Jerry Rice did what?!?!?!

Originally posted by PA49ersfan:
This is what happens when you speak before you think. And if Jerry did think before opening his mouth, he's an idiot. What a dumb thing to bring up now.

+1

Meh, still don't see what the big deal is.

To be honest, since the season ended and I've started following the other sports more, I've come to realize what a joke the NFL, and the media that covers it, is. It's a completely different mentality. The other sports don't have this TMZ, National Enquirer style media coverage b******t. Each sport has their own controversies, and stories get sensationalized, but the NFL takes it to a whole other level.

Cris Carter is lying his ass off. EVERYONE sprayed extra adhesive on their gloves. I started doing it in middle school. In the 80's-90's, those gloves weren't as sticky as they are now, anyway, and the coating wore off. Every skill guy (except the QB, of course) with gloves would gather up, and we'd spray a bit on everyone's gloves. Everyone would clap a few times to get a feel for the tackiness of the gloves, and we'd move out. We never did it in secret, we never lied about it, because it was what everyone did. I stopped wearing gloves in high school, but my teammates were still doing it in college, right on the sideline, and not one ref ever cared.

Originally posted by theduke85:

Originally posted by TexasNiner:
Not even in the same category at all. It's more like trying to dismiss the accomplishments of someone like Cal Ripken Jr, Tony Gwynn or Derek Jeter because they used pine tar on their bat at one point, or admitted they stole signs when they were on 2nd.

Except I'm not trying to diminish Rice's accomplishments whatsoever. Rice is the GOAT, and this concession he made doesn't alter my opinion on that in the slightest.

I just find the hypocrisy hilarious. A sizable chunk of this website slings wild, baseless accusations against our opponents (e.g. "the only reason Seattle is big and strong is because they abuse PEDs!!!!"), but when one of our own flat-out concedes he broke the rules, everybody frantically comes up with excuses as to why we should sweep it under the rug. Look at how people handled the Aldon Smith situation. There were people on here arguing that multiple DUIs didn't matter because he "only drove into a tree, he didn't kill anyone." What would those same posters call for if Richard Sherman were arrested for a DUI? The death penalty?

A foreign substance did not make Rice the GOAT; Stickum is not snake oil, it doesn't magically transform a mediocre player into the most lethal weapon in NFL history. People apply common sense because it's our player and he gets the benefit of the doubt. Similarly, deflated balls do not turn an average team into one that dismantles the Colts 45-7, and yet there are people who think that the New England's victory should go down in the history books with an asterisk. Give me a break.

To me, that is why the steroids comparison is ludicrous. The "small stuff" cheating that "everyone does" is part of sports, and I agree 100%, it doesn't change the quality of a player. The greats are still great and the average players are still average. Just like holding in the NFL. It happens on every play. By skill or dumb luck, some players/teams seem to get away with it more, but that doesn't mean it's any different in any game. And if different eras it is enforced differently, so some players by different standards would be "cheaters".

But steroids allowed players who should have stayed in the minors to make it to the pros, or also rans to hit like all stars. I agree with your point that we are lenient and understanding when "our" players have off field issues or are called out for things like this, where we would demonize players from rival teams.

I just don't think comparing steroid use, or other deliberate cheating that changes the performance/ability of a player significantly is the same as pushing the limits with those lesser gray areas (like Jerry's tacky spray, or a pitcher using a little pine tar or Vaseline on a ball back in the 70s), when it's a fairly common practice within the sport.

he already tarnished his legacy the second he donned that puke s**t thay call uniforms in SEA

Originally posted by TexasNiner:
I just don't think comparing steroid use, or other deliberate cheating that changes the performance/ability of a player significantly is the same as pushing the limits with those lesser gray areas (like Jerry's tacky spray, or a pitcher using a little pine tar or Vaseline on a ball back in the 70s), when it's a fairly common practice within the sport.

Yeah, I agree. My intention wasn't to insinuate that using stickum was on par with using steroids. That was a lazy comparison on my part.

Originally posted by Dr_Bill_Walsh:
he already tarnished his legacy the second he donned that puke s**t thay call uniforms in SEA

he and Chris Carter both look like Smurfs

Others have already said this, no doubt in multitude; what a dumb fook to start this brouhaha and diminish his records. What the heck was JR thinking, oh wiat I know; nothin at all...

Ya know in Jerry's defense I'm not sure he even knows what the hell he's talking about when he uses the word stickum. He's probably using that term out of context or incorrectly. It seems he used a substance on his gloves that was commonly used by most of the receivers in the league back then which would make it a complete non-issue. That's what I go with so f**k everybody else already.

GCOAT

Originally posted by ninerjok:
Ya know in Jerry's defense I'm not sure he even knows what the hell he's talking about when he uses the word stickum. He's probably using that term out of context or incorrectly. It seems he used a substance on his gloves that was commonly used by most of the receivers in the league back then which would make it a complete non-issue. That's what I go with so f**k everybody else already.

it's probably that spray they use before taping up an ankle. it's used to get the thin bandage stuff to stick to the skin before applying the tape. I know when I was in HS, the DB's and WR's all sprayed it on their gloves.

If you wore gloves in the 80s or 90s, you sprayed it. Gloves were actually fairly slippery compared to your own skin.

Some players played without the spray, I'm sure. They didn't wear gloves though. Gloves these days are probably as good as the original stickum.

The real stickum was so sticky that you could pick up the ball by laying your hands on it without gripping. The spray wasn't anywhere near that.

Originally posted by Jakemall:


If you wore gloves in the 80s or 90s, you sprayed it. Gloves were actually fairly slippery compared to your own skin.

Some players played without the spray, I'm sure. They didn't wear gloves though. Gloves these days are probably as good as the original stickum.

The real stickum was so sticky that you could pick up the ball by laying your hands on it without gripping. The spray wasn't anywhere near that.

THIS.

It doesn't change anything that Jerry used stickum. Everbody including pros knows that its not that big of a deal. Anyone who would try to make more out of it than it is, is a bitter, hater. I give props to JR for telling the truth about it, when chumps like Carter will probably deny it to the end.

Super Bowl week was not a good week for either Joe Montana or Jerry Rice.