Best NFL Players of All Time: Jerry Rice. Ranking the Top Players in History. Place a bet on an NFL football game now.

Best NFL Players of All Time: Jerry Rice

Many believe that Jerry Rice is the best wide receiver to ever play in the NFL and that he is the greatest player to suit up in the league’s history, regardless of position.
However, Rice was merely an additional name on the drawing board in 1985.

Let’s assume the best about him. Although Rice had attended Mississippi Valley State, very few people had ever seen him play in a collegiate game. Nevertheless, Bill Walsh was one of Rice’s biggest fans and was sure to be chosen in the first round.

In October 1984, while the 49ers were in Houston preparing to play the Oilers the next day, the legendary head coach of San Francisco started thinking about Rice. Walsh was watching the sports report on TV when Rice was coming off a game where he scored five touchdowns, all on plays of fifty yards or more. Walsh fell in love after watching the movies. “As soon as I saw Rice, I knew he would fit right into our offense and add another dimension to it,” stated Walsh.

Walsh stood out from other talent scouts and strategists because of this. His bold assessment allowed him to throw the inexperienced Rice into the mix fearlessly. It would have been a different coach who introduced him gradually.

The 49ers selected Rice with the 16th overall choice in the draft. Walsh never thought he would be so lucky. He thought Rice would go into the

Having him as my first option in the play made me very happy. Numerous scouts for the 49ers thought Walsh had gone too far and that Rice was only worth a sixth-round selection. The 4.3 speed that leaves scouts scratching their heads was not present in Rice. He’d attended a Division I-AA university. Walsh didn’t really care since he knew Rice had football speed, if not stopwatch speed.

In San Francisco, Rice immediately became a weapon. Despite missing a few receptions as a rookie that he would never drop again, Rice showed his ability to make the big play in Week 14 against the Los Angeles Rams. Rice gained 241 yards after grabbing 10 passes. He did not look back.

In his second season, Rice—who caught 86 passes for 1,570 yards and 15 touchdowns—was perhaps the best receiver in the NFL. Despite his great accomplishments, he threw away a certain touchdown while rushing in the open field following the reception in a playoff game against the New York Giants.

The disagreement abruptly ended the following year. A players’ strike forced the 1987 season to stop, but not before Rice caught 65 passes for 1,078 yards and 22 touchdowns in just 12 games.
The statistics continued to rise, as did Rice’s remarkable accomplishments. When Rice was playing at his best, in Super Bowl XXIII against the Cincinnati Bengals, Joe Montana was the first player to participate in a Super Bowl without taking home the MVP trophy.

Rather, Rice won the prize following 11 receptions for 215 yards and a touchdown. Beyond his stats, Rice produced clutch catches in the final minutes of the game-winning drive. One of those was a second-and-20 play in which wide receiver Randy Cross of the Cincinnati Bengals was penalized for going down to sustain a block on a throw. When Rice ran a square-in route over the middle, Ray Horton, David Fulcher, and Lewis Billups attempted to cover him, but Rice was able to get away.

Montana’s pass caught him off guard, allowing him to gain 27 yards and run the ball for 14 more yards.
Walsh had his opponent just where he desired. Knowing that the Bengals would surrender to stop Rice, he called a play for John Moore and Roger Craig.

Craig couldn’t escape the defender on “20 Halςack Curl X Up,” but Taylor managed to locate a seam, and Montana hit him in the end zone to score the game-winning touchdown.
“It was just a great moment,” said Rice. It felt like I made the catch, even though I didn’t. Seeing your teammate succeed and knowing that you had a key role in making it happen was such a wonderful feeling. I would have been overjoyed if I had made the catch.

Rice had three incredible years from 1994 to 1996. During that time, he made a lasting impression on sports fans and strengthened the case for his inclusion alongside Babe Ruth, Michael Jordan, and Bobby Orr in the Mount Rushmore of sports (if such a monument even exists).

Rice caught 342 passes for 4,601 yards and 36 touchdowns during those three seasons. Rice was practically an unrestricted receiver who could get away with anything at any time, with a three-year average of 114–1,534–12.

Because of his persistent determination to reach his full potential and his unquenchable desire to be the best player of all time, Rice was able to consistently perform at a high level throughout his career. Rice said, “I wanted to be the best and I wanted to set myself apart from everyone else who played the position.” I wanted to play because I knew I had given every play I took on my all. It was not something I wanted to lose. It was a game within a game, that.

People frequently compliment you on your greatness or achievement, but you’ll never be content with that. You start to relax the instant you start to believe what other people are saying. We must never allow it to happen.

Rice played the last part of his 49ers career with Steve Young calling the throws after beginning his career with Montana at quarterback. Rice supported Joe when he faced off against Young for the starting quarterback spot at the Montana camp. Ultimately, Young completed more touchdown passes to Rice than to any other quarterback.

“Knowing that Jerry was there with you was the best feeling in the world,” said Young. All of the Niners players felt a tremendous feeling of relief after winning Super Bowl XXIX [against San Diego], knowing that we were the better team and that we would win,” Young said.

That is how it ended up; we easily prevailed, taking an early and significant lead [49–26]. Most of us were disappointed because we could see Jerry getting ready for the game from the locker room. He was the best player in the game and was lined up for us. That was all we needed to know.

Following a somewhat successful stint with the Oakland Raiders, Rice’s career would end in a Seattle Seahawks uniform following 16 seasons in San Francisco. Based on his statistics, it appears that he stayed on a bit too long—his last season ended in 2004.

Nevertheless, he was the top receiver in his class for at least 15 of his 20-year career, and moving ahead, all other receivers will follow in his footsteps. His career total of 208 touchdowns, of which 197 came when he was a receiver, makes him the first player in league history to reach 200 touchdowns.

Best NFL Players of All Time: Jerry Rice Stats

Regular Season

Year	Age	Tm	Pos	No.	G	GS	Tgt	Rec	Yds	Y/R	TD	1D	Succ%	Lng	R/G	Y/G	Ctch%	Y/Tgt	Att	Yds	TD	1D	Succ%	Lng	Y/A	Y/G	A/G	Touch	Y/Tch	YScm	RRTD	Fmb	AV
1985	23	SFO	WR	80	16	4		49	927	18.9	3			66	3.1	57.9			6	26	1			15	4.3	1.6	0.4	55	17.3	953	4	1	9
1986	24	SFO	WR	80	16	15		86	1570	18.3	15			66	5.4	98.1			10	72	1			18	7.2	4.5	0.6	96	17.1	1642	16	2	14
1987	25	SFO	WR	80	12	12		65	1078	16.6	22			57	5.4	89.8			8	51	1			17	6.4	4.3	0.7	73	15.5	1129	23	2	15
1988	26	SFO	WR	80	16	16		64	1306	20.4	9			96	4	81.6			13	107	1			29	8.2	6.7	0.8	77	18.4	1413	10	2	15
1989	27	SFO	WR	80	16	16		82	1483	18.1	17			68	5.1	92.7			5	33	0			17	6.6	2.1	0.3	87	17.4	1516	17	0	17
1990	28	SFO	WR	80	16	16		100	1502	15	13			64	6.3	93.9			2	0	0			2	0	0	0.1	102	14.7	1502	13	1	14
1991	29	SFO	WR	80	16	16		80	1206	15.1	14			73	5	75.4			1	2	0			2	2	0.1	0.1	81	14.9	1208	14	1	13
1992	30	SFO	WR	80	16	16	139	84	1201	14.3	10			80	5.3	75.1	60.40%	8.6	9	58	1			26	6.4	3.6	0.6	93	13.5	1259	11	2	16
1993	31	SFO	WR	80	16	16	153	98	1503	15.3	15			80	6.1	93.9	64.10%	9.8	3	69	1			43	23	4.3	0.2	101	15.6	1572	16	3	20
1994	32	SFO	WR	80	16	16	151	112	1499	13.4	13	75	62.3	69	7	93.7	74.20%	9.9	7	93	2	4	57.1	28	13.3	5.8	0.4	119	13.4	1592	15	1	21
1995	33	SFO	WR	80	16	16	176	122	1848	15.1	15	74	58.5	81	7.6	115.5	69.30%	10.5	5	36	1	3	60	20	7.2	2.3	0.3	127	14.8	1884	16	3	19
1996	34	SFO	WR	80	16	16	153	108	1254	11.6	8	72	62.1	39	6.8	78.4	70.60%	8.2	11	77	1	3	36.4	38	7	4.8	0.7	119	11.2	1331	9	0	14
1997	35	SFO	WR	80	2	1	8	7	78	11.1	1	4	62.5	16	3.5	39	87.50%	9.8	1	-10	0	0	0	-10	-10	-5	0.5	8	8.5	68	1	0	1
1998	36	SFO	WR	80	16	16	151	82	1157	14.1	9	57	49	75	5.1	72.3	54.30%	7.7			0							82	14.1	1157	9	2	12
1999	37	SFO	WR	80	16	16	124	67	830	12.4	5	41	46	62	4.2	51.9	54.00%	6.7	2	13	0	1	50	11	6.5	0.8	0.1	69	12.2	843	5	0	7
2000	38	SFO	WR	80	16	16	122	75	805	10.7	7	49	51.6	68	4.7	50.3	61.50%	6.6	1	-2	0	0	0	-2	-2	-0.1	0.1	76	10.6	803	7	3	9
2001	39	OAK	WR	80	16	15	125	83	1139	13.7	9	62	64	40	5.2	71.2	66.40%	9.1			0							83	13.7	1139	9	1	12
2002	40	OAK	WR	80	16	16	150	92	1211	13.2	7	59	60	75	5.8	75.7	61.30%	8.1	3	20	0	1	66.7	12	6.7	1.3	0.2	95	13	1231	7	1	12
2003	41	OAK	WR	80	16	15	124	63	869	13.8	2	44	46	47	3.9	54.3	50.80%	7			0							63	13.8	869	2	2	7
2004	42	2TM	WR		17	14	64	30	429	14.3	3	42	87.5	56	1.8	25.2	46.90%	6.7			0							30	14.3	429	3	0	4
		OAK	WR	80	6	5	15	5	67	13.4	0	4	33.3	18	0.8	11.2	33.30%	4.5			0							5	13.4	67	0	0	1
		SEA	WR	80	11	9	49	25	362	14.5	3	17	46.9	56	2.3	32.9	51.00%	7.4			0							25	14.5	362	3	0	3
Career					303	284	1640	1549	22895	14.8	197	558	55.3	96	5.1	75.6	62.40%	8.4	87	645	10	12	46.7	43	7.4	2.1	0.3	1636	14.4	23540	207	27	251
16 yrs		SFO			238	224	1177	1281	19247	15	176	372	55.5	96	5.4	80.9	64.10%	8.6	84	625	10	11	44.4	43	7.4	2.6	0.4	1365	14.6	19872	186	23	216
4 yrs		OAK			54	51	414	243	3286	13.5	18	169	56	75	4.5	60.9	58.70%	7.9	3	20	0	1	66.7	12	6.7	0.4	0.1	246	13.4	3306	18	4	32
1 yr		SEA			11	9	49	25	362	14.5	3	17	46.9	56	2.3	32.9	51.00%	7.4			0							25	14.5	362	3		3

Playoffs

Year	Age	Tm	Pos	G	GS	Tgt	Rec	Yds	Y/R	TD	1D	Succ%	Lng	R/G	Y/G	Ctch%	Y/Tgt	Att	Yds	TD	1D	Succ%	Lng	Y/A	Y/G	A/G	Touch	Y/Tch	YScm	RRTD	Fmb
1985	23	SFO	WR	1	1		4	45	11.3	0			20	4	45					0							4	11.3	45	0	1
1986	24	SFO	WR	1	1		3	48	16	0			24	3	48					0							3	16	48	0	1
1987	25	SFO	WR	1	1		3	28	9.3	0			13	3	28					0							3	9.3	28	0	0
1988	26	SFO	WR	3	3		21	409	19.5	6			61	7	136.3		27.3	3	29	0			21	9.7	9.7	1	24	18.3	438	6	0
1989	27	SFO	WR	3	3		19	317	16.7	5			72	6.3	105.7		35.2			0							19	16.7	317	5
1990	28	SFO	WR	2	2		11	122	11.1	1			19	5.5	61					0							11	11.1	122	1	0
1992	30	SFO	WR	2	2	20	14	211	15.1	1			36	7	105.5	0.7	10.6	1	9	0			9	9	4.5	0.5	15	14.7	220	1	0
1993	31	SFO	WR	2	2	18	9	126	14	0			23	4.5	63	0.5	7	1	-9	0			0	-9	-4.5	0.5	10	11.7	117	0	0
1994	32	SFO	WR	3	3	27	16	233	14.6	4	13	55.6	44	5.3	77.7	0.593	8.6	1	10	0	1	100	10	10	3.3	0.3	17	14.3	243	4	0
1995	33	SFO	WR	1	1	17	11	117	10.6	0	7	58.8	32	11	117	0.647	6.9	1	5	0	0	0	5	5	5	1	12	10.2	122	0	0
1996	34	SFO	WR	2	2	13	9	86	9.6	1	5	53.8	36	4.5	43	0.692	6.6			0							9	9.6	86	1	0
1998	36	SFO	WR	2	2	11	4	69	17.3	1	3	42.9	38	2	34.5	0.364	6.3			0							4	17.3	69	1	0
2001	39	OAK	WR	2	2	19	13	231	17.8	1	12	63.2	47	6.5	115.5	0.684	12.2			0							13	17.8	231	1	0
2002	40	OAK	WR	3	3	20	14	203	14.5	2	11	65	48	4.7	67.7	0.7	10.2			0							14	14.5	203	2	1
2004	42	SEA	WR	1	1					0										0										0	0
Career				29	29	169	151	2245	14.9	22	51	58.3	72	5.2	77.4	0.624	8.4	7	44	0	1	50	21	6.3	1.5	0.2	158	14.5	2289	22	3
12 yrs		SFO		23	23	130	124	1811	14.6	19	28	54.7	72	5.4	78.7	0.641	8.6	7	44	0	1	50	21	6.3	1.9	0.3	131	14.2	1855	19	2
2 yrs		OAK		5	5	39	27	434	16.1	3	23	64.1	48	5.4	86.8	0.692	11.1			0							27	16.1	434	3	1
1 yr		SEA		1	1					0										0										0

 

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