Jerry Rice: Past Memories of Watching One of the NFL's All-Time Best

NFL Network has finished its top NFL players of all time list and 2010 Hall of Fame inductee Jerry Rice was atop the countdown.

Now the debate starts as to if he was the best player in the history of the sport.

His stats and records would indicate that he is, and that those records and numbers might not ever get beaten.

Or at least not in our lifetime.

I personally remember idolizing Rice while growing up in the '80s—he was like a football God to me.

I understand that Joe Montana and Steve Young were his quarterbacks while with the San Francisco 49ers, and that without them Rice would not have caught a single pass. But there was always something about Rice when he took the field.

Rice was 6'2" and 200 pounds of pure athlete and muscle on the field, but his preparation and work ethics far exceeded any type of talent he had.

His true talent was the way he prepared and took care of his body as a football player.

Just look at him now: the guy is 48 years old yet he looks not a day over 30, like he is ready to step on the football field.

Getting back to football, Rice was not the fastest, biggest, nor strongest, but he was the best prepared and had the best techniques.

If you combine that preparation with his passion and knowledge of the position, then the Darrell Green's and Rod Woodson's of his day never stood a chance. Rice proved that week in and week out during the season and playoffs.

I remember a receiver who would outplay everyone on the field, but there were those rare times when he would have a bad game and I would question whether he was hurt or not.

He was never hurt and he was only human, albeit a very special human.

I had a split second to shake his hand while at his Hall of Fame enshrinement ceremony in Canton this past August. I instantly knew and felt that Rice was indeed something special.

That same special something is what he displayed on Sundays from 1985 to 2004, and I felt it when I shook his hand.

Is Rice the best of all time?

That is the current debate that will be ongoing for quite some time, but in my eyes and during my 32 years, I have never witnessed a better football player in the game.

It is an honor for the NFL Network to put Rice at the top of their ranking, and I concur with their selection.