Rice deserves more respect from NFL

Jerry Rice is the greatest football player of all time. Not JUST the greatest receiver, not JUST the greatest player of our generation, not JUST the all-time leader in career touchdowns, receiving yards, receptions and don't forget his unbreakable 273 consecutive games with a reception, he is without a doubt the best player to ever lace them up and take the field.

No disrespect for other all-time greats, Jim Brown, Walter Payton and Emmitt Smith, who are usually among the hallowed names mentioned when the "greatest ever" debate pops up, but Rice has them all beat.

By shear numbers alone, he would have them beat. Not to mention his three Super Bowl rings, 14 NFL records and 12 Pro Bowl selections.

The major difference between Jerry and these other all-time greats is the lack of respect Rice has been shown around the league the last couple of years. I know he hasn't been stealing the headlines with his play recently. His numbers have been sub-par by Jerry Rice standards, and a casual fan might not even know he is a Seahawk now.

But you would think that an automatic Hall of Famer with his list of widely recognized accomplishments, enduring 20-year career, extraordinary work ethic and classiness on and off the field would demand respect - not a trade during the middle of the season.

And while anyone who knows anything about football gives Rice his proper respect and recognition, it seems as if the majority of coaches and owners around the league have written Rice off as nothing more than a 42-year-old "once great has-been" with no speed left to get open, and therefore not worth a roster spot.

Let me remind you these are not my words, but instead what I believe to be a more widely accepted opinion around the NFL. It started back in 1997 when a youthful Rice was still wearing No.80 for the 49ers.

Rice blew out his knee in the season opener that year, causing him to miss a game for the first time in his career, and ending his 176 consecutive start streak.

Jerry rehabbed and made it back onto the field in Dec. for a Monday night game against the Broncos. Rice had one catch for a touchdown, but suffered another set back injury when he broke a bone in his kneecap, ending his season.

He would return to form for the 49ers the next year, but with the emergence Terrell Owens, Rice's numbers were the lowest since his rookie campaign. The dwindling continued through 2000, as Terrell's stardom continued to rise and Rice's contract came to an end.

Age brought declining numbers and ability for the veteran receiver who still felt he had something left in the tank. And while the 49ers wanted nothing to do with him, and were pretty much running him out of town, almost every other NFL franchise stayed away, until that other team across the bay signed the living legend and draped him in silver and black.

Embraced by the Raider Nation in Oakland, Rice moved across the bay in what seemed to be the last stop in his storied NFL career. The high-powered west coast offense let Rice flourish on short and intermediate routes and he returned to Pro Bowl form for the Raiders' Super Bowl run in 2002.

After a disastrous 2003 season for Oakland in which everybody struggled, Rice's numbers again sagged.

This season brought much of the same despair for the Raiders' offense, making Rice's production almost non-existent.

The reduction of playing time and lack of production led Rice to seek a trade, with the hopes he could be more involved somewhere else.

Al Davis and the Raiders severed ties with the greatest football player of all time with no proper farewell.

Not only were they willing to dump him, but they were dumping him in favor of a group of young and unproven receivers. At least the Niners had Owens to pass the torch to.

When Rice was put up on the trading block most teams were reluctant to make a move for the legendary receiver.

The Seahawks came knocking next. Coach Mike Holgrem felt confident Rice would be worth the conditional seventh round pick the Raiders were asking for, so he pulled the trigger and brought Rice out of Oakland and into Seattle to play for a contender.

So far the Rice experiment in Seattle has not gone as planned but, Rice is still more valuable than a lowly seventh round pick, and the Raiders should have realized this.

Instead the Raiders chose to have that ever-important extra seventh round pick, which will probably be used to take a chance on some unheralded college player, who will struggle to make the team.

Not to say great talent can't be found in the late rounds of the draft, but I think the Raiders, and the 49ers owed Jerry a little more respect.

Maybe it's getting to be that time. Maybe Jerry should realize he's 42, and not getting any younger, and the NFL is a young man's game played by the greatest "current" athletes in the world and he's never going to be the player he once was.

Maybe it's true, but you cannot expect someone like Rice to be able to just bury his burning love for the game, and just retire.

For all the man has done for the game of football, all the contributions, highlight reels and memories, he should forever be endeared in the hearts and minds of football fans, and granted the hard earned and deserved respect that any living legend would.

Jerry Rice is the greatest football player of all time, and would always have a spot on my team.