OT: Hawt take

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Rice has numbers that are hard to argue with. But he was blessed throughout his career.

Jerry had the luxury of playing for two of the five greatest quarterbacks in NFL history: Joe Montana and Steve Young. He also played for Jeff Garcia, a three-time Pro Bowler. And as a member of the
Raiders, he caught passes from Rich Gannon, who captured the 2002 MVP award.

Overall, Rice played 20 seasons in the NFL, during which his quarterbacks went to the Pro Bowl 13 times and earned five—count 'em, FIVE—Most Valuable Player awards.

Rice never played for a quarterback who was anything short of spectacular.
 

kerouac9

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Love Fitz for his longevity and one great postseason — but respond to the question posed in the OP:

Was there ever a season when Fitz was the best WR in the NFL? Hard to name one. Maybe 2008?

That year he was 1st team All Pro, but 3rd in DVOA behind Andre Johnson and Roddy White (weird).
 

Jetstream Green

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Calvin Johnson and Andre Johnson are the only two WRs which ever challenged Fitz for a majority of his career as possibly being better, with Julio Jones in the mix... many times Fitz was considered numero uno if one did not consider a guy like Moss or Rice before him
 

LoyaltyisaCurse

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Gonna need to see those ten better WR’s all time...
I worked directly with Jason Smith for a couple years when I was in Tv. He’s a good dude, but he’s wrong here. What else would you expect from a lifelong Jets fan?
 

Cardsfaninlouky

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Rice has numbers that are hard to argue with. But he was blessed throughout his career.

Jerry had the luxury of playing for two of the five greatest quarterbacks in NFL history: Joe Montana and Steve Young. He also played for Jeff Garcia, a three-time Pro Bowler. And as a member of the
Raiders, he caught passes from Rich Gannon, who captured the 2002 MVP award.

Overall, Rice played 20 seasons in the NFL, during which his quarterbacks went to the Pro Bowl 13 times and earned five—count 'em, FIVE—Most Valuable Player awards.

Rice never played for a quarterback who was anything short of spectacular.
Exactly. Yet Larry had to catch passes in the down yrs from Max Hall, John Skelton, Kevin Kolb & Ryan Lindley lol. I'm sure that I left a few dud QB's names out. Logan Thomas, just remembered him.
 
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GatorAZ

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I worked directly with Jason Smith for a couple years when I was in Tv. He’s a good dude, but he’s wrong here. What else would you expect from a lifelong Jets fan?

I like him too. Used to listen to him on ESPN radio back in the day. He was one of the only national guys that wasn’t terrible.
 
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GatorAZ

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If you take away his 2008 postseason run Fitz would still have a higher postseason TD/Receiving Yards per-game rate than Terrell Owens, Steve Largent, Marvin Harrison and Cris Carter.
 

kerouac9

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Calvin Johnson and Andre Johnson are the only two WRs which ever challenged Fitz for a majority of his career as possibly being better, with Julio Jones in the mix... many times Fitz was considered numero uno if one did not consider a guy like Moss or Rice before him
Then why does he only have 2 first-team All Pros?
 

football karma

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i think there is something to be said for longevity and consistency that isnt captured by year to year all-pro designations

all-pro designation has a pretty strong correlation with the teams record -- and Fitz gets penalized here

example: 2007 he had 100 rec., 1,400 yards and 10 tds. Didnt make all-pro. who did? Randy Moss (ok),Terrel Owens (ok) and...... Braylon Edwards.


as an aside: i was just looking at Fitz' career stats. Two things i found interesting:

his third best season was 2011, with 1,400 yards and an avg rec of nearly 18 yards/ catch, 8 tds. That was playing with the combo of Kevin Kolb and John Skelton

also, over 17 seasons -- he has only missed 6 games total out of 263 possible games.
 

az jam

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Fitz belongs on the list but wheat really makes no sense is keeping Terrill Owens off the ist.
 

TheCardFan

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It's an interesting take and I appreciate the challenging mindset.

However, Fitz is 2nd in yards, 2nd in receptions, and I think 6th in TD's.

He has had some of the worst QB in the history of the NFL, he has been on abysmal teams, and he has taken any role the coach wanted him to play without one complaint. I can't think of any other WR in the top 10 that you can say that about.

I think the talent is there as well as the production (despite the challenges). This wouldn't even be a topic if he would have played his career in NE, Dallas, etc.
 

RugbyMuffin

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My argument for Fitzgerald is it was always some other WR and Fitzgerald.

He was compared to the new "best reciever in the game" after the next, throughout his career.

Yet, the only constant was it was always someone else against Fitzgerald.

Thus he was the standard all were compared to for a very long time by NFL standards.

He is a master of his trade, he could play in any era, and is more of a complete WR then any WR before him.

If there are 10 WR better than him "All-Time", then I am sure that my "All-Time" team would smoke whatever crap is being put out there.

Let me guess, Michael Irvin on the top 10, and a bunch of East Coast players.....

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RugbyMuffin

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Because he plays for the Cardinals
Agreed.

Not even going to argue this point either.

Chandler Jones is living this dtruggle as we speak.

Anquan Boldin's best years aren't even known to 99% of the football sphere.

If you play for the Cardinals you gotta be 2x the player to get noticed.

You play on the East Coast, you only have to be as good as Harry Carson, who is a joke to be in the Hall of Fame

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JeffGollin

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The game is all about what happens on the field

What fans and beat writers say is merely static.
 

RON_IN_OC

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Then why does he only have 2 first-team All Pros?
Because he's never/rarely been flashy or a diva. Most, if not all, of those post season awards will go-to someone with more flash or exposure, if the numbers are similar to another player who plays in obscurity or just does his job.

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Ronin

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I see this argument used against Frank Gore. The argument of when was he the best at his position. Meh, what can you do.
 

WildBB

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i think there is something to be said for longevity and consistency that isnt captured by year to year all-pro designations

all-pro designation has a pretty strong correlation with the teams record -- and Fitz gets penalized here

example: 2007 he had 100 rec., 1,400 yards and 10 tds. Didnt make all-pro. who did? Randy Moss (ok),Terrel Owens (ok) and...... Braylon Edwards.


as an aside: i was just looking at Fitz' career stats. Two things i found interesting:

his third best season was 2011, with 1,400 yards and an avg rec of nearly 18 yards/ catch, 8 tds. That was playing with the combo of Kevin Kolb and John Skelton

also, over 17 seasons -- he has only missed 6 games total out of 263 possible games.
I'll bet dollars to doughnuts that it was mtl Edwards' contract year too! :rolleyes:
 
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