The truth isn't grainy; Rice the greatest ever

Jerry Rice's career can currently be summed up in numbers. Forty is his age. He passed the 1,400 career reception mark, passing the milestone last Sunday against San Diego. And then there is 200.\nNow that Rice is on the verge of accomplishing a most astounding, unimaginable feat that most football players, even great players, could only dream of accomplishing, I think it's safe to say that Rice is not merely the greatest wide receiver ever but in fact the greatest player to ever put on shoulder pads.\nRice, an Oakland Raiders wide receiver, has 199 career touchdowns going into the Raiders' Sunday matchup against Kansas City. Given Kansas City's porous defense, it seems as if the only drama won't be whether Rice gets No. 200 but whether he gets No. 300. Even five or six years ago, the notion that a player could score 200 touchdowns was rather absurd. He broke the record for touchdown receptions in 1992. The record was 101. Breaking monumental records like that usually mean your career is on a downhill slide, but Rice has kept it up for 10 years.\nBesides the touchdown record, he holds 13 other records, including receptions and yards. I could list them all, but there would be no more column space for me to make my case.\nHe is the greatest postseason receiver ever. He or Joe Montana is the greatest player in the history of the Super Bowl. He broke Walter Payton's record for total yards from scrimmage earlier this season.\nHe played 16 years for the San Francisco 49ers, who let him go as a free agent following the 2000 season. The 49ers didn't think he could play anymore, but last year he caught 83 passes for 1,139 yards with nine touchdowns in his first year as a Raider. Frankly, how could one blame the 49ers for giving up on him? He looked old toward the end of his stay in San Francisco, and he didn't have the speed or agility to get open anymore. He seemed deluded as to what he thought he could do. He proved us wrong.\nPayton may have been the most complete football player ever. He ran, caught passes, blocked, threw several touchdown passes on halfback option plays, and carried the Bears for 13 years. No team ever relied on one player for longer.\nJim Brown averaged 5.2 yards per carry during his nine-year career, which is so good it's ridiculous. Running backs don't average that much on Madden 2002. His numbers were hurt simply because seasons were only 12 games long when he started and didn't get to be 14 games in length until his fifth season; in addition, he retired young. He had 1,544 yards and 21 TDs in 1965 before walking away from football.\nJohnny Unitas, who passed away Sept. 11, 2002, was the greatest quarterback and leader ever. Smart and tough, he was the first master of the two-minute drill and still holds the record with TD passes in 47 consecutive games. He didn't age as gracefully as Rice has though.\nBut Rice, who should bear no argument in determining who the best wide receiver ever is -- Don Hutson, the great Packers' wideout of the 1930s and 1940s ranks No. 2, now rates as the best player ever. He was more explosive than Payton, and he won more. He played harder and longer than Brown ever did. \nWhile it is practically unthinkable for any player to last 18 years in the brutal NFL, for Rice to play 18 years as a wide receiver is insane since it is a position based on quickness and precision. Lose a step and your career is in jeopardy. The players who have lasted this long are usually linemen like Jackie Slater, Jim Marshall and Bruce Matthews.\nThe common case against Rice typically is that old canard that a wide receiver cannot be the greatest player ever because wide receivers aren't tough. Rice disproved that in 1997 when he came back three months after a torn knee ligament when almost all medical experts thought he would miss the rest of the season.\nAnother argument is that he played with such great quarterbacks that they made him look good. Montana, Steve Young and, to a lesser extent, Rich Gannon are a special group. All of them are or were accurate, determined, instinctive and smart. Sure, they made him look good.\nBut he made them look good too.