5 Rings for Brady!!
In the Starting Line-Up
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And there we have the point I was about to make. IMO, when comparing Moss and Rice, there are 4 things we know, or at least 4 points I feel are facts:
1)Right now Rice is unquestionably, the GOAT WR. until Moss can do this for a couple of years, wwe cannot debate this seriously.
2)Now the reason why point 1 is true isn't because Moss hasn't ben as productive, or hasn't shown us enough to prove GOAT worthiness. I believe Moss has, over his first 10 seasons, already proven that he could be as great as Rice in a given season, minus last year with Oakland. Obviously, 10 seasons does not a career make, which is why my first point still stand. Jerry Rice is biggest asset when we look at his place in history was his insane longevity.
and now 2 points about intangibles that aren't on the stat sheet
3)Moss changed an offense much more than Rice ever did. As Satchboogie mentioned in his post, Moss is arguably the WR who's faced the highest number of double & triple coverage in this league's history. Even Belichick last April used those exact words when describing the Moss acquisition, saying he's the WR who has BY FAR seen the most double and triple teams since he came into the league.
4)Expanding on my 3rd point, Moss not only commanded attention but has an EXTREMELY unique skillset. He is, unquestionably the best deep threat in NFL History, he stretches the field to such an insane degree that for his QBs and fellow WRs he was a godsend. We can compare Rice to Marvin in being a great possession receiver, we can also compare him to TO in being great with catches over the middle and getting extra yardage. There is no one to compare to Randy Moss and what he's given offenses, and still gives offense. He's truly one of a kind. We already know what he did for Cunningham, Jeff George, Daunte, and now Brady. But he also gave WRs like Wes Welker a probowl year, he gave Nate Barleson a 1000 Yd season, he gave Chris Carter a couple of probowl seasons when his ability had diminished. Its is not a coincidence the top two offenses were both wth Moss on them.
So I think as others have mentioned, Moss has the intangible edge over Rice because of points 3 & 4. Because of those intangibles, its not a reach to say if he doesnt need to break Rice's career marks but simply approximates them, as well as, obviously, winning a couple of SBs, in order to get serious consideration as the GOAT WR.
Now, so Rice defenders dont get confused, I'll repeat that Rice now is still the GOAT, and its not realistic to say Moss is in that debate, and thats because he doesnt have the years. BUT its also not realistic to say Moss is a longshot away, or not in the same stratosphere, or doenst have a chance of becoming the GOAT WR. Because he can do all those things, and he's probably the only one who can.
This is far and away the best post on the subject. Agree strongly with all points.
Just don't confuse some of us as Rice defenders simply because we understand the difference between current GOAT and potential future GOAT.
I would like nothing better than to see Moss become the GOAT, as a Patriot. He just isn't there yet. He doesn't need to match Rice record for record, he just needs to build his own post season resume and put a couple rings on his finger.