Jerry Rice vs. Fred Biletnikoff

[C. Snake]

A battle of two of the greatest WRs ever. Who do you think was better? World or Freddy B? I say Biletnikoff by just an inch. Rice played on much better teams than Biletnikoff over a much longer career. Both had amazing hands, but Biletnikoff ran better, almost exact roots.

[gridiron]

A battle of two of the greatest WRs ever. Who do you think was better? World or Freddy B? I say Biletnikoff by just an inch. Rice played on much better teams than Biletnikoff over a much longer career. Both had amazing hands, but Biletnikoff ran better, almost exact roots.


Great joke!:hyper:

How would Biletnikoff have done without the stickem?

[Brooklyn]

I can't see how you can make a reasonable argument for Biletnikoff. Rice has almost 1,000 more receptions, over 13,000 more receiving yards, and 131 more Touchdowns.

You can argue that the game was different, so career stats are tough to compare. Then look at how each did against his league.

They both led the league in receptions once. That is where the similarities end. Rice had 9 top 5's and 12 top 10's, FB had 4 top 5's and 5 top 10's

In receiving yards, Rice had 12 top 10's, 11 top 5's, and led the league 6 times. FB had 5/2/0

In receiving TDs, Rice had 12 top 10's, 11 top 5's, and led the league 6 times. FB had 8/3/0.

Rice was better with the raw stats and compared to league. I just can't see how Biletnikoff could be rated higher

[C. Snake]

I can't see how you can make a reasonable argument for Biletnikoff. Rice has almost 1,000 more receptions, over 13,000 more receiving yards, and 131 more Touchdowns.

You can argue that the game was different, so career stats are tough to compare. Then look at how each did against his league.

They both led the league in receptions once. That is where the similarities end. Rice had 9 top 5's and 12 top 10's, FB had 4 top 5's and 5 top 10's

In receiving yards, Rice had 12 top 10's, 11 top 5's, and led the league 6 times. FB had 5/2/0

In receiving TDs, Rice had 12 top 10's, 11 top 5's, and led the league 6 times. FB had 8/3/0.

Rice was better with the raw stats and compared to league. I just can't see how Biletnikoff could be rated higher

You can't really compare them by stats. Freddy B never played a full season over a 14 year career.

[C. Snake]

Biletnikoff was also amazing in more aspects than Rice was. He always had a very high recieving average. His 589 receptions are incredible, considering the man had awful knee injuries, was slow as molasses, and smoked two packs of cigarettes per day. He is even more remarkable when you consider the non run-oriented defenses of the era he played in.

[ktss12]

Huge Raider fan, especially the Raiders of the 70s. I had a Fred Biletnikoff poster on my wall. He worked harder at his game than 99% of the players in the game...ever. You can say the same about Jerry Rice. But Jerry Rice is the better WR.

[Brooklyn]

You can't really compare them by stats. Freddy B never played a full season over a 14 year career.

According to pro-football-reference.com (http://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/BileFr00.htm), he played a full season in 11 of his 14 seasons, missing only 8 of his teams 198 games over that stretch.

Biletnikoff was also amazing in more aspects than Rice was. He always had a very high receiving average. His 589 receptions are incredible, considering the man had awful knee injuries, was slow as molasses, and smoked two packs of cigarettes per day. He is even more remarkable when you consider the non run-oriented defenses of the era he played in.

So your question really is "who had more talent" then "who was the better wide receiver".

To see who was the better receiver, you have to look at stats, in context with the time they played. I agree that the game was very different. But Biletnikoff didn't dominate the league the way Rice did. And while he may have had bad knees and smoked two packs a day, those things don't make him a better player. They can help your argument that he had more talent, and his stats suffered because of them, but on the field, Rice was the superior player.

You also mention his high receiving average. Biletnikoff averaged 15.2 yards per catch and Rice averaged 14.8. I'd take the lower number over 103 more games.

[Seattle1]

I had to vote for Jerry Rice on this one.

[gridiron]

According to pro-football-reference.com (http://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/BileFr00.htm), he played a full season in 11 of his 14 seasons, missing only 8 of his teams 198 games over that stretch.



So your question really is "who had more talent" then "who was the better wide receiver".

To see who was the better receiver, you have to look at stats, in context with the time they played. I agree that the game was very different. But Biletnikoff didn't dominate the league the way Rice did. And while he may have had bad knees and smoked two packs a day, those things don't make him a better player. They can help your argument that he had more talent, and his stats suffered because of them, but on the field, Rice was the superior player.

You also mention his high receiving average. Biletnikoff averaged 15.2 yards per catch and Rice averaged 14.8. I'd take the lower number over 103 more games.

the biggest problem with Biletnikoff is he used stickem for much of his career, and stickem was banned before Rice enterted the league. So The B loses a few catches because of the stickem--that makes Rice so superior that it isn't a question.

[Galloping Ghost]

I think Jerry Rice vs Don Hutson would be a more interesting poll. Hutson was a beast. His 99 career receiving TDs were the all time NFL record until Steve Largent broke it. I believe Hutson actually scored his 99 TDs in three fewer games than it took Jerry Rice to get his first 99 TDs. Given that Hutson did this in the 1930s-40s I find that amazing.

[sirmudgeon]

Biletnikoff was one of my all-time favourites, great hands, precise routes, perfect complement to Cliff Branch. One parallel might be the Dwight Clark/Freddie Solomon duo of the Niners. I met Freddie at a bar in Napa a couple of years back, and took him to task- he was the MVP when the Raiders beat my beloved (at that time) Vikings in the only Super Bowl I've attended (it was a 13th B-day present from my dad). We had a laugh about it, what an engaging fellow.

But to compare him to Rice is tomfoolery. Rice and Hutson are the two best to ever play the position. Biletnikoff belongs in the Hall of Fame, but is nowhere near Rice's level. Watching Jerry Rice run was akin to experiencing poetry in motion, before your eyes. He ran all the routes, no one worked harder, he dominated (22 TDs in 12 G, I mean, c'mon) in a league with a lot of really good wideouts. As a Niners fan since Norm Snead was the QB and Paul Hofer was the RB, I believe that one of the top QBs of all time, Joe Cool, owes his transcendancy largely to Rice. Don't get me wrong, Montana was always something special, yet when he teamed with Rice he went to another level entirely. The same holds true for Steve Young.

I grew up in the Bay Area, met the Raiders when they camped in Santa Rosa (Biletnikoff was a nice guy then, too, as was Stabler, and Hendricks, and Al Davis, he didn't have to be nice to a 12 year old kid, but he was). I watched all the Niners games for 15 years. I've seen most of the great receivers, sans Hutson, Hirsch, and Alworth. Guys like Warfield, Monk, Rison, Swann, Joiner, Clayton/Duper- no one ever came close to Rice. The only guy that could hold a candle to him, physically, is Moss. I think we're all familiar with his work ethic.

I've certainly missed some greats, but I'm not wrong about Jerry Rice. It's he, Hutson, Jim Brown, Lawrence Taylor, Dick Butkus, Unitas, Montana, and a few others on the short list when it comes to greatest players in NFL history. That's saying something. Biltenikoff is a great guy, and he does not factor into the discussion.