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Shady McCoy Says He Would Take Antonio Brown Over Jerry Rice
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Shady McCoy getting rocked for this one:
“Jerry Rice or AB, man, like yo, I’m taking AB. Yeah… Jerry Rice or Antonio Brown, I’m taking Antonio Brown. What am I saying wrong? What can Jerry Rice do that AB can’t do?”
Shady is certainly biased because he’s part of Antonio Brown’s generation. They were two of the best players in the NFL from about 2013 to 2017. As ridiculous as Shady sounds on the surface, Antonio Brown was untouchable during his prime. He went to six straight Pro Bowls in which he had three 1,500-yard receiving seasons, plus a 1,499-yard season. He caught more than 60 touchdowns during that stretch alone and played on good Steelers teams that came up short in the playoffs. He did get his ring with Tampa Bay, playing two seasons at age 32 and 33 and averaging 500 yards and 4 touchdowns in each of those regular seasons. He capped it off with five catches for 22 yards and a touchdown in Super Bowl LV.
LeSean asks, “What can Jerry Rice do that AB can’t do?” The answer is nothing. AB in his prime was as good as anybody and could do pretty much anything.
But Jerry Rice has longevity and the better overall career. And yes, the two played during different NFL eras, so this is one of those feckless exercises that they do in the NBA, trying to compare guys like Bob McAdoo to Shaquille O’Neal. But Jerry played 20 NFL seasons in which he logged 22,895 regular season yards and caught 197 regular season touchdowns. He played 29 playoff games and caught 151 passes for 2,245 yards and 22 touchdowns. He won three rings with the 49ers, in 1988, 1989, and 1994, and is a 10x First Team All-Pro and 13x Pro Bowler.
Antonio Brown retired at age 33, but Jerry Rice played until 42, logging eight seasons with 1,000 yards AFTER the age of 30. Rice was 40 years old when he made the Pro Bowl for the Raiders with a 1,211-yard season and seven touchdowns thrown by Rich Gannon. And that was a team with Tim Brown, Jerry Porter, and Charlie Garner, so he wasn’t exactly surrounded by bums out there.
Bottom line – AB’s prime was incredible. Dude was the best receiver in football and his peak was higher than Rice’s peak. But Jerry Rice did it at a high level for two decades and was consistently excellent. He also did not quit in the middle of a game.
So I’d take Jerry Rice. But AB was awesome.
Kevin has been writing about Philadelphia sports since 2009. He spent seven years in the CBS 3 sports department and started with the Union during the team's 2010 inaugural season. He went to the academic powerhouses of Boyertown High School and West Virginia University. email - k.kinkead@sportradar.com