2 catches 40 ish yards and non chalont on the interception and did not bother to try to tackle the guy.

Moss did have the biggest first 2 years of any receiver EVER..by far.

He is probably the games #1 deep-threat of all time.

But best receiver ever? Rice has the moniker, and it’s well-deserved.

Still, all 4 of these guys would tell you they were the best at what they do regardless of who disagreed. Jordan & Rice would be almost unanimously agreed with. Kobe & Moss would be almost unanimously disagreed with but with a little bit of “what if”. For Kobe, “What if he chose to be more of a team player and passed the ball more like he’s shown the ability of doing these last 3 games?”. For Moss, “What if he played with the same HOF QBs and coaches as Rice while using his full ability ALL the time instead of whenever HE wanted to?”. There are slight “what ifs” that could possibly catapult the “2nd place men” (some will say they aren’t even that and find someone else to place there) to retiring as the greatest. Honestly, Kobe & Moss are the ones who held themselves back with their arrogance and being unwilling to change. I am a HUGE fan of all 4 though.

1) Undeniable team impact. In 2007, the top two scoring teams in the history of the NFL were the 1998 Vikings and 2007 Patriots. Moss on both teams.

2) Overwhelming Individual QB Data: The following QBs had many bad years, but all of their best years were with Moss: Cunningham, George, Culpepper, Brady, Cassell. Even Gus Frerotte had his best games in the 3 games he played with Moss.

3) Bill Walsh was the greatest offensive genius in the history of the NFL. Joe Montana was clay in Walsh’s hands. Jerry Rice’s statistical productivity came in large part from this situation.

4) Don’t blame Randy Moss for David Tyree. Moss scored the would-be winning TD. Don’t blame Moss for Gary Anderson either.

I am not saying case closed. I am saying that there is a case.

Good morrow to you.

He’s right– this stuff is subjective. If you polled the world obviously vehemently disagree with him just like most people will disagree with my opinion above.

I just feel like Randy was feared more than Jerry.

Pass.

Id take both in different scenarios. Being a championship ready team, one would have to take rice. The crisp routes and pristine attitude at all times did wonders for the champion ship contending 49ers.

Of you were starting from scratch and wanted the greatest offensive threat the game has ever seen, you would take moss. No one was better at getting in position to catch the long ball. Safeties HAD to stay back and honor his speed and jumping ability at all times.

stats aside, rice ran all the routes better than anyone else, went over the middle, ran the ball (10 rushing TDs), never drew attention to himself or his team in a negative way. moss ran a fast go route and outleaped everyone. moss could have had better numbers if he didnt take plays off, games off, seasons off, but he did do that. randy is a first ballot hall of famer, but the greatest of all time he is not.

The “best player” at any position is one, whom among many things, shows up every single game ready to give it all.

I bet 8/10 would say Moss.

Nope. That would be Bob Hayes. You can look it up. The zone defense and the bump and run were invented to stop him.

Moss was a spectacular talent and somebody that was just flat out more entertaining to watch than Jerry Rice, even though Rice was probably ‘better.’

Of the many absolutely ridiculous things written on this site, this one ranks right up there. Really??? The Niner QB’s were great, no doubt, but not perfect. Jerry made tons of circus catches and scored quite a few running TD’s as well. He was the one who pioneered diving at the pylon. To say he caught everything “in stride” is dumb.

Rice has led the leauge in reception yardage 5 times during that time frame (first ten years). Moss has NEVER led the league in passing yards. Rice has led the league in TD receptions 6 times in that time frame (first ten years). Moss has done so 4 times.

So I do not want to hear about the QBs throwing the ball to anyone. Thats like saying Montana and Young were HOFers because of Rice. Rice has had a much bigger impact on the NFL than Moss. If you think for a second teams did not game plan around Rice you have to be smoking. Rice was the best offensive player on the team. It’s not his fault he could catch and run. Thats like saying teams did not game plan around Sanders or Smith. The fact is Rice could catch the ball and score and was not one dimensional. He could go short or deep. If all Moss could do was catch deep balls, that is his fault. I would take Rice over Moss any day everytime.

If we are looking at it from a numbers standpoint, Rice and Emmitt, since he was mentioned, have the better numbers. True enough. But Moss and Sanders played on subpar teams, opposed to Rice and Emmitt. Rice had the better QBs (Montana and Young , both HOFers) and Moss had the lesser QBs (except when he played in NE), and Moss changed how defenses play and cover receivers. We all saw what he could do when he had a QB (Brady). In the 2007 season with NE, Moss had 98catches, 1,493yards, 15.2 YPC Average, & 23TDs

Barry Sanders had a lesser O-Line than Emmitt. Emmitt has big holes to run through and Sanders while he had some holes to run through, created alot of his runs (yards) based on his athleticism. Realistically, if he didn’t retire after 10 seasons and played the next season and say another 2-3 years after that season. He was just 1,458 yards from the all-time rushing record at the start of his 11th season. And if you’ve seen him play, he was going to get that in his sleep!

In 1994, Sanders rushed for 1,883 yards, on a 5.7 yards per carry average. He also totaled 283 receiving yards, which gave him a combined 2,166 yards from scrimmage for the season. He was named the NFL’s Offensive Player of the Year. In 1995, Sanders posted 1,500 yards rushing with 398 receiving yards, beating his rushing total alone of the ’94 season. In 1996, Sanders rushed for 1,553 yards with a career-low 147 receiving yards.

Sanders’ greatest season came in 1997 when he became a member of the 2000 rushing yards club. After a start in which he gained 53 yards on 25 carries in the first two games of the season, Sanders ran for an NFL record 14 consecutive 100 yard games, including two 200 yard performances, en route to rushing for 2,053 yards. In reaching the 2,000 yard plateau, he became only the third player to do so in a single season and the first since O. J. Simpson to rush for 2,000 yards in a span of 14 consecutive games. He was the first running back to rush for 1,500 yards in five seasons and the only one to do it four consecutive years. In Sanders’ last season in the NFL, 1998, he rushed for 1,491 yards, ending his four-year streak of rushing for over 1,500 yards in a season.

Rice and Moss played different styles. Both dictated what defenses did. Both did things that made you scratch your head. Both left their mark on the game.

Rice left a bigger mark, for my money, and I watched both of them.