Judge & Jury: Was Randy Moss Right When He Said He's Best WR Ever?

Each week the Talk of Fame Two consults historians and/or media members for answers to the Question du Jour. After hearing from them, a judge – in this case, Hall-of-Fame voter Clark Judge -- renders a verdict based on their responses. This week we checked in with a jury of historians and Hall-of-Fame voters with this question

Q: Randy Moss recently declared himself “by far” the best wide receiver of all time “because of how I changed the game of football.” Do you agree? And, if not, whom do you think is?

THE JURY

JOHN McCLAIN, Hall of Fame voter, Houston.

“Jerry Rice is the greatest receiver in NFL history. Randy Moss is one of the greatest. Rice had an unparalleled work ethic that allowed him to compile extraordinary statistics and make spectacular catches in the biggest games, and he’s got the rings to prove it! Rice played a substantial role in helping Joe Montana and Steve Young join in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.”

KEN CRIPPEN, founder and lead instructor, the Football Learning Academy.

“While a great receiver, Moss is not better than Jerry Rice or Don Hutson. For the people who love stats (and not that stats tell the story, but we do live in a fantasy-football world), Hutson led the league in receiving yards/game for the season eight times, Rice six times, Moss zero times. Rice has the edge in Pro Bowls (13) over Moss (8). Rice also made two all-decade teams; Moss made one. Rice also has a Super Bowl MVP award that Moss does not. As I said, Moss is a great player, but he’s behind Rice and Hutson.”

BARRY WILNER, At-large Hall-of-Fame voter.

“This might be the easiest Judge & Jury question ever. While we can debate linebackers (Butkus or Taylor) and linemen (Munoz or Parker), running backs (Jim Brown, Barry Sanders or Walter Payton) and even quarterbacks (Brady, Montana or Graham), there is no debating wide receivers. Randy Moss might be top five. Jerry Rice is No.1, and it isn’t remotely close.”

JACK SILVERSTEIN, Chicago’s sports historian.

“I love Randy Moss. I wanted the Bears to pick him in 1998, and he was the rare NFC Central player whom I felt privileged to watch twice a year (even though he was killing us). I can’t say he was the best ever, not in a world where Jerry Rice exists for reasons of production, consistency, skills and peak. I also thought Moss’ postseason career was a bit of a letdown for his talent, especially when compared to Rice, Terrell Owens and Larry Fitzgerald. But so what? I don’t feel the need to rank Moss in that way. He was an artist – a gift to the game – and I’m grateful to have seen him. But Jerry Rice is the greatest wide receiver of all time.”

UPTON BELL, former NFL executive and son of former NFL commissioner Bert Bell.

“The most inventive receiver I’ve ever seen was Raymond Berry, who did change the game in a different way from the late 1950s to the mid-1960s. He wasn’t fast, and he wasn’t particularly big as a receiver. But he had moves the likes of which I haven’t seen even today. He could turn a defensive back into a revolving, confused top. He made defensive backs look ridiculous. Randy Moss and Calvin Johnson were leaping ballet dancers reminiscent of Baryshnikov. They took the game to a new dimension. But Jerry Rice combined it all to change the game in a different way. He didn’t have the pure speed or leaping ability of Moss, but he had sneaky speed and Berry-like moves … along with being clutch in every big game. He is the greatest receiver I’ve seen. Randy Moss leaps tall buildings. Jerry Rice wins the war.”

DAN POMPEI, Hall-of-Fane voter, Chicago.

“If I had to pick a wide receiver for one play, I’d pick Moss. No wide receiver was more difficult to cover. If I had to pick a wide receiver for one game, I’d pick Jerry Rice. If I had to pick one wide receiver for a season, I’d pick Don Hutson. And if I had to pick a wide receiver for a career, I’d choose Rice again. Rice has earned the title of greatest wide receiver of the modern era.”

GEORGE BOZEKA, president, Pro Football Researchers Association.

"Randy Moss is definitely one of the greatest wide receivers to play the game. But he is not the best ever. Nor did he change the game of football. That claim (he changed the game) has to be one of the most misused mantras in today's commentary scene. The greatest wide receiver in pro football history was Don Hutson. Hutson was the most dominant wide receiver of his generation. As the game's first modern wide receiver, Hutson revolutionized the position, creating many of the pass routes that are common today. He laid the foundation for Moss, Rice, Fitzgerald, Largent and the other wide receivers on the NFL 100 All-Time Team. During his 11-year Hall-of-Fame career with the Packers, Hutson led the league in receptions eight times, receiving touchdowns nine times and receiving yards seven times! He was a first-team All-Pro eight times and league MVP twice. His record-setting career numbers more than doubled his closest contemporaries, plus he was a member of three NFL championship teams. Hutson simply was in a class by himself."

RON BORGES, Hall-of-Fame voter, New England.

“Randy Moss was the greatest receiver of his era, but how did he ‘change the game?’ He didn’t. The receiver who changed the game was Don Hutson, who was … and remains … the greatest receiver of all time. For 11 years, from 1935-45, Hutson invented the position of wide receiver and dominated it like no other. He led the NFL in receptions eight times. Moss did it once. He led the NFL in receiving yards seven times. Moss did it once. He led the NFL in receiving touchdowns nine times. Moss did it five. He was All-Pro eight times. Moss was All-Pro four. Who was the greatest wide receiver again? Hutson’s 99 receiving touchdowns were an NFL record that stood for 44 years. His single-season receiving record of 17 touchdowns stood for 42 years. Moss set the current single-season touchdown record of 23 in 2007. He did it in 16 games. Hutson’s 17 touchdown catches in 1942 came in only 11 games, an average of just over 1.5 TDs PER GAME! Project that to a 16-game season, and guess who would have the single-season touchdown record? Don Hutson with 24. Hutson’s career average of .85 touchdowns per game remains the NFL’s all-time best. So who changed the game? Not Randy Moss. Not Jerry Rice. Who changed the game? The greatest receiver who ever lived. The Alabama Antelope, Don Hutson.”

THE VERDICT

It’s not often I get to say this in this courtroom, but we have a unanimous decision.

Randy Moss said that, in his opinion, he’s “by far” the greatest wide receiver of all time, and good for him. No law against being a legend in your own mind. But that won’t fly in this courtroom.

Not now. Not ever.

Our jurors brought more than passion to their responses. They came armed with facts, too, and the facts don’t lie. At almost every turn, Jerry Rice and Don Hutson superseded Moss. Most jurors cited Rice, and it’s easy to see why: His records are so numerous and so beyond reach that Roger Goodell would have to extend the NFL season to 52 weeks before they were endangered.

As our jurors point out, Moss was a great receiver, one of the greatest of all time. That’s why he’s in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. But, please, let’s bring some gravity to the conversation. It’s one thing to promote yourself, but read the room. Please. You don’t tug on Superman’s cape, and you don’t mess around with Jerry Rice.

So stop it. Rice belongs in one category, and it’s his alone. I remember having this conversation years ago with Mike Shanahan, who coached Rice in San Francisco. And he told me to stop talking about Rice as the greatest wide receiver; that wasn’t a question.

“He might be the greatest PLAYER of all time,” Shanahan said.

That’s a question for another day.

One footnote here. I consciously assembled a group of Hall-of-Fame voters and pro football historians to see if there’d be a difference of opinion, and there wasn’t. The only dissent is when I asked whom they would choose, with Ron Borges and George Bozeka tapping Don Hutson instead of Jerry Rice … and I’m good with that. As I see it, Hutson was the best receiver of the pre-modern era; Rice the best of the modern game. And Randy Moss? He was one of the top receivers of all time. One of them. Let’s just leave it at that.

Case closed. Randy Moss motion denied.