To those of you playing along at home, San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Jerry Rice is the greatest of all time. That's easily true when you compare him to other wideouts, but he's also in the conversation for best players to ever play the game regardless of position.
Spend any time with his career numbers, and you are left flabbergasted by two things.
First, how massive most of the numbers are while still maintaining general efficiency across his 20 NFL seasons.
Second, that he did all of this in an era where the passing game was not the dominant element of the sport.
The numbers are absolutely gaudy across the board: 22,895 receiving yards on 1,549 receptions. 23,540 total yards from scrimmage.
All of those numbers are the most in NFL history, by the way.
Rice was also named to 13 Pro Bowls, including 11 straight from 1986 (his second year in the league) until 1996. Technically, the streak was only broken by an injury-plagued 1997 where he played in only two games. He was back in the Pro Bowl in 1998.
The GOAT was also named to the All-Pro team 10 times, all first-team selections, won the Pro Football Writers of America MVP in 1987, a year he finished second in AP MVP voting just behind Denver Broncos quarterback John Elway (ironically, the 49ers' signal-caller Joe Montana was third, which might have cost Rice the prize).
As for touchdowns, he is also the NFL's all-time record holder in that category, both receiving touchdowns and overall scores.
Rice caught 197 receiving touchdowns and added 10 rushing TDs, to also give him the record for most total touchdowns in NFL history. Of those, 176 receiving and all 10 rushing scores came as a member of the Niners.
To put those numbers in perspective, Hall of Fame wide receiver Randy Moss is second in receiving touchdowns with 156, a mere 41 behind Rice. The player with the most active receiving scores is wide receiver Mike Evans of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but he only has 105 in 11 seasons, meaning he'd need a lot more years to even sniff Rice's record.
In total touchdowns, former Dallas Cowboys running back Emmett Smith is second with 175, a scant 33 behind Rice's 208 total (the GOAT also threw one touchdown pass back in 1988). The highest active player in that category is Baltimore Ravens running back Derrick Henry with 111.
The craziest part of all the scoring that Rice did during his career is this: Of the top 50 scorers in NFL history, all but one are kickers.
Jerry Rice comes in at number 43 all time.