Jerry Rice Misses The Old School

When it comes to debating the greatest of all time in certain sports or specific positions, there are very few conversations that end with a unanimous answer. Of course, there’s LeBron James vs. Michael Jordan, there’s Messi and Ronaldo, and there are even people who will try and tell you that Patrick Mahomes is entering the GOAT talk (no Complex pun intended) with Tom Brady.

But there is at least one NFL GOAT debate that doesn’t need any back-and-forth: the greatest wide receiver of all time. Anyone who knows anything about football will tell you that that title belongs to none other than Jerry Rice. Well, except for the man himself.

“I would never say myself,” Rice says. “But it is great when people say that I am, but I just, yeah, it sends a sensation through my body that it's weird.”

If Rice won’t admit it, the stats will do all the talking for him. He leads the NFL in career receiving yards (22,895), receptions (1,549), and receiving touchdowns (197) to go along with 12 All-Pro nods and three Super Bowl rings.

While Rice wasn’t willing to talk too much about his prowess, he was more than willing to talk about the differences between his NFL and the current game. When asked to rank the top 5 wideouts playing today, he quickly added two of his hometown San Francisco 49ers to the list, but when that was called into question, he begrudgingly walked it back after forgetting one of his favorites.

Now, Rice has partnered with Rold Gold to give one fan a chance to win an all-expenses paid $1,000 grocery store shopping spree coached by the Hall of Famer.

“It's all about this winner and trying to let them get in my head just like I was on the football field,” Rice says. “But it's just a little different surroundings, we are going to be in the grocery store.”

For more on the sweepstakes, Rice’s thoughts on the current state of the NFL, hip top five wide receivers of all time, and more, read the full interview below. This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

Rose Gold

Can you talk a bit more about this partnership with Rold Gold and why it’s so important to you?

Well Ben, I have teamed up with Rold Gold, the official pretzel sponsor of the NFL, and like my fans, I take snacking real seriously and Rold Gold is giving fans a chance to win a $1,000 grocery store shopping spree and the grand prize winner, they get a chance to hang out with me. I'm already planning this, it’s almost like this is preseason. You've got to have a strategy when you go into the grocery store and they're going to have that cart ready. We're going to try to stack the cart with pretzels, all of that. So my thing is to come up with a game plan, it's just like doing training camp. I always wanted to be that football player that set the standard. Everything that I have learned from football, I'm going to try to carry that over to the grocery store, come up with a strategy being efficient, and I'm going to basically be ready to go. But they better be ready because I'm going to be fired up.

You're obviously taking this chance to help somebody grocery shop very seriously. What tips would you give them from your usual trips to the grocery store? What do you want to bring to this shopping experience?

When I go to the grocery store now, I try to be efficient. I feel like I know exactly what aisle I want to go down. I know what I want to get. I want to get in there, I want to get in and out, just like that.

I don't want to be there all day. But it is just that, I am going to have a great opportunity to really engage with this winner and it's all about this winner and trying to let them get in my head just like I was on the football field. But it's just a little different surroundings, we are going to be in the grocery store. So I'm excited about that opportunity.

Now I want to transition into a bit of football talk. We're one week down in the NFL season. Based on what you saw this weekend, what are your thoughts on what the season has in store for us?

I think it's going to be an exciting year. To see Kansas City win that football game [on opening night], I actually thought Baltimore had a chance to come back and tie that up, but that toe, you got to be able to get that toe down inside. As a receiver, we always knew exactly where we were on the football field. I always looked at it like this, it's just like doing a dance. I used to call it the “rat tat tat,” getting the feet down. But overall, even with the 49ers and the Jets Monday night, I think the 49ers did what they had to do. Jordan Mason, man, you talking about a guy running the ball hard. Then Brock Purdy, he's leading the 49ers and it was great to see him outdo Aaron Rodgers. Then Fred Warner and that defense, they got pressure on Aaron Rodgers and all that. But I think it's going to be an exciting year for the NFL for football and you just gotta sit back and watch who's going to bring that trophy home.

Getty Images

Everybody loves to play the rankings games and obviously who better to rank NFL receivers than the greatest of all time? Who are your top five receivers in the NFL right now?

Oh my god, man, you're going to take me there. Oh my god.

We gotta do it

Justin Jefferson. I would say probably Davante Adams. I gotta go Deebo Samuel, then Cooper Kupp. Then I'm going to put my other guy in there, Brandon Aiyuk.

Two Niners?

I gotta put two Niners in there, man. That's the way I roll. I think Justin Jefferson, he sets the standard but still you got Ceedee Lamb out there too because Ceedee is killing it man. Okay, alright. I got to put Ceedee Lamb in there. Okay, I'll go [Justin Jefferson, Davante Adams], Ceedee Lamb, Deebo Samuel and Cooper Kupp.

Just to make it even harder for you, what about of all time, your top five receivers of all time?

I don't know man. Terrell Owens, Randy Moss, [long pause].

What about yourself?

I would never say myself, but I got a chance to play the greatest game ever and I think it was the fans that energized me to always leave it out there on the football field. But it is great when people say that I am, but I just, yeah, it sends a sensation through my body that it's weird, you know what I'm saying? Because I didn't actually think I would be as successful coming from a small predominant black school, getting a chance to play with some of the greatest Hall of Famers ever and getting a chance to play on the big stage

When you're watching the NFL today, are there any pet peeves that you have watching today's receivers or certain things that today's receivers are doing that didn't really happen when you were in the league?

Well, what I would say is probably that everything is so much more condensed now. They don't spread the field like they used to and everything is about the run pass option, the bubble screens, all of that. The ball is not being thrown as deep as when I played. There was always one-on-one coverage outside and stuff like that. You don't see a lot of that. You don't see a lot of bump-and-run. So the game done changed a lot, but players are more protected, which I don't have a problem with, but we still like to see that little gladiator aspect of the game from back in the day.

Along the same lines, Tom Brady has said that the quality of play in the NFL continues to get worse and worse. Do you think that’s true and if so, why?

I would think Tom Brady is the one that really benefited from that, right? Because he got seven Super Bowls. I think football will always be the greatest sport ever, but you have to find a way to protect players because it is such a violent sport. But still you got your loyal fans, they're going to show up, they're going to root for their teams and all of that and try to root them on.

Who was your favorite defensive back to go one-on-one against when you were playing?

I didn't like defensive backs. I'm going to be honest with you, probably the two fastest ones. Deion Sanders and Darrell Green. But my thing is when you got two great defensive backs, that's what you live for, man. Those are the battles that you want to be part of because you want to see how good you are. So a lot of sleepless nights before, but going up against those guys just made me better and hopefully I made them better.

If you could choose one defensive back to line up against today and test your skills against today's game, who would it be?

Oh my God. Oh, that's a good one. Because you don't see that man-to-man coverage anymore, man. Everything is more zone. Not saying there's not quality backs out there, but during our era it was real simple. If you couldn't play man-to-man, bump and run, it was just no way you were going to be on that football field. So I still have to lean towards the old school.

What about you lining up against a guy like Sauce Gardner or Pat Surtain?Well I was watching Sauce Monday night and he seems to be, he looks like he's about 6 '3'’ and about 190 pounds. But I didn't see a lot of bump and run, but I know he's one of those guys that are rated really high and also I think his entire contract is guaranteed so he got a lot of guaranteed money. But yeah, you can tell he's a long, tall, confident defensive back and that would've been a great challenge.

You're getting to share this game that you love so much with your sons, both football players, ones in the league, one's potentially on the way. What is it like to have that opportunity to get to share football with your family?Because my son is with the Chargers now, it's just trying to let him know that yeah, you are part of the 53 now, but you still have to continue to work now. You really, really got to put the work in to prove to your teammates, to the coaches that, hey look, ‘I deserve to be on that football field.’ My son knows that he can always come to me. I'm not going to be one of those parents that's going to be overbearing or anything like that, but if you want to ask me something about a route or a defense or something like that, I'm willing to pass that on. But I'm more of a parent just being there supporting him and I think he gets it, but he knows that he's going to have to earn it.

You got to catch the ball from some of the all-time greats. I keep asking you about today's game, but if you could catch passes from one quarterback in today's NFL, who would it be and why?

Oh my God. Could be Patrick Mahomes. It could be Brock Purdy because I actually had Brock Purdy throw me a couple balls during the warmups and the velocity on that ball, man, that tight spiral and stuff like that. It was really cool. Aaron Rogers, there's so many good quarterbacks in the league now. I like Josh Allen because he's a big quarterback from Buffalo, Justin Herbert with the Chargers, I could go on and on. But if I had to pick one, you know how I'm going with my team, Brock, 

Are the Niners finally getting over the hump this year?

Man, we got to do it. I'm telling you, we cannot get back there again and lose. Everyone is picking Kansas City to three-peat. But I'm hoping to see the Niners and KC going at it again in the Super Bowl. We're going to kick the door in.