Hall of Fame wide receiver Randy Moss joined the “Getcha Popcorn Ready” podcast recently and adamantly claimed that he is the best NFL receiver in the history of the league.
Moss joined fellow NFL receivers Terrell Owens and Matthew Hatchette on their podcast. The first part of their conversation came out on Dec. 8, but the podcast released the second portion of their talk with Moss on Tuesday. Around 33 minutes into the interview, Hatchette asks Moss his opinion on the eternal sports debate. Who’s the best receiver to ever play in the NFL?
“You’re talking to him,” Moss replied confidently.
Many rank former San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Jerry Rice as the best of all-time. It’s a tough choice to argue considering he holds the NFL records for every major statistical category at his position. They include Rice being first in all-time touchdowns (208), receptions (1,549), yards receiving (22,895), and many more. In fact, Owens himself picked Rice as the greatest WR of all-time.
Moss picking himself is not a huge surprise. He’s absolutely in the conversation. However, his pick for second all-time has shocked many. He picked Rice’s former teammate and the podcast’s co-host Owens at number two. The former Minnesota Vikings receiver says Rice is either third or fourth on his list.
You read that correctly, and no it’s not a typo. Moss said Jerry Rice – the Jerry Rice – is either the third or even fourth-best wide receiver to grace the gridiron. For perspective, many consider Rice to be the single greatest football player of all-time, regardless of position. Mainly because of his insane list of career accomplishments and league records.
Randy Moss Says He and T.O. ‘Changed the Game’
Moss went on to explain his reasoning for picking himself and Owens ahead of Rice. The former New England Patriots receiver said that he and T.O. dominated and that they changed the game of football.
“I’m talking about dominating the game and changing the game of football,” Moss explained. “I don’t live on statistics because if you live on statistics and live on championships, that’s all political.”
“You’ve got to throw politics out of the game of football, and look at the impact of what each individual was able to make in the game of football,” Moss added. “I don’t discredit anything that a guy like Marvin (Harrison), Jerry, Terrell has done for the game.”
Owens chimed in and said he didn’t disagree with Moss and his list, even though he puts Rice at number one. He added that Rice played with premier quarterbacks his whole career, which is mostly true. He played with a pair of Hall of Famers on the 49ers in Joe Montana and Steve Young for the majority of his career.
“He never had a drop-off in quarterback,” Owens said on the podcast. “He went from one Hall of Fame quarterback to another.”
Just for reference, Rice won four Super Bowls in his career, and Moss and Owens have a combined zero. In addition, Moss caught 156 touchdowns and Owens caught 153 compared to Rice’s 208. Neither Moss nor Owens broke 16,000 yards receiving in comparison to Rice’s almost 23,000 yards. Finally, Rice’s 1,549 catches also dwarf each player’s receptions by almost 500 and 550 respectively.
It’s a fascinating conversation, and interesting to hear the NFL legends’ opinions. You can listen to the full conversation on the “Getcha Popcorn Ready” podcast below.
