Who’s the greatest wide receiver of all time? It's obviously 49ers legend Jerry Rice, right?
Well, at least one person believes it's actually Randy Moss -- Moss himself.
Moss joined another Hall of Fame wideout, Terrell Owens, on his “T.O. and Hatch” podcast recently and mentioned himself as the greatest receiver of all time … ahead of Rice, who he deems "third or fourth."
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“You’re talking to him,” Moss said in response to a question about who's the G.O.A.T. receiver (h/t KNBR).
“I’ll put myself first, I’ll put T.O. second. I think Jerry [Rice] is probably third or fourth. I’m talking about dominating the game and changing the game of football. I don’t live on statistics because if you live on statistics and live on championships, that’s all political. You’ve seen guys released or cut from a team just by a couple words in the media. You’ve seen guys not given contracts just because of the color of their skin. 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.”
Both Owens and Moss agreed that in their opinion, defenses back in Rice’s heydey weren’t as complex as they were during Moss and Owens' era. To that extent, Owens’ co-host Matthew Hatchette said he also considers the fact that he Moss and Owens were jumping over dudes during plays as a testament to their greatness.
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I mean, everyone is entitled to their opinion, but the stats don't back up Moss' claim. While Moss claims that he's not a big "stats guy," the numbers are pretty stark.
Moss piled up 15,292 yards and 156 touchdowns in his career, along with four All-Pro and six Pro Bowl selections.
Meanwhile, Rice holds NFL records in receptions (1,549), receiving yards (22,895) and total touchdowns (208) … just to name a few. He's a 10-time First-Team All-Pro selection (13-time Pro Bowler) who many consider the greatest player of all time, let alone greatest receiver.
RELATED: Rice wants Aiyuk to break his 49ers rookie receiving record
However, this isn’t the first time Moss called himself the best.
Back in 2013 during his time with the 49ers, Moss proclaimed on Super Bowl Media Day that he was the best “to ever do it.” He also added the numbers don’t necessarily characterize what should be defined as the G.O.A.T., especially with a couple of down seasons he had in the past.
It's understandable that in some cases, stats might not define all players. But to compare Moss' career to Rice, who is also three-time Super Bowl champion and former Super Bowl MVP, is pretty absurd.
At least Moss has stood his ground in what he’s said after all of these years, even if it's a pretty outlandish claim.
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