Why Jerry Rice IS the Greatest Wide Receiver in NFL History: A Rebuttal

(Photo by Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images)

Based on much of the evidence provided in today's Pick of the Day, Why Jerry Rice is NOT the Greatest Wide Receiver in NFL History, by Bryn Swartz, plus the addition of two key variables, player size and skill level, I have concluded that Jerry Rice IS the greatest wide receiver in NFL history. 

Although Bryn Swartz's article is intended to convince the reader that Don Hutson is the best receiver ever, it further convinced me of Jerry Rice's supremacy.

Jerry Rice does not barely beat Don Hutson in longevity, he dominates him. Not only did Rice play in the NFL almost twice as long as Hutson, he played more games per season, against better players, and most importantly, he played with guys much bigger than Hutson. Way bigger.

Only 10 percent of players during Hutson's era were obese, compared to 56 percent of active NFL players in 2006, according to an article by Thomas Howard of Scripps Howard News Service.

Hutson's competitors were much less developed and skilled than today's athletes.  As Swartz discussed, Hutson played both offense and defense. However, most players during Hutson's era played both sides of the field, so players were much less specialized than today.

Until 1933, a forward pass had to be from five yards behind the line of scrimmage. Then, the rule changed and the ball could be passed from anywhere behind the line of scrimmage. 

Passing from behind the line was still a new rule when Hutson entered the league in 1935. Coaches and players did not have many passing strategies and defenders were perplexed.

In Swartz's "final adjustment", he calculates Hutson's stats for if he had played during Jerry Rice's era.

Swartz makes this adjustment by taking number of games per season and average amount of passes per game for each era into account, using 20 as the average amount of passes for Hutson's era and 30 for Jerry Rice's era. 

Swartz's description of 1940s NFL offensive tactics:

Passing the football was considered risky!  The forward pass was considered dangerous so most teams utilized two or three running backs... 

This suggests that Hutson's team was passing the ball much more frequently than other teams, for they were certainly passing to him. 

Therefore, the number of pass attempts for Hutson's team would have been above the 20 time per game average that is used in Swartz's calculations for Hutson's numbers relative to era.

This number, 20 pass attempts per game, is too low. Consequently, the final adjustments made for Huston's numbers relative to era are inflated.

These calculations are further inflated by the omission of two important variables, player size and skill level.

Plus, hundres of players were fighting in WWII, bringing down Huston's competition even more.

Hutson played in the nfl. Rice played in the NFL.

Thanks for all the great research and sparking a great debate on B/R Swartz! 

But I must say...

JERRY RICE IS THE BEST!

Peace, Sierra

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