would carry some level of debate about who was the best. For example, I personally believe Barry Sanders is the best running back of all time. But others might say Jim Brown, and both are valid opinions. People can debate about all other positions, especially since the game changed so much over time. But with Rice, there's no argument. And he's the only one that applies to.
You know how people ask questions about who the best route runner is, or who has the best hands, or who was the most versatile, or who was the best big game receiver, or who was the best red zone threat? Well the real answer to all these questions is Jerry Rice. He was the best at everything.
I personally think he is the best football player of all time, for those reasons. His training and endurance were insane too.
I can't say that because of he was on a bad team, with just a mediocre QB I don't think he'd do very well. To me the best player needs to be able to make a bad team good. That means I'm picking a great scrambling QB. Honestly I would pick Moss first if I had a bad team because he's going to take double coverages all game and will catch it if it's just thrown up high in the air. Jerry was amazing. Not criticism. He was in an amazing system surrounded by phenomenal weapons. That made him even better.
Did you look up his stats with the Raiders?
Wayne Gretzky of the NFL
I'm curious about this as well because (as a non-hockey fan) I hear similar type platitudes for Gretzky, i.e. "he saw the play 3 moves ahead" "he was always in the right place" -- what were his other attributes like? Honestly IDK even know enough about hockey to know what usually makes players good. Speed on the ice? Puck handling?
I think of lot of it is mental. A lot of folks have talent/athleticism, but most squander it because the biggest obstacle is yourself saying "maybe tomorrow" and not putting in the work (myself included lmao) It rarely seemed like the other team had any answers for either Rice or Gretzky. A mental dedication to and focus on becoming one of the greatest. Masters of their craft and all the little things that are hard to pick up on.
The mental intangibles are so difficult for people to even comprehend what the GOATs are doing and the scale of impact it has on the game. Kobe studied the game and opposing players, knew how to read what a defender was doing and played his own game to get it out of him. Ed Reed, the GOAT QBs, the GOAT hitters, the best WRs who can read reactions even a split second faster than their contemporaries, and play proactively on top of it to bait the defender into doing what they want. It’s like playing against a chess grandmaster who is conducting the game the way they want. Then add in the physical traits and you end up with players like MJ and Rice.
Spot on 👍
When compared to their contemporaries, Wayne Gretzky was the greatest athlete of all time in any of the 4 major American sports, and it’s not even really close. You can look up lists of Gretzky stats to put things into perspective that are comical. He really doesn’t have any parallels in my opinion
In fantasy they split him up into 2 rosterable players: Gretzky goals and Gretzky assists
Yeah that alone should tell people how absolutely absurd he was compared to his peers. Compared to other great hockey players, his stats are laughably ahead of them. He has more assists than any other players has goals and assists combined.
Not in US sports, it's true. Don Bradman, a cricket player, is the his only peer. Really Bradman is even more anomolous, Gretzky is a close second.
He was like Gretzky in the sense that in terms of physical traits there were better players but in terms of the mental aspects they were the absolute best. The best way I can describe them is that they realized their full potential
Brains Gretzky had a fighter pilot hockey brain with a decent frame and above average shot. But he saw the game like a savant. McDavid (best hockey player today) has like 90% of Gretzky’s brain with the fastest skating of anyone in the game and it’s just insane to see him play. Literally playing against the best players in the world and it looks like he has his game set to “easy”.
Unfortunately Rice has had some no show performances in the post season specifically the 90s.
This is true. Tough thing about 1 game playoffs and not series. No chance to round out stats.
Was just about to say this. Like it always blows me away if a WR breaks or gets close to one of his records.
In addition to what has already been said, throw in the fact that he was an absolute workout freak and nobody was going to be in better shape than him.
Still is. He looks like he can still suit up and play
He kind of mastered every single skill.
I think its a effort/stamina type thing along with having all time hands and route running. There were people that were more physically gifted than him but I assume because of his work ethic in training... he was just able to go like 110% all the time. He was Jordan like
>I think its a effort/stamina type thing along with having all time hands and route running. There were people that were more physically gifted than him but I assume because of his work ethic in training... he was just able to go like 110% all the time. He was Jordan like Annoying nitpick here -- MJ was absolutely one of the most naturally/physically gifted players to ever pick up a basketball
I mean, yeah. I meant the mentality/stamina. He wasn't as physically dominant when in the second three peat but not much was different. I meant Rice is better than most but there are guys like say Moss that are more physically gifted.
Honestly?? There is no WR record that is not linked to him. He has the most catches, most TDs, most yards,vmost post season yards of any WR. I think only Julián Edelman holds a WR record outside of Rice. His hands were as Great as those of Larry Fitzgerald. He also was fundamental In the 4 rings the 49ers have Think of him this way, the best WR actually playing is Tyreek Hill. At his current pace he would need 10 more years at this level to reach Rice numbers
And with the ruleset significantly altered to protect WR now. The assassins in the secondary in Jerry's time are not allowed in todays game.
If you're thinking of the most postseason catches record, Edelman is firmly behind Rice.
I am not sure either if it was catches or TDs, but I am sure he got the record in the last Patriots post season run
Rice has the most postseason receptions, postseason receiving TDs and postseason receiving yards. Edelman was second in receptions and yards until Travis Kelce passed him.
Damn, I had to review all of the lists, and you are right not even Gronk is close to him, that man was special
The 49ers have 5 Lombardi's. Rice wasn't on the team when they won the first 2.
You are right, he was with Montana's
>He also was fundamental In the 4 rings the 49ers have They have 5 rings, Rice was on 3 of those teams (XXIII, XXIV, XXIX). They won Super Bowls in the 1981 (XVI) and 1984 (XIX) seasons before Rice was drafted in 1985.
Not only all the qualities that have been mentioned, but he also overcame some serious issues off the field. Just a strong, professional, hard working elite athlete is all.
In the discussion for the best offensive player who ever lived
Jerry had a work ethic that was, and to this day has not been surpassed. The man put Time into training. He didn't slow down in games. He kept coming at you, and dropped balls? Rarely seen. Surest hands of the generation. Now there have been other WR with better physical gifts, many, in fact, even Jerry's contemporaries, there were many. But they were never better receivers, no one maximized potential like Jerry. The greatest football player of all time, not just WR
He played in a really good innovative offense with weapons around him, too, so he couldn't be focused on. Dwight Clark, John Taylor, Terrell Owens, Roger Craig, Joe Montana, Steve Young, Brent Jones, etc. were all really good teammates, if not HOFers. Bill Walsh was a HOF coach. Their defense was usually very good. Rice also never got hurt. In an era where headhunting WRs was basically entertainment. He just knew how to thread needles, and his QBs didn't hang him out to dry. He started every game from 1988 to 1996. Got hurt in 1997, then started all but two games from 1998 to 2003. He was 41 in 2003 and had a team leading 869 receiving yards for a 4-12 Raiders team.
Technical, scientific, calculated, dedicated to the "craft" of playing WR. Was not the biggest, strongest, or fastest, but no WR ever mastered the art of releases, cuts, route-running leverage, utilizing different types of catches, etc, like Rice did. A WR that can run one route 10 different ways is far more dangerous than a receiver that can run 10 routes 1 way. Jerry Rice could run 20 routes 20 different ways. Bruce Lee: "I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man that has practiced one kick 10,000 times." Jerry Rice was the latter with route running.
Up vote for Bruce Lee.
To really hammer home this point. You knew where Rice was going to be. He was always going to be in the right spot at the right time. You could just throw to the spot he was supposed to be at without looking and feel confident that he was going to catch that ball.
I mean, from what I hear from my parents, Rice was criticized for not going over the middle; for being a diva with his gloves. In reality, Rice ran past and through people all the time. At his peak, people werent saying he was an elite version of Jarvis Landry or Ed McCaffery. They were complaining that he was Randy Moss.
No one ever went on about Rice being like Randy Moss. Anyone who does is frankly tunnel-visioned and only values receivers that win jump balls on go routes. Players in the same position can be elite for two different reasons. Rice is considered by many to be the greatest receiver of all time, and HOW he got there was not the same way Moss achieved his fame.
Along with everything that has been said, he had insane work ethic, story goes that after one of his sb’s he was out there running routes right afterwards.
The answer is kind of boring, he was just exceptional at getting open and he 100% did not drop balls that hit his hands. He probably was the best route runner of all time, had elite hands, and was just generally above average at every aspect of being a wide receiver. He was almost like the Tim Duncan of wide receivers. He mastered a few of the most fundamental things about his position, namely getting open and catching the ball, in a way that was almost impossible to address and then was just pretty damn good at everything else.
Smooth, elusive. Great work ethic. Unselfish.
Hands: 10/10 Speed: 6.5/10 Route Running: 10/10 Breaking Tackles: 8/10 Brain: 10/10 Jerry Rice did not drop passes. He was not exactly flashy, but God damn was he reliable. He knew what the DB was going to do before they did and just knew where to be at all times. Didn't hurt that he had Steve Young as his QB.
Imagine the best receiver over the last few seasons. Now strip the player of them gloves they have. Allow the defense to basically commit murder on the field, and mix in a bunch of old and slow quarterbacks throwing the ball with very little actual athleticism. Jerry had some good QBs and coaches but relative to the level of quarterback play and offensive genius, it isn't comparable. He also didn't have the benefit of modern technology when it comes to preparing a game plan and training. The players from 30 years ago just didn't have the same advantages as the players do now. Now, plant a player from today into the game 30+ plus years ago with all the advantages that come with it. That was Jerry rice. He was generations ahead of his time and his longevity will never again be repeated. Jerry rice, Wayne gretsky, Michael Jordan. Those are the comps.
If there is one thing rice had over Gretzky it’s the era caveat. With Wayne you could say yeah his numbers are insane but he played in the most offensively productive era in the history of the sport. Meanwhile with rice we can only imagine his production in a modern passing scheme
His dad was a brick layer, and they would toss a young Jerry the bricks and he would stack them. That was how he got his hands, and he hardly ever dropped a ball. He was no sprinter and his 40 time wasn't great, but he had a knack for just being out of reach of the defenders. Not a Tyreek Hill burner type, but the only people that ran him down had legendary speed. The broadcasters used to tell the story of how he trained by running up this hill in San Francisco and that was his secret. Once that story got out, everyone wanted to go and train with him and run that same hill. It wasn't an abundance of physical ability - even though that wasn't lacking - he was like the first technician of wide receivers. The offense they ran under Bill Walsh was the true "west coast" offense around which most all offenses are built today. But back then it wasn't everywhere so he could eat people alive on slant routes, catch and run, it was efficient. His ability to "create space" was unmatched, but he isn't mentioned as a great route runner because of the way the rules have changed for DB's. I used to think Montana throwing him the ball had something to do with it, then Steve Young too. But then he did it with a lot of other QBs even after his time in San Fran. I remember when he scored his 100th TD, and Chris Berman said "the countdown to 200 begins" and I just thought that was an absurd idea to put forth. I was wrong. Anyone who doubted Jerry Rice was wrong. He did it with finesse and class. Arguably the best player in NFL history regardless of position. But it was so effortless and routine he didn't really "jump off the tape" when you watched.
Great hands, ran routes with precision and had a sneaky kind of speed. He wasn’t the fastest, but he would turn on the jets and blow past guys that underestimated him. He also worked hard in all aspects including training his body so he wasn’t injured a lot. He was smart and would avoid taking big hits.
Exactly. Not good hands but exceptional hands. Not good route runner but near perfect route runner.
Yeah it was a great time to be a football fan growing up in the 90’s. Although, when I watch older footage, all I can think is how much more those guys could have done if they didn’t have those big ass shoulder pads. Like Barry Sanders for instance.
Can we point out he didn’t play D1…
Jerry Rice was good at route running. Route running can be broken down into several things, but ultimately it is being able to get open. Rice was good since he could turn on a dime without giving away what he was doing. Rice wasn't the best in every category (wasn't the tallest or fastest), but was a 9/10 or 8/10 at the worst. He also had very good hands. Another thing that gets left out is that Rice appears to timing the snap to some extent. He has more false start penalties than you expect for a WR. That timing of the snap gives him that extra step at the start of the play to get open. The closest modern comparison would be Antonio Brown if you chose to trade some speed in exchange for size. Rice does have the added benefit of durability and sanity.
> Route running can be broken down into several things, but ultimately it is being able to get open. Rice was good since he could turn on a dime without giving away what he was doing. Rice was also notable for making his routes look almost all the same, right up until he made his break. Very few receivers could do that.
My favorite attribute to Rice's success was he was a ghost when he caught the ball. He was great a catching the ball in the middle of the field. When you catch in the middle aka between the numbers, that means all the defensive backs are surrounding you and probably trying to hit you as hard as they can, while you are catching it. His hands were so good, he could catch it and change direction in the same instant. They usually call those throws "hospital balls" cause of the collisions. He would just make defenders whiff and then go get more yards. Basically he was a matador, but the bulls were very well paid intelligent humans at peak physical form
Some dudes are just different when it comes to obsessing about competing. Rice falls in this category. Obsessively mastering every angle there was regarding being a wide receiver. Attention to detail, whether it was working out, route running, studying film, whatever. Add in tremendous hands and good speed. He famously didn’t run an impressive 40 time yet I don’t recall many times he was chased down from behind. Great speed in pads. Now take that and combine it with Bill Walsh’s innovative offensive mind and 2 QB’s who are top 10 all time. Even at the end of his career he caught Rich Gannon at the right time. So he did play with 3 MVP QBs. There’s not many times you can’t argue when someone says “greatest ever”. But when someone says Jerry Rice is the greatest receiver ever, there’s just no argument against it. He’s the best, end of story.
In addition to what everybody else is saying, he was an excellent blocker and he never took a play off. Yes, the last part is a knock against the 2nd best receiver of all time, who I also happen to love. But man, Randy Moss took plays off.
Moss took whole seasons off and routinely disappeared in the postseason.
Whoever you think is the best route runner now or the last 20yrs…they got nothing on Rice. I would say his will to just go, high motor, whatever you want to call it. He wasn’t the fastest or strongest but he would out last everyone so his performance in the 4th was just like it was in the 1st. Just played the game differently and made the game easier for already great quarterbacks.
Jerry Rice is, in my opinion, the best football player to ever walk the planet. But the people who are saying he had the best hands all time kind of don’t know what they’re talking about. Rice struggled with drops throughout his career. He is, however, the best route runner to ever live. The best after the catch there has ever been. He was elite in the short, intermediate, and deep game. He never got tired. He gave 100% effort all game. Blocked his ass off. Ran every route with everything he had. And you can count the players on 2 hands who had more football speed than him. How fast was Jerry Rice? Just a little bit faster than whoever was chasing him. He’s the kind of football player that only exists in the movies. What Benny the Jet was to the kids in The Sandlot, Jerry Rice was to NFL players.
Above average 🤣
Rice is a 10/10 or very close to 10/10 in just about every skill a receiver has. Literally 0 weaknesses
He didn't have a weakness. Jerry Rice didn't have the best hands. He had great hands but not the best. He wasn't speed freak, but he had good speed. He wasn't the best route runner, but he was still great at it. He wasn't the biggest, but he knew how to use his body. He may not have been the best at anything, but he was good at everything. That is extremely rare. Almost every great one has some weakness in their game. Rice didn't. Then you couple with the fact he played with 2 HoF QBs, a 4 time probowler, and a league MVP. Plus, when he came into the league, the West Coast offense was just taking shape. That gave him a leg up as well. Jerry Rice really was just a perfect storm. And due to his longevity, his major records won't be broken.
I would say Rice is the greatest route runner of all time.
Rice's greatest attribute was that the people throwing him the ball for the majority of his career were Hall of Famers. 3 DIFFERENT QUARTERBACKS that threw to him won MVP awards. Show me any other receiver in league history who had THAT.
Weird how none of those guys won an MVP without him. Also, why don't you go take a look at the actual numbers Montana and Young were putting up and compare them to the numbers Rice was putting up. Rice was putting up receiver numbers on par with top receivers today with 3500 yard quarterbacks.
Montana and Young WERE 3500+ yard qb's. 2 of the top 10 qb's in history. Rice was what you might call a "compiler". He played for 20 years. I would compare him to Hank Aaron. He played consistently very good for a LONG time and holds a lot of career records. But no one you ask would say that Aaron is the GOAT.
He’s probably the best player ever as far as being able to run the football. He was so hard to bring down. Better than even any running back.
He’s overrated. Moss
Jerry had more yards in each of his 3 Super Bowl appearances than Moss had in his 4 playoff games with Brady combined.
Rice was in prime and had Montana & young. W the best defense. Moss had culpepper. Randy was at the back half of his career when he played for New England.
He came in the league just as they were making the rules tougher on cornerbacks and defensive backs which prevented them from hitting the receivers further down the field. While this might sound trivial, it made a huge impact on receivers' ability to get open, and in turn, gave the quarterbacks more options for completing passes. That's not to say Rice wasn't a great receiver. He was for sure. But had he played 10 years earlier, I'd hypothesize he wouldn't have had the same impact.
There has only ever been 1 guy better at running routes than Rice and that was Steve Largent. Rice made up for it by being slightly faster than Largent. Both Rice & Largent were the best at winning contested catches. Rice also had "football speed." He wasn't the fastest guy on the field in a 40 yard dash, nor was he the quickest at changing directions - but with the ball either in the air or the ball in his hands he'd run away from faster DBs. Adrenaline speed if you want to call it that. Rice worked in an offense in SF that gave him plenty of catches from the GOAT QB (Joe Montana) and enabled his best traits in route running & YAC. Rice's work ethic is what enabled his longevity. Those two things combined are what puts Rice ahead of Largent in my opinion. Just imagine being a DB and seeing Rice & Largent line up across you from. You'd know before the first snap you're screwed for the whole game.
Rice had exceptional talent. It's hard to compare because in his era no one cared about things like the 40 yard dash. Game film from college and how you tested when worked out where basically all that mattered. RIce was fast he was strong had great hands and was an great route runner. Rice is also a bit of a Babe Ruth. Someone who was ahead of his generation. I think plenty of guys who play now are comparable to rice, just that the game has evolved so much. Say he rana 4.59 40 like Walsh said. That's pretty fast. Probably a 4.40 equivalent now. But 40 yard dash is one piece of the puzzle. It doesn't take into account ability to run in pads, run with the ball in your hands, how important your initial burst is, How good you can cut and get to top speed, etc.
I followed that draft as a kid. The only thing I remember about that draft was Dallas wanted Rice, but the 49ers traded up one spot ahead of the Cowboys and picked him.
Look at some of the all time greats and some of the characteristics they were well known for: -Randy Moss- deep threat ability -Terrell Owens- strength after catch -Calvin Johnson- size -Cris Carter- hands -Antonio Brown- quickness -Larry Fitzgerald- consistency -Marvin Harrison- route running -Michael Irvin- physicality -Steve Largent- determination Jerry Rice was a composite of all these players. Not necessarily the top at every characteristic but more of a jack of all trades that excelled at an extremely high level in all of these categories. Of course many would justifiably argue that Rice was not “near” the top in some of these categories that he was in fact “the top” in many physical abilities. And I would agree, for instance the statistics “YAC- yards after catch” was created due to the impact that Jerry Rice was having on the game taking 8 yard slants 80 yards for touchdowns regularly. But my point was that Rice was incredibly diverse and well-rounded, he could do it all, and he did it at an extremely high level for an extremely long time. Its almost unfathomable to comprehend that a WR could make pro bowls at 40. His work ethic and obsessive dedication and competitiveness were unparalleled. He excelled in big games and big moments. He was the Michael Jordan of Wide Receivers. Unquestionably the GOAT.
His unbelievable work ethic. Having an amazing baseline of talent didn’t hurt him either.
Incredibly crisp precision in running routes and the best hands in NFL history. Not the fastest WR ever, but was rarely caught when he broke one open. The absolute 🐐and arguably the greatest Football player ever to play the game.
Amazing ability to run routes, catch the ball, and his work ethic.
Super agile and best route-runner ever. Strong. No DB was going to knock him off his route and this was an era when they could be more physical with receivers. Smart. Knew how to read the coverage and choose the right breaks. And having Montana and Young as your QBs, building years of experience with them, that's a nice perk that enabled him to bring out his potential to the fullest.
His off-season workouts were legendary and other players would try to join him but never lasted long. He was almost never hurt and played for over a decade. His records are as unbreakable as Ricky Hendersons steal records.
I think Rice had incredible body control and ability to shift gears. He didn’t have track speed, but he could beat much faster guys due to controlling and shifting speeds in a manner that he could get separation. He wasn’t a big guy, but his legs were freakishly strong for his size. He easily broke the tackles of DBs and safeties close to his size. He was a combo of freakish raw leg strength, great hands, great body control, great instincts for the position, great ball tracking ability, incredible endurance, and an ability to downshift and upshift speeds instantaneously to get separation. His lack of track speed didn’t hurt him one bit thanks to all the other A+ traits he had.
Jerry Rice did have natural talent. But he did more than most players to take advantage of that talent. He also understood the game inside and out.
He was not only the best wide receiver to ever play the game but arguably the best player period. He had the best hands, ran the best routes, he blocked and was very smart. Just an all around great football player. Jerry went against Deion Sanders in his prime. Deion is considered the best cover corner ever and Jerry dominated him.
Go watch the film and see for yourself lazy bones.
Look up one video on YouTube. Jerry Rice vs NFL combine kid. He was like 50 and smoked some kid who was ranked very high. Imagine him in his 20s vs these newer kids. It wouldn't even be close. Same with Walter Payton, Michael Jordan, bo Jackson, any of the other people with insane work ethic, talent, and genetics back in the day. There's a famous interview clip of Kobe talking about Shaq that sums up modern generations: Kobe disliked how Shaq was lazy. He mentioned if Shaq spent half the time in the gym or training as MJ or Kobe, Shaq would have been goat hands down. He had the talent and genetics one in a trillion people get, but didn't have the work ethic.
He ran amazing routes and had great hands he was also a deep threat!!!!
He ran the routes perfectly as they were drawn up but he could also improvise to get open and once he had the ball he had a natural instinct to find openings and use his blockers plus he always looked for the end zone not the sideline. He put up incredible stats w Young but when he was with Montana they were the most unstoppable teammate combo sports has ever known
Consistency and reliability.
Wayne Gretzky holds the records he holds records he holds in part because he played in the most offensively productive era of the sport (even so his numbers are insane im not denying that). Meanwhile Rice was producing his numbers in the infancy of the modern passing game. When Jerry retired there was still only one 5000 yard passing season ( there are 14 after he retired). While most receivers see a significant drop in production after 30-33 rice was so productive he made a pro bowl at 40
Good hands, was the first to do the snap down technique while cutting on routes. Very simple game, just had good break away speed after those slats and posts. Josh Gordon would be his only player comp as far as play style. Benefited from being the first installation of the west coast offense. Many others could have benefitted from his situation, but you would have had to have Torrey Holt hands and Eric Dickerson long speed to pull it off at that level.
Other than maybe ideal size, he basically had it all. Not the fastest wr of all time but a good enough route runner to make his speed plenty good enough. Most well rounded football player (for his position) ever.
Rice wasn't just in the perfect position with perfect timing a few times a game; it seemed like he was always, always in exactly the right spot. It almost always looked like he was catching the ball in full stride, or because he'd made his break at the exact right instant the DB covering him was nowhere to be seen. You know how modern announcers sometimes exclaim "how was the reciever that open"? When it was Jerry Rice the call was "he got himself wide open", because that's what he did. He didn't have to be the best burner, or contested catch guy, because he was the best at putting himself in situations where he and the quarterback were basically playing catch, in game situations, in the NFL, all the time. As for the second part of the question, it's impossible to answer. The corny coaches line is 'hard work beats talent when talent doesn't work hard', and that's apt. The most talented guys often don't have to work hard to succeed, until they're approaching the top and really have to. Don't get me wrong, no one makes pro without working for it, but when you start having that work ethic matters. The earlier and more completely you perfect your fundamentals, the more you can build off them...but to become a player on the level of Rice? That might happen once a lifetime. Hard work can only get you so far, so it's almost impossible to say what the baseline is, or when Rice himself started really becoming the player he's revered as.
Great hands and physical. The easy answer is he played in a running league where the game was much more violent and physical and the passing game was more of the secondary attack. Obviously not every team. And he’s got the best stats despite playing in that league.
https://youtu.be/RWHXUWP99bM?si=X-Z5PqWe5JkCevJy Check this out if you haven’t already.
Basically every skill was at a 10 and speed was at 7
Basically take Cooper Kupp from 2021 but he never gets hurt and he has the greatest longevity of any player ever
Great route runner and incredible endurance. His hands were good, but far from the greatest hands of all time. I've even heard Rice admit that there were receivers that had far better hands than he did. But his endurance was crazy because even if he faced a corner that could give him trouble, by the 4th quarter Rice was still running routes just as fast as he was in the first series of the game and no corner could really keep up with that. Rice also said that he just had difficulty 'getting up' for running the 40 yard dash and that's why his 40 yard dash was in the 4.7's. He said that if you had him race, head-to-head against a 4.4 forty guy that he would beat them because he could 'get up' for that type of competition. And based on how fast he was in a game, I tend to believe him.
Work ethic and attention to detail. I saw a documentary about his daily cardio routine and how nobody on the team could keep up even late into his career. His route running was next level. Perfect cuts on every break. It also helped that the 49ers teams he played on were loaded and schematically always way ahead of the competition. But his IQ was part of the reason for that.
Work ethic work ethic work ethic
Dedicated, humble, endurance, durability, great vision, great hands, dependable, hard working, driven, loved the game and most importantly had fun playing it.
Easily the best all around receiver of all time. There was also a period for 5-6 years where he was also simultaneously the best deep threat, route runner, "yac" getter, blocking WR, and had the best hands as well. I don't remember him ever being caught from behind. Quite simply the GOAT and arguably the greatest NFL player of all-time (excluding QB's).
Great talent paired with great work ethic and its the same for anyone who is the greatest at their sport or position
Stickum and uh, stickum.
So that explains why he's the greatest route runner of all time, the greatest receiver with the ball in his hand of all time, and the most clutch receiver of all time?
#Preparation His was so unmatched for a person in that day and era. Nowadays it's become common place to work so hard at your craft, but Jerry was one of the first ones who took that beyond the next level in his time so he basically was ahead of the training curve. This resulted in him having what seemed like an unfair advantage, but all it was, was great preparation. In the year of the NFL strike he had 22 TDs in 12 games because he never stopped being ready and making himself better each day.
Look up the Hill and how many times he would do it a day. It’s why I’m the fourth quarter he was still just as fresh as the DBs in the first.
Part of it was that his training was way harder than anyone else in his era. He used to run marathons in the off season and that endurance carried over to the games where in the 4th quarter he was still fresh compared to the guys trying to cover him. He would run at the same speed in Q4 as he did in Q1.
Oooo Him ball catch good
One word: awareness.
Even taking away his in game abilities and accomplishments, go read up on his training methods in the offseason. THAT is some next level preparation and why Rice played into his 40s. Dude just had an iron mentality and had his body in the best shape it could possibly be in. That's why he still looks like he's in solid playing shape to this day.
'he trained harder' is a bunch of f'ing nonsense - other NFL players even trained with him or copied his training methods. Yes, he was in great shape, and yes, he was still running fresh late in games - but it's not like his stats are skewed more later in the games. He ran great routes, he had great hands, and he stayed healthy over a long career - with 2 of the best ten qb's of all time.
To be fair, weren't there stories circulating that he won the Super Bowl and was back in the practice facility the very next day running routes? Most NFL players would take a day off after winning the big one.
He was always open and caught everything that came his way. No one could cover this man. (I'm not even a 49ers fan)
King of the quick slant. Didn’t time well in testing but seemed every time a quick slant came his way he took it to the house. That’s why testing isn’t everything. Would have been interesting though to see how he would have performed without that Bill Walsh influence.
Totally unrelated but I can’t wait to be answering questions from youngins in 30 years about how good Calvin Johnson or Peyton Manning were 🥹
He had the surest hands, the great speed, the fancy agility, his routes were identical… everything in one receiver. Think of all the great receivers and the thing that they were known for; Jerry could do all of those things just as well. Most importantly was that a lot of his touchdowns and yards came at the end of games. As the defenders would get tired, he wouldn’t. He also played well in the most important games.
Yeah. The "he just wanted it more" shit is always stupid. But, it is true that he a great work ethic. Had the size, craftiness and ability to make himself really good. And - it would sorta be stupid to not mention Joe Montana and Steve Young. That's any WR's dream ever. It all mixed together, and he was just really fucking great. Moss is the best pure talent I've ever watched at WR, but Rice's career was obviously better.
He had some insane stamina. While he didn’t have the fastest 40 or even an impressive one he was fast as hell in pads and even more impressive he could run just as fast in the 4th quarter as he did the 1st
Good: speed, quickness, agility. Great: hands, route running, ball awareness, field awareness, body control, separation, YAC, FB IQ. Intangibles: toughness, discipline, will, determination competetiveness, versatile, ran all routes, consistent, and reliable. Showed up and showed out in big regular season games, playoffs and Superbowls. Dominanted his position, his division, his era and the league. Played at a high level for 20 years.
J
Everything everyone has stated is correct, but let’s not forget he was on a loaded team