Randy Moss made a bold claim this week, stating that he is the best wide receiver ever to play in the NFL. His ranking has Terrell Owens listed second. Where does Jerry Rice, the receiver most consider to be the greatest of all-time, sit within Moss' ranking?
"Jerry's probably third or fourth," Moss said on Owens' "Getcha Popcorn Ready" podcast.
Moss has been largely ridiculed for the statement, and Rice even weighed in on the debate. Tyler Sullivan of CBS Sports reports that the San Francisco 49ers legend posted the following side-by-side comparison of the two receivers' career statistics in a now-deleted Instagram post, which was captured by @OurSF49ers.
| Rice | Moss | |
| Seasons | 20 | 14 |
| Receptions | 1,549 | 982 |
| Yards | 22,895 | 15,292 |
| Touchdowns | 197 | 156 |
| Super Bowl wins | 3 | 0 |
| Super Bowl MVPs | 1 | 0 |
Jerry Rice with the ultimate clap back to Randy Moss on IG 👀😅 #49ers | #FTTB pic.twitter.com/799RECy8KQ
— OurSF49ers (@OurSf49ers) December 19, 2020
It is worth noting that Moss was not interested in comparing statistics while making his claim.
"I'm talking about dominating the game and changing the game of football," Moss declared. "I don't live on statistics because if you live on statistics and live on championships, that's all political."
Jerry Rice's son even weighed in on the impact aspect of the debate.
So you agree Randy number 1. Think my dad didn't have impact? Randy went deep. My dad caught 5 yards and took it to the house. Super Bowl put up 21 points himself in 1 of 4 he participated. Scored 48 yard touchdown with raiders at 40 years old. I can keep going but it's too much
— Jerry Rice Jr (@Flash80jr) December 18, 2020
"I don't want the fans and the people watching you all's podcast to get it messed up that we dislike or discredit anything Jerry Rice was able to do or ever accomplish," Moss added. "I think when you look at the top of the pedestal, when you see that Jerry Rice's name is at the top, then when you look at the numbers that he had, and then you start calculating and stuff like that, I've got to play this many years to obtain this? The heck with all that."
One Twitter user even threw in the following if anyone wanted to use Rice's lengthy NFL career to excuse his gaudy and historical statistics.
Jerry if he only played 14 years like Randy would still have surpassed Randy in all categories and doesn't include the 10 rushing TDs he also had. You can see why Randy doesn't want to use stats🤷🏼♂️. pic.twitter.com/xxKiRWw5wB
— Jeremy (@cubs2b23) December 19, 2020
Prime Jerry Rice lasted from 1985-1996....I'll give you Randy's whole career and I'll just take Jerry's first 12 years and he still beats Randy In all categories. He also had 10 rushing TDs. It's not Jerry's fault that Randy was no longer an elite We after 10 years in the league pic.twitter.com/zE9evwUNSB
— Jeremy (@cubs2b23) December 19, 2020