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By Scott Kacsmar

By Scott Kacsmar
Cold, Hard Football Facts Receiving Threat

The shockingly fast decline and subsequent retirement (we think) of wide receiver Randy Moss offered more perspective on how amazing of a career Jerry Rice had, and how unlikely it is that his records will ever be broken.
 
Rice, chosen as the greatest player in NFL history for The Top 100: NFL’s Greatest Players, set the standard for which all modern receivers are judged by.

The problem is he set the bar way too high, and everyone that has come along since pales in comparison.

Including Moss, of course, who Rice more or less said paled in comparison during some recent comments.

“It was hard for me to swallow because I was not as talented and I had to work harder. To see a guy with that much talent not give it 100 percent, it was almost like a little slap in the face. But Randy was Randy,” said Rice. He went on to add that Moss “could have been one of the greatest if he had worked just a little bit harder. I don’t think he wanted to give it 100 percent. You never knew what you were going to get with Randy. Sometimes you’d get the unbelievable guy, the amazing guy. Other times you’d get the guy that took a couple plays off.”

But Rice didn't, and the record books show it.

There are receivers that have come along to break some of his lesser receiving records. Moss caught 23 touchdowns in 2007, breaking Rice’s record of 22 in 1987, a strike-shortened year in which he only played 12 games (Moss had to play 16). Marvin Harrison caught a record 143 passes in 2002, and ties Rice as the only receivers to have four seasons with 100+ receptions. Rice's teammate Terrell Owens caught a then-record 20 receptions (on 22 targets) on "Jerry Rice Day" in 2000.

The career marks, though, 22,895 yards, 197 touchdowns and 1,549 catches, are all in a stratosphere all their own.

Moss, Harrison, and Owens had the best opportunities to break Rice’s career records, and in the end, they weren’t even close. The greatness of these three receivers, all Hall of Fame-worthy even if they raise some flags for character issues, should not be undermined. But because they all started their careers post-Rice, they are held to his standard, and they come up short.
 
How far short? Far.
 

Distance from Rice	Catches	Yards	Rec. TD
Randy Moss	595	8037	44
Marvin Harrison	447	8315	69
Terrell Owens	471	6961	44

 
Even just using the bare minimum for each column, these are not numbers to scoff at. Just 91 players have ever had 447 catches, 6961 yards and 44 receiving touchdowns in their entire careers, and that's how many an old Terrell Owens would need to get to Rice.

THE GRANDEST OF OLD MEN

That is where Rice really separated himself. He was the best receiver in the regular season, the best in the postseason, the best on Monday Night Football, and he was the best “old man” receiver the league has ever seen.
 
 

Top 20 In Receiving Yards, Age 34+
Rk	Player	From	To	G	GS	Rec	Yards	TD	Y/G
1	Jerry Rice*	1996	2004	131	125	607	7772	51	59.3
2	Charlie Joiner*	1981	1986	88	80	325	4858	25	55.2
3	Terrell Owens	2007	2010	61	58	277	4219	39	69.2
4	Tim Brown	2000	2004	79	67	324	3990	25	50.5
5	Irving Fryar	1996	2000	78	54	289	3869	26	49.6
6	Joey Galloway	2005	2010	69	55	234	3736	23	54.1
7	Cris Carter	1999	2002	53	49	267	3452	29	65.1
8	Drew Hill	1990	1993	64	53	258	3135	12	49.0
9	Jimmy Smith	2003	2005	44	44	198	3000	16	68.2
10	Isaac Bruce	2006	2009	56	48	211	2930	14	52.3
11	Derrick Mason	2008	2010	48	47	214	2867	19	59.7
12	Art Monk*	1991	1995	67	51	210	2786	16	41.6
13	Rod Smith	2004	2006	48	48	216	2761	16	57.5
14	James Lofton*	1990	1993	57	46	157	2753	18	48.3
15	Henry Ellard	1995	1998	54	42	147	2619	11	48.5
16	Don Maynard*	1969	1973	51	0	129	2399	10	47.0
17	Marvin Harrison	2006	2008	36	36	175	2249	18	62.5
18	Frank Lewis	1981	1983	35	35	134	2173	9	62.1
19	Muhsin Muhammad	2007	2009	46	44	158	2074	9	45.1
20	Keenan McCardell	2004	2007	47	34	159	2003	11	42.6

 
You can view a full list here
 
Rice was head and shoulders above anyone else at age 34+. Just the numbers he accumulated in that portion of his career alone (607/7772/51) would put him in high regard (just 42 players have done that in their entire career).

WHIPPERSNAPPERS NEED NOT APPLY

So, can anyone playing now catch him?  How about two younger guys that are still playing: Andre Johnson (30) and Larry Fitzgerald (28)?
 

Distance from Rice	Age	Rec	Yards	TD
Andre Johnson	30	876	13731	147
Average season needed (11 yrs):	40	79.6	1248.3	13.4
Larry Fitzgerald	28	936	14691	132
Average season needed (13 yrs):	40	72.0	1130.1	10.2

 
Good luck, guys.
 
Only Rice (14) and Moss (10) had at least ten seasons in their career with 1,000+ receiving yards. Given how rare it is for a player to have a 70/1100/10 season in his 30s (only done 33 times by 21 players), you would probably be making a safer bet on Tampa Bay’s Mike Williams (65/964/11 as a rookie) and Julio Jones (Atlanta’s rookie who has yet to play a down) breaking Rice’s records than you would on Johnson or Fitzgerald.
 
What will it take for someone to surpass Rice’s career receiving records? If they start playing 20-game regular seasons with teams averaging 800 pass attempts a year, then maybe you’ll find someone that could do it.

Maybe.

It is a testament to Rice’s work ethic, practice habits, durability, longevity, production, and determination to be the best receiver of all time that set him so far apart from the rest. Every time a superstar receiver retires from the game well short of Rice’s legendary marks, it’s just another reaffirmation of who the greatest of all time is.

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