Randy Moss retires....

[5wide]

Jerry Rice is set in stone as the greatest wide receiver in NFL history. There's no argument to be made against it. I do think you could easily argue Moss as #2. His first year in New England was an all-time season.

 

I took the first 12 years of each guy's career, just to see how Randy stacked up. He was comparable, but as expected, fell a little short.

 

Jerry Rice

188 Games (15.7 per season)

1050 Receptions (87.5 per season, 5.6 per game)

16,377 Yards (1365 per season, 87.1 per game)

15.6 Avg

164 TD (13.7 per season) - 10 of the TD's were rushing

 

Randy Moss

186 Games (15.5 per season)

926 Receptions (77.2 per season, 5.0 per game)

14,465 Yards (1205 per season, 77.8 per game)

15.6 Avg

148 TD (12.3 per season)

 

 

Both guys had 9 seasons of double digit TD receptions (Rice actually had 10 double digit total TD seasons). Rice's career highs were 122 receptions, 1848 yards, 20.4 avg, 23 TD (1 was rushing). Moss's were 111 reception, 1493 yards, 19.0 avg, 23 TD. Interestingly, Rice's 23 TD season (22 receiving and 1 rushing) was done in only 12 games. He had 65 receptions, meaning he scored a TD on every three catches that season.

[MJAlltheWay24]

Without looking up the statistics, but couldn't you argue that Terrell Owens was a better WR than Randy Moss?

[PurplePride92]

Jerry Rice had two Hall of Fame quarterbacks his first 12 years by the name of Joe Montana and Steve Young. By the time Randy Moss got to play with a Hall of Fame quarterback they both set records at their respective positions for touchdowns in a season.

 

Moss also played in the two of the most profilic offenses ever.

 

Moss spent his career double and triple teamed while Rice never faced the double and triple teams that Moss faced and Moss still dominated his position.

 

Moss revolutionized the wide receiver position. No one that fast ever had the hands he had or the athleticism to make the plays he made at wide receiver. He excelled at catching the long ball and he could turn a 3 yard pass into a 90 yard touchdown. No one who has played the wide receiver position combined both of those abilities at the wide receiver position like Moss did. And no one ever will.

[PurplePride92]

Without looking up the statistics, but couldn't you argue that Terrell Owens was a better WR than Randy Moss?

 

You could but when you get to talking about hands(most important part of the position) the argument is over. TO was an amazing receiver considering he used two cinder blocks to csth the football. Imagine his stats if he had Moss' hands.

[5wide]

I'd put Moss at #2.

 

The fact that Jerry Rice won multiple Super Bowls and scored 207 TD's (32 more than anyone league history) crushes all other arguments.

[PurplePride92]

I'd put Moss at #2.

 

The fact that Jerry Rice won multiple Super Bowls and scored 207 TD's (32 more than anyone league history) crushes all other arguments.

 

 

Most people do and I expect them too. Hard to win an argument against those numbers even though he played until he was 50 to achieve those numbers. I'd love to have seen Rice's numbers with Randall Cunningham, Jeff George, Daunte Culpepper, Aaron Brooks, Andrew Walter, Gus Frerotte....etc.....etc.

 

 

 

I'd still take Randy over Jerry 8 days a week.

[AverageJoesGym]

Jerry Rice had two Hall of Fame quarterbacks his first 12 years by the name of Joe Montana and Steve Young. By the time Randy Moss got to play with a Hall of Fame quarterback they both set records at their respective positions for touchdowns in a season.

 

Moss also played in the two of the most profilic offenses ever.

 

Moss spent his career double and triple teamed while Rice never faced the double and triple teams that Moss faced and Moss still dominated his position.

 

Moss revolutionized the wide receiver position. No one that fast ever had the hands he had or the athleticism to make the plays he made at wide receiver. He excelled at catching the long ball and he could turn a 3 yard pass into a 90 yard touchdown. No one who has played the wide receiver position combined both of those abilities at the wide receiver position like Moss did. And no one ever will.

 

Really? You think that teams just single covered Rice all the time? He led the league in receiving yards for 6 seasons. In only one of those seasons did he play with another 1000 yard receiver. Overall, he played with another 1000 yard receiver 5 times. One of those seasons it was Roger Craig, the others John Taylor twice and Terrell Owens twice. Randy Moss had Cris Carter on the other side of the field from him his first 4 seasons in the league--in 3 of those Carter had over 1000 receiving yards. He also had a 1000 yard receiver on his teams in 2004, 2007, 2008 and 2009. Don't tell me that Moss was double and triple teamed all the time then while Rice was running around in single coverage his whole career. We both know better. I loved watching Moss play, but the double and triple teaming stuff just isn't true.

[00Rocket28]

Imagine what his #'s he'd have put up had he put forth any effort in Oakland...But Rice was all class and I personally am very glad a thug like Moss didn't break any of Jerry Rice's records!

 

I'm willing to bet I deal with more "thugs" in a day than you do in a month, but does the word "punk" suit Moss better than thug? :lol:

[5wide]

Most people do and I expect them too. Hard to win an argument against those numbers even though he played until he was 50 to achieve those numbers. I'd love to have seen Rice's numbers with Randall Cunningham, Jeff George, Daunte Culpepper, Aaron Brooks, Andrew Walter, Gus Frerotte....etc.....etc.

 

 

 

I'd still take Randy over Jerry 8 days a week.

 

That might sway me more if Rice hadn't outproduced Moss prior to prolonging his career with Oakland and then Seattle.

[EZ Living]

This is a temporary retirement. He doesn't have to deal with training camp this way.

[PurplePride92]

I'm willing to bet I deal with more "thugs" in a day than you do in a month, but does the word "punk" suit Moss better than thug? :lol:

 

Yes. I never said he doesn't have character issues but thugs scare me. Randy is not a scary person.

[5wide]

I hope he turns up somewhere this season. I've always liked Moss and his unique skill-set. I can't believe somebody wouldn't take a shot at him, unless his asking price was just too high. I don't buy the "learn the offense" stuff. There's nothing to learn about going deep and throwing your hand up, and a motivated and happy Randy Moss can be a difference maker simply doing that, IMO. I'm not surprised that New England didn't want him back though. Why re-visit that situation? If he was enough of a distraction to simply cut mid-season, what has changed enough to think 2011 would be different?

 

I suppose his options were limited though. Any bad team without an above average QB probably wouldn't even consider him because its unlikely they could have kept him happy. A lot of the good teams are solid at the WR position and probably didn't think the risk was worth it. Realistically, what teams make sense for him?

 

NY Giants - Makes some sense on the field, but Moss doesn't seem like a guy Coughlin would want to bring in.

Detroit - Stafford isn't proven and the Lions aren't a good team, so its unlikely they could have kept him happy. But, they threw the ball a lot and pairing him opposite Megatron would have been interesting.

St. Louis - Not a good team, but certainly a contender in a weak division. Bradford had a good rookie season and they need WR help. Made sense in some ways.

Arizona - Similar to Detroit, except they have a better shot at the playoffs in the NFC West.

NY Jets - Made the most sense to me. They wanted a big WR and Moss seems like a guy who would have fit with the Rex Ryan bravado. Moss would have opened the field up and provided an elite deep threat for a team that likes to run the ball and take a few shots down the field. However, he may not have got the looks he need to stay happy.

Pittsburgh - Definitely isn't a Pittsburgh guy, but I can envision some big plays down the field when Big Ben ad libs.

Houston - A team that likes to throw, throw deep, and again would be interesting to see him paired opposite another elite WR.

Kansas City - Probably didn't feel like they needed a WR enough to take this risk.

San Diego - San Diego likes to throw the ball down the field, so this might have been interesting. But, AJ Smith probably wouldn't pay for him.

 

Where does he go?

[PurplePride92]

Philly made him an offer after he filed his retirement papers. He is not believed to be planning to file unretirement papers to go to Philly. His career seems over at this point.

[bugatti]

I hope he turns up somewhere this season. I've always liked Moss and his unique skill-set. I can't believe somebody wouldn't take a shot at him, unless his asking price was just too high. I don't buy the "learn the offense" stuff. There's nothing to learn about going deep and throwing your hand up, and a motivated and happy Randy Moss can be a difference maker simply doing that, IMO. I'm not surprised that New England didn't want him back though. Why re-visit that situation? If he was enough of a distraction to simply cut mid-season, what has changed enough to think 2011 would be different?

 

I suppose his options were limited though. Any bad team without an above average QB probably wouldn't even consider him because its unlikely they could have kept him happy. A lot of the good teams are solid at the WR position and probably didn't think the risk was worth it. Realistically, what teams make sense for him?

 

NY Giants - Makes some sense on the field, but Moss doesn't seem like a guy Coughlin would want to bring in.

Detroit - Stafford isn't proven and the Lions aren't a good team, so its unlikely they could have kept him happy. But, they threw the ball a lot and pairing him opposite Megatron would have been interesting.

St. Louis - Not a good team, but certainly a contender in a weak division. Bradford had a good rookie season and they need WR help. Made sense in some ways.

Arizona - Similar to Detroit, except they have a better shot at the playoffs in the NFC West.

NY Jets - Made the most sense to me. They wanted a big WR and Moss seems like a guy who would have fit with the Rex Ryan bravado. Moss would have opened the field up and provided an elite deep threat for a team that likes to run the ball and take a few shots down the field. However, he may not have got the looks he need to stay happy.

Pittsburgh - Definitely isn't a Pittsburgh guy, but I can envision some big plays down the field when Big Ben ad libs.

Houston - A team that likes to throw, throw deep, and again would be interesting to see him paired opposite another elite WR.

Kansas City - Probably didn't feel like they needed a WR enough to take this risk.

San Diego - San Diego likes to throw the ball down the field, so this might have been interesting. But, AJ Smith probably wouldn't pay for him.

 

Where does he go?

What about the Colts?

[NHS BIG DADDY]

Pretty sure Randy Moss was the only non bengals jersey Ive ever had. He made football look easy and cruised to HOF numbers. If he had half of Jerry's desire I think he would have blown his stats aways and there would be no argument on who the greatest ever was. If you could build the perfect WR he would have all the physical attributes that Moss had. Speed, height, length, leaping ability and hands he had it all.