Suprisingly I don't hate the Chiefs as much as I have in previous years. I really respect Vermiel and what he has been able to do, and Holmes is the best RB in the NFL. The Raiders will have a good chance at being 4-2 when they meet KC at Oakland on Monday Night in 3 weeks. Could be a very interesting showdown.
Personally, I would pick the guy who has set all of the significant receiving records that exist. In addition, Rice never had anywhere near the off the field issues that Moss has had. Don't get me wrong, Moss is a monster receiver, but I would personally pick Rice for his consistency, work ethic, sportsmanship, and ability to be a role model.
Ditto. AJ will be a premier receiver in this league. We will hear "Carr to Johnson" as much as we heard "Young to Rice."
The Raiders suck. An interesting showdown? Yeah...it'll be interesting to see what the Raiders do after KC rips them to shreds.
The Raiders got their All- Pro center back for yesterday's game. He's the guy who did not make it to the Super Bowl because of personal problems. It's not a surprise that the Radiers blew up for major points and yardage yesterday...
Well I tried to be nice. Yeah sure beat 4 mediocre teams and you think you're on your way to Houston. Jerry Porter is going to slice through the Chiefs secondary like a day-old pound cake.
Andy, I wouldn't go that far, just like I will withhold legacy judgement on Randy until he breaks Rice's records. Your point is well-taken about Rice's consistency and lack of off the field issues, but for one game, you'd rather have Rice in his prime than the 6-5 Moss? Bigger at w/o is always better. In h/s, I played a quasi wideout/tight end position and being 6-5, all they did was throw fade routes to me. I'm not the fastest or most agile guy, but matched up against little 5-9, 5-10 DBs it was like a little kid trying to guard his father one-on-one in a game of driveway hoops. I once had a 100-yard receiving game, mainly because our h/s ran a quasi-run and shoot out of the shotgun waaaaaaay back in 1986. No one could guard me, but my father told me that of all the college recruiters he talked too, they all wanted to move me to tight end, but they all were unimpressed with my blocking ability ( I weighed maybe 170 pounds at the time and had a 30 inch waist!) to the degree that there was no way they'd waste a scholarship on me. But now you have 6-4/6-5 guys with both agility and speed, which is amazing. Now as far as careers are concerned, it's Rice over Moss in a landslide. But I think that Moss has finally turned the corner in his personal life and maybe he won't be such a knucklehead, but that could be the eternal optimist in me coming out. As for TO, he is one of the guys who never understood that there is no I in team. It's always about him to distraction. He has one of the greatest skill sets I've ever seen in a w/o and a body like Adonis, but he is definitely a selfish knucklehead. Keyshawn has the same attitude, but a quarter of the skills. Go figure.
Somebody in chat last night said (it might have been Cat or moe) that TO reminds them of that guy on the beer commercial who blames everyone except himself for losing the game. The funny thing is at the end, the reporter looks at him and says "There is no I in the word team" and he looks back at him and says "Yeah, and there is no we in the word team, either!"
I'll take Jerry Rice in his prime over any other WR. Rare indeed is the ability to run precise routes, always catch the ball, and always come up big when it counts. I seriously doubt anyone will ever reach Rice's career receiving statistics, the guy is 41 and posted a 100 yard game yesterday. Moss and Harrison have a good chance at passing Carter or Brown, but I can't see them ever putting together so many consistant seasons.
People who didn't see him play in his prime have this idea about Rice that he was a Largent type of player ( consistent, ran good routes, hands, etc.) And that's all true. He always had that...but what people who didn't see him in his prime forget is that, then, he combined that with being simply unstoppable. He made beating double teams look easy, and I'm not joking. He was bigger than every body else, on the field he was faster than everbody else, he was stronger than everybody else...and then you add his special abilities; Several people, including Joe Montana, Deoin Sanders, etc. said that Rice went from standing still to top speed , or from one gear of speed to another quicker than anybody they had ever seen. On the track he ran a 4.6ish...but on the field, nobody, and I mean not Deion, not Terry McDaniel ( 4.2 40)...nobody came close to catching him, and they all admitted it. His instincts as a reciever: Troy Aikman, when discussing why Rice was easily the best he'd ever seen, told of a time in Hawaii at the Pro Bowl. He said that when they were practicing, he told Rice to run an in route...Now ( this is him talking in retrosepct) what he didn't know was that the Cowboys ran an in at 7 yards, the Niners at 10/11...and he said that, being the offseason, his arm was incredibly strong and he was just drilling the ball...so without knowingg Rice isn't going to be turning until too late, Aikman drops back and fires it...right towards Rice's head, with Rice not expecting the ball for another 4 yards. "By the time he turned around, when he should have been looking for me to be about to throw, or for the ball out of my hand, the ball was humming right at his head...and not only did he catch the damn thing, he didn't even blink or break stride." Aikman said it was the most amazing thing he'd ever sen out of a wide reciever. For those of you who have played, you'll know what this means...for those who haven't, imagine a baseball hitter going in for bp, instead having the ball fired 110 mph, and calmy lining in over the fence on the first throw. The instictinve reactions to do that are...well, almost unatural. His ability to run in the open field, to make gains after the catch. This can't be measured in height, or speed. For example, in college the best Run after the catch guy I've ever seen, by a mile, for a reciever was Peter Warrick, and while fast he wasn't blazing, and he wasn't that big at all. It's just a unique ability, and Rice was simply the best ever, and it is due to him that R.A.C. or yards after catch are part of common football verbiage now. There are so many things, but it comes down to just watching him, and the thing that seperated Rice was that he made it all look so easy. NFL Films, when chronicling the best ever at each position, said that the definable thing about Rice was that there was no definable play...He wasn't just the best deep threat...or the best short threat...or the best at making the spectacular one handed grab...or the best in big games...or the best at running with the ball...he was all of those things. Almost every other reciever, you think of him, you think of a signature type play; with Rice, they all come to mind, and that was the problem every db who faced him encountered. Moss is a physical freak, but for football, so was Rice. He was simply much more unstoppable, much more dominant, and much better than Moss, period. Add to that all the other stuff; consistent, competitive, character, etc. for the whoel picture, but anyone saying they'd take Moss over Rice for one game never saw Rice in his prime. He made destroying defenses...defenses designed to stop him...look routine.
I just call it efficiency. He was the best reciever I ever saw at finding the quickest route to the end zone. And you're right, people who didn't see Rice play until recently with all these big receivers, don't understand how physically dominant he was. He ran a slant better than even Terrell Owens because not only did he get off the line so quickly, he couldn't be held by the DB. Its like he was playing catch with whoever was quarterbacking. No one affected his routes. And when it came time for the spectacular catch, he could come up with those also.
I saw Rice in his prime (I grew up a Saints fan and geez, did the 49ers ever toy with the Aints) and he was a wonder. His character and his abilities are a rare union and he always was a gamer, unlike Randy "I play when I wanna" Moss. But when Moss is on, I think he is the best in his prime that has ever been. But folks, seriously, comparing guys is like comparing Led Zeppelin to the Doors. They both have their adherents and they both have reasons why one is better. I give Rice the obvious nod on the career and character angles, but if Moss straightens up his attitude, look out. Rice's records will be toast, just look what Randy has done in only a few short years. And I think my opinion on Randy's play this season has been borne out on the field. The only guy who can stop Moss is Moss and frankly, he hasn't stopped himself yet this season.
BTW, I agree with you Bama All you have to do is look at his numbers so far, but still, Rice's records are almost Wilt like. Not only will Moss have to straighten up, he will have st stay straight for at least 10 more seasons.
Last season, while with the Arizona Cardinals, Boston asked defensive backs in practice not to hit him in the chest because he had just gotten nipple rings and it was still painful. The Cardinals grew so tired of Boston that they let him walk as a free agent -- by Mark Emmons, San Jose Mercury News Michael Irwin explained why most gifts wide receivers are jerks: "Receivers do the yelling just so people do not forget us...It seems like, and it probably is, selfishness...But you have to stay in people's ears to let them know you're there. Your production is totally dependent on others. You cannot make one play without the quarterback, without the offensive line. So much has to work for you to get a chance to make a play"(San Jose Mercury News) That's why they scream, whine and yell at their coaches ...
