#6 Jerry Rice’s 208 NFL Career Touchdowns

The Sporting News recently came out with their Top 10 “Great Records” written by Steve Greenberg. In an 11 part series, I will breakdown each record, why the record is impressive (or not), and if the record could ever be broken.

#6 Jerry Rice’s 208 NFL Career Touchdowns

Rice’s record is impressive but not a record that can’t be broken. Emmitt Smith ended his career scoring 175 touchdowns, 33 touchdowns behind Rice. Depending how one looks at the difference, this could be two years worth of great production away from Rice’s record. Smith played for 15 years in the NFL. Rice played for 20; granted his last full year in Seattle, most will not remember nor his attempt to keep playing in 2005 with the Denver Broncos when he retired before the season began. Point being, the record could fall.

I’ve compared the two most prolific offensive players to ever play in the NFL. Most people thought Walter Payton’s all time rushing record would not be broken, but Emmitt Smith broke it. The game keeps changing and another great one will come along with the ability to break our heroes’ records.

What type of player could break the record? With the rule changes made over the past few years in the NFL to the benefit of the offense, another wide receiver could break Rice’s record. The league has gone pass happy and some wide receiver(s) will reap the benefit at some point. Terrell Owens and Randy Moss are the only active players that are fairly close to Rice yet they are sitting at 153 touchdowns. Both of their careers seem to be winding down and neither player is likely to catch Emmitt Smith much less Rice.

Our record breaker would need to have the luck to play at least 15 years and average 14 touchdowns per. One would need the benefit of not being injured and playing with a quarterback that can get him the ball consistently. Rice was not a speed burner but it wouldn’t hurt if our guy had “game breaking speed”. While our guy is young, perhaps he could run back punts or kick returns. Anything he can do to get extra opportunities to score while on the field. Remember this is career touchdowns not career receiving touchdowns. Rice was a perfectionist and had a great will to win; our guy will need the same.

Choosing a running back to break the record seems foolish and near impossible. Smith was as durable as they get and played on a team with a prolific offense. One could argue if Troy Aikman had not been the victim of 10 concussions during his playing career and retired at the end of 2000, Smith may have squeezed out a few more touchdowns (not 33 more but who knows?). Other elements our guy will need beyond luck, consistency, and longevity is a healthy team and continued parity in the NFL.

I take exception to one part of Greenberg’s piece. He states, “The record is more impressive because Rice wasn’t a running back, meaning there were no easy 1-yard plunges into the end zone. He had to run routes, get open and make catches for his scores.”

Does Greenberg really understand the game of football? Did Rice ever receive the “benefit” of a defender slipping so he could run by him? I’ve never seen an entire goal line defense slip as to the “benefit” of the running back being able to score that “1-yard plunge”. A wide receiver gets to work in space, typically one on one against a corner back and possibly a safety 15-20 yards away. I’ve never seen a running back have only one defender lined up across from him. The defensive alignment for most plays will put 7-8 defenders on the other side of the running back or “in the box”.

Rice didn’t have to take the grueling hits play after play by running between the tackles like running backs do; 3 NFL receivers have caught more than 20 passes in a game while a typical starting NFL running back will average 20 rushing attempts per game. To Rice’s credit, he was not afraid to go across the middle but that is another issue. Any running back that has played in the NFL will tell you that there are no easy touchdowns. Chances are the running back is the reason a wide receiver has opportunities in the red zone, because he dragged the defense 80 yards down field to put them there. Everyone knows a good running game opens up passing lanes for the quarterback and his receivers.

Give Rice his due Greenberg put don’t sell the running back position short in the process. Greenberg, you missed on this one.  

Just to clarify, is Jerry Rice the best pro football player with the greatest pro football record… debatable? There is no doubt that he is one of the greatest. Emmitt Smith’s career rushing record of 18,355 yards is amazing as well. Both men had great careers; our guy will need to do the same.