Greatest WR you've seen in your lifetime

[Jay_Fixit]

Live - Calvin Johnson (saw Rice when he was with Seattle so doesn't count).

All-Time - Rice. Not the fastest, not the most athletic but just pure amazing.

[Solomon Grundy]

Todd Christensen

Edited August 14, 2017 by the skycap

[hondo in seattle]

My God! With the exception of 'Kemp', are you all millennials??

 

Bambi

Otis Taylor

Fred Bilnikoff

 

All 1sr ballot HOFers. All better than anyone previously mentioned. HM: Steve Largent.

 

Well, I'm not a millennial. I remember - with great respect - seeing all those guys play live.

 

But I think Rice was better.

 

But I also think that it's a close race. When it comes to RBs, I think Jim Brown and OJ were the cream of the crop - head and shoulders above the rest.

 

When it comes to WR, though, I think it's a tougher call. There's a bunch of roughly equally great guys at the top of the list.

Edited August 14, 2017 by hondo in seattle

[thebandit27]

 

Well, I'm not a millennial. I remember - with great respect - seeing all those guys play live.

 

But I think Rice was better.

 

I feel in love with football in the 80's and watched Rice his whole career.

 

I grew up thinking that I'd never see anyone play the WR position better than he did...and when Randy Moss burst onto the scene, I had to wrestle with whether or not he was better.

 

By the time 2013 had rolled around, I was astonished to come to the realization that--somewhere along the way--I became thoroughly convinced that I'd rather have Calvin Johnson in his prime than either of them.

[mrags]

What record?

 

And I'm not doubting you I just don't know what record he's near

if you average his receptions, yards, and TDs over his career he passes all of Rices records by about year 16-17. You talk talk all you want about him being beat up. But Johnson never missed more than a few games a season. He was also aver a year younger when he began his career than Rice. So doing it all 3-5 years sooner plus the fact that he's a year younger would mean he would only have to play until 37-38. Not 42 like Rice did.

 

Rice in the meantime missed almost all of 97 due to injury. And his final 2 years were not good I'll give credit for his age. But 400 yards and 800 yards is not very good.

[row_33]

 

I feel in love with football in the 80's and watched Rice his whole career.

 

I grew up thinking that I'd never see anyone play the WR position better than he did...and when Randy Moss burst onto the scene, I had to wrestle with whether or not he was better.

 

By the time 2013 had rolled around, I was astonished to come to the realization that--somewhere along the way--I became thoroughly convinced that I'd rather have Calvin Johnson in his prime than either of them.

 

Rice gets points for what he did with it and being a class act.

 

But Moss gets points for the physical edge and I like the flakes and loons and crazies.

[Fallser]

Unless you are younger than 35, it should be Jerry Rice and it's not even close.

 

This. Rice was on a different level than Moss or any other receiver of today...if he played in today's NFL, his stats would be even more ridiculous.

[GoBills808]

Sammy Watkins.

[JohnBonhamRocks]

Bobby Shaw

[row_33]

Todd Christensen

 

he would have voted it that way, despite all the contradictions...

[TheElectricCompany]

Marvin Harrison, TO, Randy Moss, all insane.

I'm 29, I didn't really see peak Jerry Rice, so can't put him up there.
I know he's still establishing himself, but OBJ is already up there. I can't think of a guy with a better highlight reel in his first three seasons. Of course, his stats are undeniable and unprecedented.

Edited August 14, 2017 by TheElectricCompany

[Buffalo716]

if you average his receptions, yards, and TDs over his career he passes all of Rices records by about year 16-17. You talk talk all you want about him being beat up. But Johnson never missed more than a few games a season. He was also aver a year younger when he began his career than Rice. So doing it all 3-5 years sooner plus the fact that he's a year younger would mean he would only have to play until 37-38. Not 42 like Rice did.

Rice in the meantime missed almost all of 97 due to injury. And his final 2 years were not good I'll give credit for his age. But 400 yards and 800 yards is not very good.

Ok I get your point

 

But he still isn't at rices 200+TDs even if you give him 9 a year for 8 more years. He's at 83 in 9 years. You can give him 8 more years of 9 TDs and he's only at 172. Agree he'd be super close to yards record

 

And rice wasn't super good his last 2 years but 1200 yards and 90 catches at 40 is damn good

Edited August 14, 2017 by Buffalo716

[Ralonzo]

I'm old enough. Jerry Rice. His numbers were as far beyond his peers as Wayne Gretzky's, just unprecedented. Couldn't be stopped, made the biggest plays at the biggest times.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJ68KAHv1Iw

 

 

[thebandit27]

As I've said, I never thought I'd find myself arguing anyone over Jerry Rice, but I can't get away from this one thought:

 

Find me any receiver in history that could do everything that Calvin Johnson could do.

 

Rice was phenomenal, but he never made contested catches against 3 defenders the way Calvin did.

 

Yes, Rice will always go down as the best because he was the most productive for the longest period of time, and I'm fine with that. Like I said, I never thought I'd find myself convinced otherwise.

 

For me, I'll take Calvin in his prime over anyone else I've ever watched.

Edited August 14, 2017 by thebandit27

[White Linen]

If you saw him play it's hard to pick anyone other than Jerry Rice.

 

I'll just list some guys I liked watching over the years.

 

Largent

Monk

Bruce/Holt

Brown

Fitz

Reed

Ocho

Mason

Jeffires

[Gavin in Va Beach]

Moss should be the answer. He was an absolute freak of nature...almost the perfect receiver. Sadly he could be childish and he let his ego get in the way far too often to be considered the best.

 

So it's between Jerry Rice and Calvin Johnson. Would Rice have had the same success as Megatron with Stafford and associated journeymen throwing to him? I don't think so. Would Megatron have had the same success with Montana and Young throwing to him? Oh hell yes. His numbers would have been astronomical.

 

Answer: Calvin Johnson

[mrags]

Ok I get your point

 

But he still isn't at rices 200+TDs even if you give him 9 a year for 8 more years. He's at 83 in 9 years. You can give him 8 more years of 9 TDs and he's only at 172. Agree he'd be super close to yards record

 

And rice wasn't super good his last 2 years but 1200 yards and 90 catches at 40 is damn good

i don't discredit Rice for doing what he did at 40+. I also can't stand any player that sticks around too long. It was clear it was his time to go 2 years before he did. I watched him and he wasn't good those last 2 seasons. They were forcing it to him just because he was Jerry Rice.

 

There's a chance that Megatron could have broke all those records that Rice holds. Of course we will never know.

 

For what it's worth, I'd take Megatron over Rice in their primes any day.

[Buffalo716]

i don't discredit Rice for doing what he did at 40+. I also can't stand any player that sticks around too long. It was clear it was his time to go 2 years before he did. I watched him and he wasn't good those last 2 seasons. They were forcing it to him just because he was Jerry Rice.

There's a chance that Megatron could have broke all those records that Rice holds. Of course we will never know.

For what it's worth, I'd take Megatron over Rice in their primes any day.

I agree . Seeing a dominate player past his prime is sad

[Bills4everNY]

Moss.

[Big Gun]

Rice