Just So You Know, I Never Finished Those Dishes.

(This is a continuation and conclusion to the post, I Guess Washing Dishes Comes First...)

(And if you're wondering where the links have gone, just go back to the previous post. Any new names will come with posts, of course)

Does Randy Moss have it in him to go after Jerry Rice? If he wants that Super Bowl, he will. I, personally, think his time in Boston (New England Patriots, for those not in the know) is done. Plus, the dynasty died sometime between these events: Tom Brady's injury and every defensive player after the age of 28 no longer being on the team, culminating with the retirement at the beginning of the 2009 season of defensive leader and team captain Tedy Bruschi.

So there's no real reason to stay with the team when his contract is up, except maybe to repay them for giving him a second chance at a pro football. Because, seriously, before that trade happened (in which NE gave up a much needed 5th round pick to OAK for him, oh noes!) most football experts deemed him washed up and without motivation. Enter the 2007 Patriots. OTHER THAN ALL THAT, there's more motivation to go to a team where he can be a bit more than a role player on a contending team who could make it to the playoffs with ease.

The question becomes, if and when he leaves NE, is there a market for a 33+ year old receiver (his contract lasts until the 2011 off season)? Well, lets compare him to a few players who were just as good as he is at a similar age, based on Pro-Football-Reference.com's by-year comparison of him and Jerry Rice at certain stages of their careers.

OK, the two most prevalent names are Marvin Harrison and Terrell Owens. The only two names that could match or eclipse Moss during the last decade (Harrison for being the most consistent receiver for Peyton Manning, T.O. for grabbing media attention for being T.O.). Again, lets compare some numbers *first being why they even compare statistically*:

Randy Moss (current totals at three year intervals)

Rec.

226
525
676
926

Rec. Yards

4163
8375
10700
14465

Rec. TD

43
77
101
143

And now on to the competition (again, the same format of 12 years, 3 year intervals):

Marvin Harrison

Rec.

196
522
845
1042

Rec. Yards

2468
7068
11175
13961

Rec. TD

21
62
98
123

Terrell Owens

Rec.

162
412
669
882

Rec. Yards

2553
6170
9772
13070

Rec. TD

26
59
95
129

While it is true Harrison had a bit of a late start because he didn't have Manning for his first two years then needed their first year together to gain that famous chemistry they had together; and T.O. actually had to fight for touches with Jerry Rice himself on the same team in his first four years before he became a perennial #1 WR, it's what these stats tell you in longevity.

Marvin has more receptions after 12 years, which makes sense with Manning there. Other than that, Randy Moss' curve peaked early and often. And whats more amazing is that Harrison and Owens came into the league 2 years before Moss did, plus had at least 2 years over him when they were rookies. Next is the comparison between each receivers 32 year old season:

Randy Moss: 83 Rec., 1264 Yards, 13 TD
Marvin Harrison: 82 Rec., 1146 Yards, 12 TD
Terrell Owens: 47 Rec., 763 Yards, 6 TD

Oh yeah, TO was suspended halfway into that season for trash talking his organization. That comparison doesn't completely count. Lets try the 12 year in the league:

Randy Moss: (same as above)
Marvin Harrison: 20 Rec., 247 Yards, 1 TD
Terrell Owens: 81 Rec., 1355 Yards, 15 TD

And Marvin had an injury in 2007. Great, this isn't working out as well as I planned.

Are the three comparable? Kinda, but the difference is in the pudding. Randy is a tremendously fast athlete while Harrison is a workaholic known for his hands and route running. TO just wants the ball. He's a jack of all trades; great at everything, not the best at any key attribute you need to be a top notch receiver (speed, agility, acceleration off the line of scrimmage, hands, leaping ability, route running intelligence, toughness).

I guess since this is about Randy catching Jerry, lets compare their 32 year old/12th season in the league:

32 year old season:

Randy Moss: (same as before)
Jerry Rice: 112 Rec., 1499 Yards, 13 TD

l2th season:

Randy Moss: (do you even care anymore? check up top again)
Jerry Rice: 108 Rec., 1254 Yards, 8 TD

Jerry's 32 season was two years before his 12th season, so he hadn't had the workload on his legs at that point, but his 12th season was still exceptionally good. What isn't so good (per se) is that after his 12th season, he was injured for his next season, only starting in one game, played in two, for only 7 receptions and a touchdown. Just on that alone, Randy Moss could bend the curve in his favor, but you still gotta worry that it could happen to him as well.

I've danced this pole for as long as I can. It's starting to chafe.

To answer the question "Can anyone touch Jerry Rice's records?"; well, yeah, its possible. Randy Moss just has to persevere for at least 8 years more on his career average of 77 rec. 1205 yards and 12 TD and he'd beat him in yards and TDs alone. And he'd only be behind him in receptions by 7. I'll root for Randy as long as I can and welcome him with open arms if he comes to Dallas in a year, cause we could certainly use him.

Just saying.

Wherever I May Roam

I'm going home tomorrow. That means no internets for me. For the time being, I'll not post something for a few days. But that doesn't mean I've forgotten what I'm working on:

The Story of Manhood: I should have the next part worked on soon, I just wanna watch the whole trilogy with my dad (hopefully).

Stand Up Jokes: I got a few I need to work out, so expect a few here and there.

Jerry Rice vs. Randy Moss: I was lost in the argument for a moment there, but I've straitened myself out now. There will be comparisons to Marvin Harrison and Terrell Owens in there, so expect a lot more stat crunching, which I absolutely LOVE.

And I haven't forgotten about my dA account stories either, for you true followers out there. (At the moment that's like 2):

J + J Inc. Part 9: It's coming along very slowly. Don't expect anything for another month. Sorry about the delay.

Deth Game: I almost did forget about this one. Once I find the time to pull out the old manuscript, I should have a little diddy posted.

I also am working with a friend (my only "follower" on this blog so far) on a project on twitter, so expect some things coming soon from that.

Nothing to worry about, but I'm the only source of income at my apartment; so if it seems like I haven't been around for a while, it's cause I'm pretty busy with surviving in the real world. Peace.

I Guess Washing Dishes Comes First...

I was thinking about my overabundance of links in my last post. I went back and asked a question I've asked myself many times over and am sure plenty of others have as well. Emmitt Smith broke all the major rushing records (rush. attempts, rush. yards and rush. touchdowns) and Brett Favre broke all the major passing records (pass att., pass completions, pass yards, pass t.d.), including a record he probably isn't too proud of (pass interceptions); all in this decade. So the question is:

Will anyone touch Jerry Rice's records?

And you may be asking yourself, who is Jerry Rice? Or who are these Emmitt Smith and Brett Farve guys? Well, SHAME ON YOU! They are some of the great football players of all time (Plus, has your head been under a rock or something? Brett Farve is still playing!).

Let's just stick to Jerry for now, Emmitt would be a post all by himself. That's right, I'm a Cowboys fan.

Jerry Rice is recognized as the greatest receiver ever to play the game of football. He set many milestones with the San Francisco 49ers. He revolutionized the position in the vaulted west coast offense coach Bill Walsh implemented with his team. Rice was the master of the slant route, a route designed as a safe pass over the middle to the effect of a small rushing gain. But what made Rice dangerous was his ability to take a catch at about 3 or 4 yards reception and turn it into a large gain and possibly touchdown catch.

Jerry had this receiving thing down. So well, in fact, that he set many records over his twenty year career. Too many to try to copy/paste here.

The question was could anyone get near or even break Jerry Rice's records? The answer is not as easy as it sounds.

As we all know, records are meant to be broken. For the longest time, people thought Jim Brown's rushing yardage record would never be touched. Enter Walter Payton. And then it was the same for him; his record would be unbreakable. Enter Emmitt Smith.

The lesson for today, anything is possible.

Jerry Rice set the bar pretty high, to his credit. Let's run through some stats (be prepared for a lot of these number crunching moments in this post):

Jerry Rice's Career Stats (all NFL records):

Rec.: 1,549
Rec. Yards: 22,895
Rec. TD: 197

Records before Jerry Rice broke them:

Rec.: 940 (Art Monk)
Rec. Yards: 14,004 ( James Lofton)
Rec. TD: 100 (Steve Largent)

Wow, just wow.

Now, lets look at where his competitors stand today, that is to say who's in second place of him and who has the most out of current players:

Rec: 1,102 ( Marvin Harrison, retired 2008), 1,024 (Isaac Bruce, 37)
Rec. Yards: 15,208 (Issac Bruce, still 37)
Rec. TD: 148 (Randy Moss, 32)

From that, we know that Issac Bruce, while a sure fire Hall of Famer, is probably too old to make a run at ol' Jerry's records. He's just shy of 8,000 yards and 500+ receptions behind him. So he isn't our guy.

Hmm, Randy Moss? Young for his touchdown numbers. Lets compare him to his contemporaries at touchdowns. Current players, of course:

148 Randy Moss, 32
144 Terrell Owens, 36
91, Issac Bruce, 37
82, Tony Gonzalez, 33
78, Hines Ward, 33
77, Joey Galloway, 38

That's pretty striking, especially considering that the next closest players younger than him are:

63, Reggie Wayne, 31
62, Chad "Ochocinco" Johnson, 31

And even more remarkable is the next closest on the list under 30 are:

59, Antonio Gates, 29
59, Larry Fitzgerald, 26

But what does this all mean? Other than Larry Fitzgerald, who has his whole career ahead of him, most of these players are out of the running to catch Jerry's 197. Moss trails only 49 touchdowns. Where does he stand at the other two stats? Let's see:

Rec.: 926
Rec. Yards: 14,465

That makes Randy's road to greatness a harsh and long one.

(Next comes my compelling arguement on how Randy Moss can and should break Jerry Rice's career records.)