Jerry Rice, the 49ers’ Hall of Fame wide receiver, had a few pointed responses when asked what he thought of current 49er receiver Randy Moss calling himself this week the greatest wide receiver in NFL history.
“Randy could have been the greatest player in NFL history,” Rice said. “But you gotta have it here in your heart.”
Rice pointed to his thumper.
“I never ever took a play off,” Rice said. “I felt if I did, I would let the team down.”
Early in his career, Moss was known for playing when he wanted to play. Moss strolling on routes was not an uncommon sight.
How can Rice offer conclusive proof that he’s better than Moss?
“Because of this!” Rice said, pointing to the Super Bowl XXIV ring he earned after a 55-10 thrashing of Denver.
“I got three of these,” Rice said. “I sure would like to see Randy get his first one Sunday.”
Rice had the biggest smirk on his face that I have ever seen on anyone.
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Ugly.
Do we really need to rehash this again? How about some coaches tape, and breakdowns by Cosell or someone credible?
and the video can be found OVER HERE
Great video…
Didn’t realize Jerry was also adept at stand-up ! lol
I have tremendous respect for Jerry Rice and the time he spent with the 49ers. But I think that his recent comments are petty and demean him, especially since he keeps mentioning his Super Bowl rings. After all, Barry Sanders has only ever won one playoff game, but many (most?) people prefer him to Emmitt Smith, who won three.
True greatness doesn’t need words to defend it. Its eloquence is self-contained.
Correction: Emmitt Smith won three Super Bowls, not playoff games.
You know what? I would be absolutely thrilled if Randy Moss had a huge day Sunday, maybe two TDs, a spectacular play or two, a victory, an announcement that he wants another one with the 49ers next year and let the debate continue …. (even though we know OF COURSE that Jerry is #1 – heck, in his prime before he hurt his knee, I’m not so sure I wouldn’t rather have Dwight Clark at WR over Moss; TO was just as good as Moss too – yeah, we’ve been blessed with a number of the all time greats in SF)
He speaks the Truth
Man I love Mr Rice to death. But c’mon man let it go. It’s just stirring up more distractions. I hope Rice can just save this till after. Someone get these two on point counter point. JR should know distractions don’t help during a week like this. And should know that no answer is just as good as arguing opinions. JR knows he’s got the numbers, rings, work habits, and heart.
I have no problem with Rice’s statements. Rice trained hard, practiced hard and played hard. His response to Randy “I play when I wanna play” Moss was entirely appropriate.
Randy could have been the best ever if he had heart. He doesn’t.
That being said, I hope this (and other) response to Randy’s nonsense puts a chip on his shoulder for this game. A fired up Moss would be a nice addition rather than the half-hearted Moss the Patriots got in SB XLII.
Jerry was the greatest; he not only has the numbers, but he had that kind of impact on the game. At his best, Randy was right there with him – and I hope Randy finishes his career by winning 2 SB rings: the first one in a couple of days, and the second one for the Niners in Feb 2014!
Those who are criticizing Jerry Rice don’t get him as a person. The reason Rice became great was that he obsessed about building a legacy. He obsessed about being the best of all time. To be great you need a huge ego and you need to take every slight personally to fuel your motivation.
Jerry Rice is acting just like Michael Jordan- remember how petty he was in his HOF speech? That is no accident- to be the greatest you need that attitude. It is unfair to praise the career but criticize the mindset you need to have to get there
Saw Patrick Willis’ interview from today and he reminds me of Jerry Rice in the same aspect you just addressed. He also wants to be the best and because of that drive he’ll end up in the hall of fame.
Yea- I think it is interesting how Willis kinda distanced himself from ray Lewis on the story on getting his number. I remember in his rookie season he talked quite a bit about wanting 52 because he looked up to Lewis. Now I think he wants to be his own man- I think he wishes he got his own number so there wouldn’t be a comparison.
Suede – No way man, you seem to take a lot of shots in here then boogie on out without debating. Hit & run is your style!
Jordan would never be rude/disrespectful like Rice’s comment about Moss was.
For example, Michael Jordan would never say Alan Iverson, Dominique Wilkins or Karl Malone (no rings) “took plays off.”
Rice is the greatest WR ever but he acted like a jerk for one moment.
I disagree, Crabs …
Watching the video, it seemed to me he was just having a little fun …
When they pressed Jerry about it … I thought he was just speaking his mind, a little .. but in a joking way…
I came away thinking ..
“No harm– no foul”
MW – When Rice said “I never ever took a play off,” who else could he be referring to? I’ve been hearing for 2 days just about every sports reporter on the planet say “Moss took plays off.”
No matter how Rice said it, he meant it. The entire football world knows Moss took plays off, we don’t need Jerry Rice to convince us.
Thanks for responding though.
I never hit and run- just actually work during the day and don’t have all the time in the world on educating you guys on the sportsworld.
Crabs you need to watch Jordan’s hall of fame speech again- the guy was a pompass a– He openly disses Clyde drexler and was the biggest s talker in the game. Kevin Garnett is the same way. Kobe Bryant the same way.
And to be fair rice always called Moss on his BS. He was the biggest critic when moss was giving up on the raiders. He said moss squandered his talents and dreamed about how good he could have been with moss’ speed. Moss never took his job seriously- the guy only ran one route. I think Rice was justified to be upset
Suede – You said “To be great you need a huge ego and you need to take every slight personally to fuel your motivation.” “to be the greatest you need that attitude.”
What do you know about being great? What have you done in sports that was great?
You said “I don’t have all the time in the world on educating you guys on the sportsworld.”
Tell us your sports qualifications, what sport were you a professional in Suede?
Tecmo Bowl.
BigP – Lol…..Suede said he doesn’t have time to educate us all on the sportsworld. Maybe you’re right BigP, he’s a pro at Tecmo Bowl.
I’d kick his a$$ in tecmo bowl. The quick slant never failed. The glitch in that game for that play use to drive my friends nuts. They would cheat with their lb and manually try to put him in that spot and the game would automatically move the player back. Montana to rice all day with it.
MD,
I was a 8 bit badass back in my younger days. I’d go Bo Jackson on you. Good times.
md/BigP – I was a force in this atari football game in early 80′s!
http://www.atarifootball.com/joomla/index.php/history
Crabs- you gotta relax- that was supposed to be a joke- about schooling you of the way of sports. I am a sportsfan- just like you- my opinion just has more weight because I am better than everyone else on this board. Yea- I said it- I’m the greatest commenter of all time!
And I got the ego that got me there!
That’s a good point, and it’s one I hadn’t thought about before. But:
I’m going to focus on the bolded part. Correct me if I’m wrong, but it looks like you’re implying that this holds for all great players, not just Jerry Rice. If so, I don’t think that’s the case. Last year, before the Super Bowl, Joe Montana was asked about when Tom Brady would be in the conversation for greatest quarterback and Montana replied that he’s already there. And to bring up Barry Sanders again, everything I’ve read about him indicates that he’s a humble and modest guy, and he and Emmitt Smith have a great and mutually respectful relationship. In these cases, Joe and Barry don’t seem to have huge egos.
But I agree that they probably do feel slights personally. Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers, for example, have both mentioned that they used their late selection in the draft as motivation.
To be great you have to have desire, not a huge ego. You have to want to be great. There are many with big egos that are terrible at what they do. There are also many great players that weren’t great athletes. The great ones always put the time in while many other players stop trying as hard after they get paid.
When I say great- I am talking about being the greatest of all time. Like truly being the elite of the elite. I personally think Rice is the best football player to ever play the game- he is so much better than the rest of the players it is ridiculous.
Micheal Jordan is the best basketball player of all time- (don’t tell me russell or chamberlain- basketball was in its infancy and they succeeded because their competition was weak) Kobe Bryant wants desperately to be the greatest.
Even though I think Bonds needs to be disqualified- he could have been the greatest ballplayer ever- and he had that mindset.
These guys are different from a guy like Shaq for instance. Shaq was good- but he wasnt obsessive about being great. Just enjoyed himself. lebron will never be great.
Montana- as good as he was- wasn’t great. He was never consistant. Bill Walsh brought Young on to try to light a fire under him. You don’t do that with someone who is the greatest to ever play the sport.
That is my take.
Also Barry Sanders left the game a few years early- he may be the best running back to play- but i wouldnt say he is the among the most elite.
Same thing with Emmit Smith- no one claims he is the best of all time.
Suede,
It was an entertaining read until you said Montana wasn’t great.
NCAA Champion
Four Super Bowl victories
Three Super Bowl MVP awards
Widely considered the greatest QB of all time.
The people you mentioned all had the desire to be great, which is what I was saying. I get the ego thing, but desire is what drives these guys. Shaq is the perfect example of somebody that has a huge ego but never had the desire to be as good as he could have been. The guy refers to himself as Shaq Diesel and puts Superman Shaq logos on everything he owns. It’s too bad that he never took the time to learn how to shoot a free throw.
Obviously BigP I am talking elite of elite. I think Montana is the best qb that has played football but I think he will be surpassed in my lifetime. I think Tom Brady could have bed the greatest qb if he was athletic at all. The guy has a ton of work ethic and heart- but he is in a 7th round draft picks body. Just very slow.
You can call me crazy but I have a suspicion Kaep might make it there. He seems like he has Montana’s nerves, dude is super athletic and he is one of those first one in first to leave grinders. He also has a big ego- it is under wraps but there. If he gets that edge. I don’t know- its going to be a fun decade
Crabs sez:
“….MW – When Rice said “I never ever took a play off,” who else could he be referring to?…..”
Yeah… maybe so … but I think that may have been in response to Randy’s ..
“… I don’t need no stinkin’ stats….” .. line
Even I winced a little at that one …
But, still … I just think Jerry was standing his ground a little ..
And he’s entitled to .. right ?
MW – I just wish Jerry would have took the high road. I see your point though.
Hey Crabs
Jerry is to competive to take the high road.
Probably right Neal ..
But I still thought Jerry was funny throughout the interview