SF 49ers: Top 6 wide receiver duos in franchise history

SF 49ers Duo No. 2: Jerry Rice and Terrell Owens

Years Together: 1996-2000

Some may argue the SF 49ers’ wide receiver duo of Jerry Rice and Terrell Owens should be No. 1 on this list. After all, both players occupy the top-two spots on the franchise’s all-time receiving list, and both players ended up as deserving members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

And many an analyst would tab these two as the greatest wide receivers of all time.

All fair points, yes. There were moments, too, where both Rice and Owens shined at the same time during the same season. Particularly in 1998 when Rice and Owens each recorded 1,000-plus receiving yards together, helping the Niners get into the playoffs where they’d beat the Green Bay Packers in one of the wildest last-second scores in postseason history.

Ironically, it was Owens who got the call from quarterback Steve Young in what became known as “The Catch II,” not Rice, who was probably the target everyone at Candlestick Park anticipated on that throw.

Yet there’s a reason why this Hall of Fame tandem doesn’t reach the No. 1 spot on this list. Despite having some impressive seasons with Rice ahead of him on the depth chart, Owens’ success primarily came after Rice departed in 2001.

Rice, meanwhile, was the dominating force in the decade prior.

Plus, their five seasons together don’t quite match what the next duo was able to do.