Watching the NFL Hall of Fame induction ceremony this past Saturday really set me off. My disgust began with a grunt. Then a mumble soon followed by exclamations toward my 64? television screen. Third to last or, in other words, third place is where the NFL ranked Jerry Rice to give his Hall of Fame acceptance speech this past Saturday in Canton Ohio (as if the rest of America and 49er fans needed any more cause to hate the Dallas Cowboys)! Did Emmitt Smith have a statistic created because of his play to match what Rice did with YAC? Perhaps there will be never be another player like Emmitt Smith, but this much is certain; there will NEVER be another Jerry Rice. As I continued to curse at my TV and share my disdain with friends via text messages, Facebook, and any other medium I could get my hands on, I actually tried to determine whether any of today?s stars even have a chance of catching up with all of Rice?s records & milestones. I realize how different the game is today compared to when Rice entered the NFL. Before the 49ers in the early 1980?s, offensive schemes were stuck in the Stone Ages with offensive linemen knocking defensive linemen off the ball to move the sticks three yards in a cloud of dust. As former 49er Center Randy Cross said in an interview with NFL Network, ?If you didn?t (run the ball like everyone else) then that just wasn?t football.? So, given the evolution of today?s NFL passing game, will records such as Jerry Rice?s all-time Touchdown record ever be broken? With my hero?s honor to protect, I immediately began my quest to validate any claim to dethrone him as the greatest. I took nine of today?s best wide receivers and calculated what it would take for them to reach Jerry?s all-time records. I projected each of these nine receivers to have a 17 season career which would somewhat match what Rice did (1987 strike shortened year, 1997 he missed the entire season due to injury, and I combined the last two seasons he had with Oakland & Seattle). As you can see below, the numbers don?t lie.
NAMETD TOTALTD'S NEEDEDNFL yrsYrs ADDEDAVG TD'S/YEAR NEEDEDCAREER HIGHTOTAL SEASONS*
B.Marshall25182413 yrs14/yr10 TD's 200917 years
A.Johnson42165710 yrs18.33/yr9 TD's 200917 years
R.Moss14958125 yrs11.6/yr23 TD's 200717 years
R.Wayne6314498 yrs18/yr12 TD's 200417 years
L.Fitzgerald59148611 yrs13.5/yr13 TD's 200917 years
T.Owens14761143 yrs20.33/yr16 TD's 200117 years
R.White27182512 yrs15.16/yr11 TD's 200917 years
S. Smith (CAR)5215796 yrs26.66/yr12 TD's 200517 years
G. Jennings28179413 yrs13.76/yr12 TD's 200717 years
NAMEYDS TOTALYARDS NEEDEDNFL yrsYrs ADDEDAVG YARDS/YEAR NEEDEDCAREER HIGHTOTAL SEASONS*
B.Marshall4,01918,876413 yrs1,452/yr1,325yds 200717 years
A.Johnson7,94814,947710 yrs1,495/yr1,575yds 200817 years
R.Moss14,4658,430125 yrs1,686/yr1,632yds 200317 years
R.Wayne9,39313,59298 yrs1,699/yr1,510yds 200717 years
L.Fitzgerald7,06715,828611 yrs1,439/yr1,431yds 200817 years
T.Owens14,9517,944143 yrs2,648/yr1,451yds 200017 years
R.White4,68918,206512 yrs1,517/yr1,382yds 200817 years
S. Smith (CAR)8,33014,56596 yrs2,427/yr1,563yds 200517 years
G. Jennings3,95718,938413 yrs1,457/yr1,292yds 200817 years
NAMEREC TOTALREC NEEDEDNFL yrsYrs ADDEDAVG REC/YEAR NEEDEDCAREER HIGHTOTAL SEASONS*
B.Marshall3271,222413 yrs94/yr104rec 200817 years
A.Johnson587962710 yrs96.2/yr115rec 200817 years
R.Moss926623125 yrs124.6/yr111rec 200317 years
R.Wayne67687398 yrs109/yr104rec 200717 years
L.Fitzgerald5231,026611 yrs93.2d/yr103rec 200517 years
T.Owens1,006543143 yrs181/yr100rec 200217 years
R.White3151,234512 yrs102.8/yr88rec 200817 years
S. Smith (CAR)57497596 yrs162.5/yr103rec 200517 years
G. Jennings2461,303413 yrs100.2/yr80rec 200817 years
Randy Moss would need to continue being one of the top three receivers in the game for the next five seasons to surpass Rice?s touchdown record. It?s not much of a stretch for Moss to accomplish this but by the projected final season; he?d be 38 years old. Moss? game is about speed & quickness to break away from defenders to get open. Old age and quickness aren?t exactly synonymous but we?d all be foolish to doubt his special abilities. Andre Johnson is intriguing because he?s in his prime. Arguably the best wide receiver in the game today he has size and strength to go along with pretty good speed. As with Brandon Marshall, he?d need to continue his status as the best wide receiver in the game for the next 10 years if there is any hope. Ultimately, if we went by these numbers, Jerry Rice is the equivalent of Randy Moss, Andre Johnson, & Brandon Marshall combined. To say that he was one of a kind is quite an understatement. One would assume that with a record 12 Quarterbacks that threw for at least 4,000 yards in 2009, the passing game has exploded like never before. On the contrary, 2009 was a very average year for passing yards since the liberal passing rule changes in 1978 (the NFL began enforcing the ?pass interference? rule as we know it today). It?s VERY hard to believe but it?s true. As you can see below, although there are more proficient quarterbacks today whom amass lots of yardage, on average the league?s yardage per year are the same (due to the NFL expanding from 28 teams to 32, average/team are the only fair comparison).
YEARAVG yds 
19803426 
19813561 
*19821987 
19833604 
19843651 
19853625 
19863611 
*19873352 
19883486 
19893659 
19903382 
19913432 
19923286 
19933446 
19943638 
19953768 
19963555 
19973509 
19983536 
19993653 
20003552 
20013536 
20023631 
20033420 
20043604 
20053491 
20063508112,277
20073428109,725
20083380108,177
20093495111,851
Looking over Rice?s career, I realize how ironic it was that he was (whether intentionally or not) ranked the ?third? speaker. After all, Rice was passed up by 15 other NFL teams (two of which took Wide Receivers: New York Jets took Al Toon and the Cincinnati Bengals took Eddie Brown, third WR taken) in the 1985 NFL Draft. I suppose it?s only fitting that he exits the NFL the same way he came in: third. Also fitting was that Rice once again be allowed to demonstrate the ultimate definition of class, one last time. He did so on every one of his 207 Touchdowns, every milestone he set, every time he dealt with the media, and even when he was let go by the 49ers, traded by the Raiders, let go again by the Seahawks & finally demoted to third (third again) on the depth chart by the Broncos. Growing up in the Bay Area and witnessing Rice?s career firsthand in Section 105 every home game, I knew that there would never be another one quite like No. 80. This past Saturday the NFL recognized not only a Hall of Famer, they recognized the best offensive player there EVER will be. Jerry Rice is the benchmark for any wide receiver to be called ?great?, even if the Hall of Fame committee failed to recognize him as such.