Why Jerry Rice Will Always Be the Greatest Wide Receiver in NFL History

Jerry Rice is the greatest wide receiver ever to play in the NFL. Now, Bryn Swartz, who is perfectly entitled to the opinion of the opposite, asserted in a recent article that Don Hutson was the greatest wide recever ever to play the game.

What Swartz fails to acknowledge during the time that that 995 NFL players that interupted their football careers to serve in the military. 995 players that's mind boggling. So, is it fair to say during the time of Hutson's so called domination he wasn't facing the best competition?

This data was taken from the Cold Hard Facts archive from 2007. In World War II players such as Otto Graham, Chuck Bednarik, George Halas, Wellington Mara, etc...

Now onto the fact that Hutson's season consisted of only 11 games and his career lasted 11 years culminating into him playing 116 games.

If Hutson had played a 16 game seasons his numbers would have looked like this:

1935: 36 catches for 747 yards and 11 touchdowns

1936: 45 catches for 715 yards  and 11 touchdowns

1937: 60 catches for 803 yards and 10 touchdowns

1938: 51 catches for 877 yards and 14 touchdowns

1939: 50 catches for 1231 yards and nine touchdowns

1940: 66 catches for 966 yards and 10 touchdowns

1941:  85 catches for 1074 yards and 15 touchdowns

1942: 108 catches for 1762 yards and 25 touchdowns

1943: 75 catches for 1242 yards and 17 touchdowns

1944: 93 catches for 1386 yards and 14 touchdowns

1945: 75 catches for 1334 yards and 14 touchdowns

Career Totals in 16 game season (hypothetical): 744 catches for  12,137 yards and 150 touchdowns

The problem with this scenario is the fact that it's all hypothetical there's no way to actually know what Hutson would have been able to do in a 16 game season. Coud he have gotten injured and missed games?

At the time yes Hutson was the dominant receiver in his era of playing, but does that necessarily mean he was the greatest?

In actuality, Hutson's career stats are these: 488 catches for 7991 yards and 99 touchdowns.

The numbers speak for themselves.

Now onto the greatest receiver in NFL history Jerry Rice and the question that should be asked is what hasn't Rice accomplished? Also, what's amazing is that during his 21 year career Rice only missed 19 games and a majority of those games was his 1997 season on a face mask tackle by Warren Sapp.

Unlike Hutson there's only two season that are a hypothetical situation and that is the 1987 season he had and the 1987 season if he wasn't injured. So, here are his numbers from the season.

1987 season: 87 catches for 1437 yards and 29 touchdowns

1997 season: 88 catches for 1248 yards and 12 touchdowns

Again like Hutson this pure hypothetical situations. What was used for Rice's 1997 season was his average catches per season with the 49ers as well as his average yards per game average throughout his stay on the 49ers, and lastly his average touchdowns with the 49ers.

So, if this were to be added to Rice's career totals this is what it would look like.

Rice's Career Totals (hypothetical): 1659 catches for 24,332 yards and 215 touchdowns.

Rice's actual career totals: 1549 catches for 22,985 yards and 197 touchdowns.

Rice's actual career numbers versus Hutson's actual career numbers there's a huge advantage point in Rice's favor and even with the hypothetical, Rice wins by a lot.

Rice would have had 805 more catches, 10,848 more yards, and 47 more touchdowns.

Also, taking into account the fact that defenses during Rice's era were vastly more complicated then what was around the 1930s and 1940s, technology today is better than it was back then as well, and of course athletes becoming bigger, faster, and stronger in Rice's period it's no question that this advantage goes to Rice as well.

Rice got to go up against very talented corners in his time as well as looking out for the opposing teams free or strong safety.

Also on a comments on Bryn Swartz's article "Why Jerry Rice is NOT the Greatest Wide Receiver in NFL History" George Duryea said it best with this quote " He wasn't just a guy who caught passes and broke them for TDs, he was a total team player. He elevated everyone around him."

Another point that the article made was that Dennis Green was quoted as saying "Jerry Rice is the best route runner I've ever seen." Later in the article it mentions that Green should have seen Hutson play.

Interesting because Green was born in 1949 and even then more than likely had seen clips of Hutson play or heard stories about Hutson on how good he was. Keep in mind Green was also a coach for a long time he more than likely knows a lot about the history of the NFL.

Another point that Bryn tries to make is the argumen that during Rice's 122 catch 1995 season he could have been considered the fourth best receveiver in that year. He argues that Herman Moore could be argued for having a better year with a then record of 123 catches, Cris Carter also caught 122 passes that year as well, and Michael Irvin caught 100 passes.

He mentions that Scott Mitchell was the quarterback and that he had never went to a Pro-Bowl, but the question is so what? Well Mitchell definitely deserved to be recognized in that season when he threw 32 touchdowns to 12 interceptions.

Also, keep in mind that the Lions were extremely talented in 1995.  Moore of course was the leading receiver and was complimented by Brett Perriman who caught 108 passes for over 1000 yards, and don't forget the Lions running game was lead by Barry Sanders as well. So, the Lions were a dangerous team.

During the 1995 year, Rice caught more than half of the teams 29 receiving touchdowns with 15, he had 1200 more yards then the next closest receiver which was running back Derek Loville. Rice was the main weapon and he lead the league in receiving yards, was two off of Carter who had 17 touchhdowns, had more touchdowns than Moore, and averaged more yards per catch.

So, the argument could be made that Rice's 1995 season was the better one out of Moore's, Carter, and Irvin.

Also, Rice is considered by many to be the greatest blocking wide receiver in NFL history. Rice was not afraid to make contact with defenders and that's also what made him so great was his ability to get the most out of his teammates. Here's a clip Rice blocking for John Taylor on his 96 yard touchdown catch.

Jerry Rice's first career touchdown catch wasn't even thrown by Joe Montana. Rice's first career score came on a pass from Matt Cavanaugh.

Most importantly though was that Jerry Rice was the hardest working athlete in the NFL when he was playing throughout his 21 seasons in the league. At the age of 42, Rice caught 92 passes! When most wide receivers are already retired by that age.

Another thing to look at with Rice is that he became the first non quarterback to win the MVP. He holds numerous NFL records including most touchdowns receiving, most receptions, most receiving yards, most all-purpose yards, most point scored by a non-kicker, and there are plenty of other records Rice enjoys.

Along the way Rice did get to enjoy catching passes from Joe Montana, Steve Young, and Jeff Garcia while in a 49ers uniform, but he also caught passes from the aforementioned Cavanaugh, but also Elvis Grbac, Steve Bono, Harry Sydney, Jeff Kemp, Mike Morowski.

In Oakland of course, Rich Gannon.

For Seattle, Trent Dilfer and Matt Hasslebeck.

All these quarterbacks have thrown a touchdown pass to Jerry Rice. So, throughout his 21 year career Rice has caught a touchdown from 12 different quarterbacks.

Another quote which was from Steve Young in 1989 that George used in his comment as well was this one from back in 1989 "I knew what Jerry was going to do from the first time he ran a route. For some reason, his body language told me what he was going to do. He doesn't tell anyone else, I can tell.

"The defensive guys have no idea, but for a quarterback, for some reason, he's someone that you really have an understanding where he's headed, and it makes your timing that much better. you can get him the ball much quicker because you know where he's going."

Rice's list of records.

Rice also has three Superbowl rings including a Superbowl MVP trophy as well. He's also played in the most playoff games (29) and played in 303 regular seasons.

Don't get me wrong Hutson was a dominant force in his era, but he is clearly not the greatest ever to play in the NFL.  

Now, there have been some great seasons by wide receivers over the years. Names that include Randy Moss, Terrell Owens, Marvin Harrison, Isaac Bruce, Torry Holt, Michael Irvin, Tim Brown, Andre Reed, Art Monk, Rod Smith, and plenty of other receivers who have caught over 100 passes and 10 plus touchdowns, yet the one thing missing from these receivers is longevity and consistency.

Take for example Marvin Harrison he's 36 years old now going on 37 and is beginning to showing signs of aging and injuries. He's caught just 65 passes the past two years and as of right now is a free agent with not many teams interested in him yet.

Meanwhile at the age of 36 Rice was coming off a season of catching 82 passes for 1157 yards and nine touchdowns. Harrison at 36 caught 60 passes for 636 yards and five touchdowns.

So, In terms of consistency, longevity in the game (21 years), and overall records there is no doubt that one man occupies the top spot for the greatest wide receiver in NFL history and that belongs to Jerry Rice.

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