Rice says Randy Moss’ laziness was like a ‘slap in the face'

[Shayn•Da•Pain]

Jerry Rice never played with Randy Moss(notes) but still took his perceived lack of work ethic personally.

The all-time receiving great was asked about the recently retired Moss Tuesday morning on ESPN Radio. PFT has the transcript:

"It was hard for me to swallow because I was not as talented and I had to work harder," Rice said. "To see a guy with that much talent not give it 100 percent, it was almost like a little slap in the face. But Randy was Randy." [...]

"He could have been one of the greatest if he had worked just a little bit harder. [...] I don't think he wanted to give it 100 percent. You never knew what you were going to get with Randy. Sometimes you'd get the unbelievable guy, the amazing guy. Other times you'd get the guy that took a couple plays off."

Rice's frustration is understandable. He had a talent that would have allowed him to become a fine NFL receiver. His work ethic and effort is what turned him into the greatest ever. To him, it's unfathomable that someone could not take full advantage of their athletic gifts.

This is why it's hard for some great athletes to take jobs as coaches or in front offices. Men who have failed in such roles -- Michael Jordan and Ted Williams immediately come to mind -- see young players squander talent or fail to harness it and can't relate to it. Rice sees a guy like Moss and knows that if he put in the effort on the practice fields, he could have rewritten the record books. He knows that if he himself had Moss' talent, the records he set would be even more untouchable.

The fact that Rice chose to make these "controversial" comments the day after he was hired by ESPN as an NFL analyst is merely coincidence, we're certain. Piling on Randy Moss has been done, Jerry. Take a page from your own book and work hard at this new job. Come up with some insightful commentary. Don't be a Randy and take the easy way out.

[Houston]

lol, I felt the same way about some people back in HS.


For instance you have your "Berowsk" type(basketball), guys that are 6'7+ and could be beast in HS atleast. But never bother to do anything with their height

[EmpireWF]

Someone needs to tell Jerry, Moss is one of the greatest.

[j.hen]

Jerry Rice needs to shut the fuck up Tired of him talking shit.

[dave]

Jerry Rice needs to shut the fuck up Tired of him talking shit.

You aren't qualified to lick Jerry Rice's asshole.

[j.hen]

You aren't qualified to lick Jerry Rice's asshole.

I realize he's one of the best, but all he does now is complain about other people's game. It's just become annoying.

[dave]

I realize he's one of the best, but all he does now is complain about other people's game. It's just become annoying.

He's earned the right to do so ... especially where WRs are concerned.
And, really, is he wrong about Moss?

[NAHSTE]

What kind of guy tells another grown man how to live his life? LOL at Jerry getting personally offended that Randy could still be a HOFer without trying (and likely smoking weed daily).

Typical bullshit football culture that we always conform to. YOU HAVE TO BE A ROBOT.

[dave]

What kind of guy tells another grown man how to live his life? LOL at Jerry getting personally offended that Randy could still be a HOFer without trying (and likely smoking weed daily).

Typical bullshit football culture that we always conform to. YOU HAVE TO BE A ROBOT.

They asked his football opinion, he gave it.

[NAHSTE]

They asked his football opinion, he gave it.

Fair enough, and in Rice's defense it is a pretty loaded question. But still, his holier than thou response is a byproduct of the bullshit conformist football culture we live in that says you cannot have any interests outside the game and you must do what your owner wants (insert Bill Rhoden's slave comparison here).

The worst example is how every fat slob sports writer hid behind his keyboard and openly questioned the toughness and manhood of Ricky Williams and Barry Sanders.

People need to stop taking it so personally if someone doesn't value the same things they value.

[Shayn•Da•Pain]

I think if anything it bolsters Moss' HOF credentials, to have been as lazy as JaMarcus Russell, and still be arguably the 2nd best WR of all time. WOWzer. The football geek in me wants to know what would have been if I saw a motivated Moss, but I'm not mad at the guy. He was still lightning in a bottle, and I'm very much happy to have seen it.

[j.hen]

Randy played when he wanted to play. I hate to do this, but I think it's obvious that had Randy really tried throughout his entire career, he would have shat all over Rice, statistically speaking anyways.

[Shayn•Da•Pain]

Randy played when he wanted to play. I hate to do this, but I think it's obvious that had Randy really tried throughout his entire career, he would have shat all over Rice, statistically speaking anyways.

Rice is my favorite WR of all time, but you may be right.

[stevsta]

Randy played when he wanted to play. I hate to do this, but I think it's obvious that had Randy really tried throughout his entire career, he would have shat all over Rice, statistically speaking anyways.

which is what rice was trying to convey.

Rice is saying that Moss with all of his talent SHOULD of destroyed his stats and gone down as the greatest WR, but instead squandered his god-given gift and rice feels that its a slap in the face because of all the talent he had and the type of work rice had to put in b/c he did not have the greatest natural talent i.e. he had to work hard to perfect his routes, hands, etc....

did you read the 4 paragraphs or just the part where rice said he feels like a slap in the face the way moss played

[s@ppisgod]

Fair enough, and in Rice's defense it is a pretty loaded question. But still, his holier than thou response is a byproduct of the bullshit conformist football culture we live in that says you cannot have any interests outside the game and you must do what your owner wants (insert Bill Rhoden's slave comparison here).

The worst example is how every fat slob sports writer hid behind his keyboard and openly questioned the toughness and manhood of Ricky Williams and Barry Sanders.

People need to stop taking it so personally if someone doesn't value the same things they value.

I think thats an awful comparison. Moss played, but half-assed it on the field too many times to count. Barry played his ass off on the field, then chose to call it quits early. So did Robert Griffith. It happens. But it's entirely different IMO. Any sport from HS on to college to the pros, you'll have people who take it very seriously. Then, occasionally, you'll have people who don't take it seriously. Those people tend to get on the nerves of the dedicated ones who think that the slackers give them a bad name or are wasting time or whatever. It's got nothing to do with an expected "yes, master" attitude. Rice killed himself to be the best. Moss barely broke a sweat to be considered one of the best ever. That pisses Rice, the person/player off, for really obvious reasons. None of which have to do with owners and conformity and robots and whatever other reaches you want to make. I don't disagree with you about the possibility of those things. Just that it seems terribly misplaced in this context. Now if Moss had all that ability, and quit to be an actor or something, then it'd be a more sensible argument....
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