Hall of Fame wide receiver Jerry Rice has sometimes been called the best player in NFL history, but Rice says he’ll hand that status to Tom Brady.
Rice said today on 95.7 The Game that he believes he played football during a tougher time than Brady, but he’ll still defer to those who call Brady the greatest.
“I don’t have seven Super Bowl rings, but I think I played in an era when football was more of a contact sport. You’re seeing a lot of that now -- players are protected,” Rice said. “When you have seven rings, you’re doing something right. I think with Brady, he still wants to play. He said something about playing until he’s 45. I think he can do it now in this league because players are so much more protected. So, yeah, he can have that GOAT status. I never wanted that status anyhow.”
In 2010, NFL Network released a ranking of the Top 100 players of all time that had Rice No. 1. Another such list today would surely have Brady on top.