The Wide World of Dirt

I have had to stand idle for several years while watching Jerry Rice galavant around, flashing his Super Bowl rings and flaunting his statistics to everybody within earshot.

I have had to bite my tongue for a number of years while Jerry Rice gets to pop into every single interview he does with a damn GOAT hat on, a GOAT hat that he had made at Lids by some employee who was just trying to make it to the end of their shift.

I have had to sit on my hands and stew for many moons while Jerry Rice sits on his pyrite throne and looks down upon every other receiver who played the game.

And I’m here to tell you: I’m fucking sick of it.

Please don’t get this twisted: Jerry Rice was not a bad receiver.

Do not take where this article is going the wrong way. I’m not here to diminish the man’s impact on the game of football. That is not what I’m here to do today.

I’m here to tell y’all why Randy Moss was right in saying that he is the Greatest of All Time.

On Terrell Owens podcast a week or so ago, Randy Moss made the bold (but correct) claim to the position as the greatest receiver to play the game of football. Moss followed that up by saying that T.O. was second behind him, and Jerry Rice fell in at third or fourth.

I know Twitter and social media in general actively hates nuance, especially Sports Twitter. It’s all about numbers, and I hate to break this to you: I’m not an egghead.

I’m going to make this case in the easiest way possible.

If we put Randy Moss in Jerry Rice’s place on those 49er teams, would they be better?

The answer, to me (and I cannot stress this enough: this is my opinion), is yes.

Randy Moss was much more talented than Jerry Rice, let’s just call a spade a spade. By every physical measurement, Randy was a more impressive athlete than Jerry ever was.

I think we can all agree on that, at the very least. I’m not talking about intangibles. I’m talking about Randy being much bigger and faster than Jerry, which is a fact.

The thing people hold against Randy the most is his drive, which is extremely lame.

He played with one (1) hall of fame QB in his prime throughout his entire career, and he really only played with Brady for two years while Rice played with Montana and Young for six years and seven years, respectively.

Jerry Rice also played with Rich Gannon, who was not a bum despite Rice lovers beliefs. Rich Gannon played at an MVP-level for a few years before Father Time caught up to him.

Was that due in part to the fact that he had Rice and HOFer Tim Brown? Absolutely. Jerry brought out the best in his QBs, but so did Randy.

The difference therein lies in who Randy’s QBs were.

Randall Cunningham came off of a year where he lost two of his three starts and completed 44 of 88 passes. Not a great stat line if you ask me.

Randall was hardly ever an accurate QB, only completing 60% of his passes throughout a whole season once in 1992. What I’m not saying is that Randall was a bad QB by any stretch. That man was a pioneer for mobile QBs, and he should be in the Hall for his influence.

However, his career was winding down, and his completion percentage went down with it.

Randy and Cris Carter made Randall look brand new. He eclipsed the 60% mark for completed passes. He set a personal best with 34 passing TDs. He threw a career-low 10 INTs throughout the year and shattered his best passer rating, setting a new high with 106.

Randall wasn’t the scrambler of old, but Randy and Cris made him look like prime Fran Tarkenton. It was incredible.

Randy and Cris nearly dragged the team to the Super Bowl, but Vikings field goal kicking in pivotal moments failed them. Gary Anderson, who was perfect all year, missed his first kick of the season, giving the Falcons a chance to tie it up, take the lead, and win in overtime.

That trip to the NFC title game looked like the first of many to come for Moss and the Vikings, but they made it back only once for a multitude of reasons.

One of those reasons was the quarterback room.

Randall couldn’t replicate his form, and they brought in Jeff George. George played well, but he wasn’t leading the team to any legitimate success. He was a stopgap. A lame duck.

Thus began the age of Daunte Culpepper, the Central Florida QB the Vikings spent a first-rounder on in 1999 to groom him into the starting role.

Culpepper’s career was marked by good-looking stats but no substance to back them up. Daunte’s impressive first year as a starter saw him lead the Vikings’ return to the NFC championship game where they got goose-egged by the Giants.

An injury-plagued sophomore campaign unraveled his progress, derailing the team’s run. He returned the next year, but he didn’t return to form.

Inconsistency marred Daunte’s 2002 season, throwing five more interceptions (23) than touchdowns, and the team slipped to a 6-10 mark.

Culpepper was much better the next year, but he could only pull the Vikings up to a .500 record in his 14 starts. 2004 is the year people point to when they talk about Culpepper.

The man put up 4717 yards, 39 TDs to 11 INTs, and he completed nearly 70% of his passes, which was almost unheard of at the time. Daunte was ruthlessly efficient that season, and with Randy at his side, they put up a winning record for the first time since 2000.

In spite of all that production, the team only managed an 8-8 record, but this didn’t keep them out of the playoffs in a top-heavy NFC.

They beat the Packers in the wild card round behind the strong connection of Culpepper and Moss, but they fell to the NFC champion Eagles in the divisional round.

Just like that, Randy was done with Minnesota, getting traded to the lowly Oakland Raiders during the offseason.

Culpepper’s career soon collapsed after that, tearing his ACL in the fifth game of the 2005 season and spending the next four seasons with three different teams before finding himself out of the league.

Moss arrived in Oakland with a fresh start and a new lease on his career, but it wasn’t long before people thought his career might be over as well.

Though Culpepper’s success fluctuated during his time playing together with Moss, Randy’s success remained constant, scoring six straight seasons of more than 1200 yards and grabbing 10+ TDs in five of those six seasons.

To put their stats into context, Jerry Rice had only 569 yards more than Randy Moss after six seasons playing with the likes of Joe Montana and Steve Young. All while Randy played with Randall Cunningham, Jeff George, and Daunte Culpepper.

Jerry took a slim lead over Randy in TDs scored during that time, pacing Moss by three TDs under the same circumstances.

Unfortunately, we have no idea Jerry’s targets looked like up to that point because the stat wasn’t tabulated until 1992, so there’s not much to be made there.

However, we do know that Randy gapped Jerry by 79 catches during their first six seasons, practically an entire season’s worth of catches for a great receiver at the time.

With significantly lesser talent under center, Randy Moss kept up with Jerry Rice.

Now, let’s talk about Oakland.

This is where most people hate Randy, but let’s take a closer look at the QB play.

Kerry Collins started 15 of the 16 games played that season, and he was average. He wasn’t good, but he wasn’t bad either. He threw for 3700 yards, 20 TDs, and 12 INTs, but his completion percentage was very low, even for the time, at 53.5%.

Kerry Collins looked worse than prime Joe Namath. You never wanna go prime Joe Namath.

In spite of this average yet erratic play, Randy hauled in 1005 yards, 8 TDs, and 60 catches. Considering the circumstances, that’s a great season in my eyes.

This was also a team in Oakland that couldn’t run the ball effectively. Though LaMont Jordan pored in 1000 yards, he still averaged less than 4 yards per carry. P.U.

While Collins played with the word average, 2006 brought new life into the locker room in the form of Andrew Walter and Aaron Brooks.

And you know what? Sometimes, new life is not good!

The two new QBs started eight games apiece, and they were considerably awful.

Like, historically awful.

The two combined to throw for 2782 yards, 6 TDs, and 21 INTs! People hate on Baker Mayfield, Daniel Jones, and Sam Darnold for much less.

Think about Aaron Walter, the combined QB. If he started for your team, and you were the best receiver in football, wouldn’t you be offended that they’re not building around you?

After chasing down another ill-advised interception, don’t you think you would lose your love for the game just a little bit? I know I would.

People rake Randy over the coals every time this debate is brought up because his stats aren’t great during his Oakland years, but those people don’t tell you about Aaron Walter.

They want you to believe Randy quit on his team, but they don’t ask themselves if the organization quit on him before that.

During this time, the gap between Moss and Rice grew in Rice’s favor for obvious reasons. Randy struggled with injury woes in his last year with Minnesota, so their side-by-side numbers (or top-and-bottom, I can’t make graphics) looked like this through nine seasons.

Jerry: 12,854 yards, 708 catches, and 118 TDs with Joe Montana and Steve Young being the starters throughout that run.

Randy: 10,700 yards, 676 catches, and 100 TDs with Randall Cunningham, Jeff George, Daunte Culpepper, Kerry Collins, and Aaron Walter being the starters throughout that run.

Randy’s career was on life support.

The media blasted him for not playing hard enough and not playing hard every down, and the fans hounded him for the same reasons instead of blaming the malignant organization.

Randy spoke of his unhappiness, and the Raiders looked to trade him out of town.

Lucky for Randy, the Patriots took a chance on the receiver, trading a fourth-round pick that they acquired the day before to bring on one of the sport’s most talented players.

It was a bargain then, and it’s a hilarious one-sided trade now.

Randy didn’t take this second chance lightly.

Teamed up with arguably the best QB of all-time in Tom Brady, Randy shook up the record books like an earthquake.

Randy’s season looked like this: 1493 yards, 98 catches, and an NFL record 23 TD catches on the Patriots’ way to claiming the first undefeated regular season since the ’72 Dolphins.

The team’s march toward perfection ended with a Plaxico Burress TD in the final minute of Super Bowl 42, losing to the Giants, but the Patriots’ faithful could look ahead for the seemingly bright future that awaited them.

Or so they thought.

Reigning regular season MVP Tom Brady went down in the first game of the season, leaving unheralded Matt Cassel to come off the bench and start the rest of the season.

For what it’s worth, Cassel was a good quarterback in 2008. Over 16 games played, he racked up 3700 yards, 21 TDs, and 11 INTs, all while completing 63.4% of his passes. For a first-year starter, those numbers look sterling.

In fact, Cassel’s 2008 campaign was just a few shades off of Aaron Rodgers’ maiden voyage in the same year. It sounds crazy, but the stats are there while Cassel won five more games.

Randy’s season was obviously affected by this. He had to develop chemistry with a new passer during the season, but he found a way to make it work.

He notched his 9th 1000-yard season in 11 tries, and he was responsible for 11 of Cassel’s 21 TDs through the air with 69 catches to boot.

Some people refer to this as a down year for Moss, but given the circumstances, he excelled so much that he nearly led his team to the playoffs despite losing his MVP QB.

The MVP quarterback returned for the 2009 season, but it was clear Brady had some rust that he needed to work off. Getting your knee surgically repaired isn’t very easy, folks

The rust came in the form of interceptions, which most thought Brady would stop throwing after his 2007 season where he threw 8 INTS against a then-record 50 TDs.

He wouldn’t match the historic output of his former self, but he put up some damn good numbers. 4400 yards, 28 TDs, and 13 INTs while bolstering a solid 65.7 completion percentage.

Brady wasn’t historically good, but he was still throwing the pigskin at a high level.

Randy benefitted from having his starting QB back, raking in 1264 yards on 82 catches and adding 13 TDs on the season.

In his two full seasons with Brady, Moss pulled in 36 TD catches, nearly matching Rice’s best two seasons with Montana under center.

The good times wouldn’t last for Randy and Tom, though.

Randy began feeling like he was unwanted at the beginning of the 2010 season, and talks of an extension with the Patriots broke down.

His first few weeks with the team showed he still had plenty left in the tank, scoring three touchdowns in the first four games, including an escape from Revis Island for a slick one-handed grab in the endzone against the Jets.

Belichick sent Moss back to Minnesota for a third-rounder, and Moss got to team up with a weathered Brett Favre. Though the Vikings were a Favre miscue away from the Super Bowl the year before, the wheels began falling off the wagon.

Moss spent four games in Minnesota with moderate success, but he stirred up controversy there by speaking the truth about his head coach being unfit for his role as coach.

Brad Childress was taken aback at the notion he wasn’t qualified for his job, and he waived Moss after his four-game stint with his original team. People called Randy a crybaby, but his criticism was valid enough for ownership to fire Childress less than three weeks later.

The Tennessee Titans picked Randy up off of waivers, and their marriage wasn’t particularly fruitful either. Tennessee reunited Moss with Kerry Collins, but Collins shared QB responsibilities with Vince Young.

Vince Collins started 15 games together, and they scraped and clawed their way to 3078 yards, 24 TDs, and 11 INTs, completing about 58% of their passes. They were fine.

The Titans, though, were a run-heavy offense centered around second-year back Chris Johnson, and their leading receiver, Kenny Britt, only managed 775 yards on the year.

Randy got pulled in by a team that clearly lacked an identity in the passing game, and being a midseason addition, he never established himself in the offense.

After being dished by two teams who claimed they wanted you, can you blame him?

Randy’s contract expired at season’s end, and he packed up his locker and went into the broadcast booth, retiring after a storied 13-season career.

It wasn’t long before Randy recognized his mistake, though.

He received an opportunity to play for a contender in the San Francisco 49ers in 2012, and he couldn’t pass it up. He wanted to take one last stab at a Super Bowl.

While his stats don’t look imposing by any stretch, it’s important to remember who was under center: Alex Smith, a premium game manager.

In the nine games Smith started, he threw for 1737 yards, 13 TDs, and 5 INTs with a 70.2% completion percentage. Smith cut teams with efficiency in the passing game, but his production in terms of numbers was obviously lacking.

Smith suffered a concussion during his ninth start, giving way to second-year player Colin Kaepernick to start for the team. Kap was more of a gunslinger, throwing for more yards than Smith, but his legs helped him keep plays alive, taking eight less sacks than Smith.

This play style revitalized the offense, and Kaepernick led the team all the way to Super Bowl 47 where they faced the Baltimore Ravens. Though the team lost a nailbiter, Moss plugged away and hauled in two catches for 41 yards, a respectable swan song.

Randy’s final season ended with him being the fourth-leading receiver on the 49ers roster, racking up 434 yards on 28 catches and 3 TDs. Not bad for a guy coming out of retirement.

After 14 seasons playing the brutal game of football, Randy said his final farewell and went home to go fishing for shoes, I guess.

Randy’s final career stats look like this: 982 catches (15th all-time), 15,292 yards (4th all-time), and 156 TDs (2nd all-time.)

Jerry Rice put up 1139 catches, 17,612 yards, and 164 yards in his first 14 seasons in the league, and as you can see, Rice’s stats are better.

When you step back and realize who was throwing them the ball though, that’s when Randy’s case looks better.

Jerry Rice played with Joe Montana and Steve Young for the first 14 seasons of his career, and if you’re keeping score at home, that’s two Hall of Fame quarterbacks flinging Rice the football.

Randy Moss played with a withered Randall Cunningham, journeyman Jeff George, inconsistent Daunte Culpepper, Kerry Collins (twice), Andrew Walter, Aaron Brooks, Tom Brady, noname Matt Cassel, withered Brett Favre, Vince Young, Alex Smith, and Colin Kaepernick.

All of the 11 quarterbacks that played with Moss played at least seven games in a season when he was with the team, almost 50% of the season schedule.

Of those seasons, four would be considered elite: Cunningham’s 1998 season, Culpepper’s 2004 season (which Randy missed a big chunk of), Brady’s 2007 season, and Brady’s 2009 season.

If Randy had the same level of sustained organizational competency throughout his career as Rice, don’t you think he would’ve been more successful?

People can say all day that Rice made Joe Montana and Steve Young, and while I won’t engage with that level of foolishness, you have to admit that playing for the same organization with the same quarterback every year is beneficial to a wide receiver.

When it comes to the question of who is better, I always ask myself this:

If I put Randy in Jerry’s place on those 49ers teams, would they have been better and vice versa?

Randy would have been amazing if he had a HOFer throwing to him every single Sunday, and his numbers would have exceeded Rice. There’s no doubt in my mind.

Jerry would have struggled having to be on middling teams. It’s why he left San Francisco and Oakland later in his career. They fell into mediocrity, and he wanted nothing to do with them.

Rice is an all-time great receiver, please don’t take what I’ve said the wrong way, but I think teams and coaches feared Randy Moss more than they feared Jerry Rice.

The gap between them through 14 seasons is only 157 catches, 2330 yards, and 8 TDs. Randy carried most of those teams to better records than they were really worth.

The Man from Rand was just better than the Rice Man, no shame in that.

And also, Jerry Rice used stickum for most of his career.