Larry Fitzgerald: The Next Jerry Rice

Ok, before you judge the article by the title, you have to get the facts. It's impossible to ever match up to Jerry Rice, but if we're going to anoint the next Michael Jordan, then we might as well start anointing the next Jerry Rice.

We have to start with Jerry first. By far, hands down the best receiver to ever step foot on a football field. There really is no argument there.

What made him great wasn't the fact that he caught everything thrown his way, or the fact that he ran his routes with such precision it rivaled the hands of a surgeon, a true craft.

It was the way he carried himself, a true teammate. Never the first to point the finger and always the last to take compliments for himself. He cared more about winning championships then he ever did putting up numbers.

He held the previous record for most touchdowns in a single season, which has since been broken by Randy Moss, but it took him all 17 games. Rice set the record in the strike season in 12 games. Imagine if he played a full season? How many touchdowns would the record have been then?

Rice was a 13 time Pro-Bowler and a 10 time first team All-Pro. He holds a couple dozen NFL records, so the comparison is very weak as of right now.

We have to compare Rice's first five NFL seasons with Fizgerald's first five seasons.

Jerry Rice

1985-927 yards, 3 TD's

1986- 1570 yards, 15 TD's

1987- 1078 yards, 22 TD's* Strike Year

1988- 1306 yards, 9 TD's

1989- 1483 yards, 17 TD's

Larry Fitzgerald

2004- 780 yards, 8 TD's

2005- 1,409 yards, 10 TD's

2006- 946 yards, 6 TD's

2007- 1,409 yards, 10 TD's

2008- 1,431 yards, 12 TD's

As you can see, they are somewhat comparable. Rice clearly has more yards and more TD's, but we aren't just comparing yards and touchdowns. Rice has 346 receptions in those five years compared to 426 by Fitzgerald. Almost 100 more receptions.

Fitzgerald is more of a possession guy, but he can rack up the yards if needed. Fitzgerald also has a great receiver beside him in Anquan Boldin to also share catches and yards with. Not saying Rice didn't have great receivers around him, but Fitzgerald and Boldin is a great combination and although Fitzgerald is the number one receiver, Boldin isn't far behind.

I know that everyone can't get enough of Fitzgerald, and I've heard these comparisons before. I'm sure there are a lot of doubters out there, and I'm sure there's a lot of people out there wondering why I would write this article.

Maybe I'm not trying to annoint the next Jerry Rice, maybe I'm not saying Fitzgerald is on track to break Rice's records because he clearly isn't. I'm looking for the next Jerry Rice to make fans watch the game. A lot like what Michael Jordan did for basketball, Jerry Rice did that for football.

He was truly the main event, the quiet leader with all the grace and glory of a football player. Jerry Rice wasn't, excuse me isn't, just the greatest receiver of all time, he's the greatest player.

For Fitzgerald to be compared to Jerry Rice after his first five seasons isn't just a compliment, it's an honor.