Jerry Rice says whether he’d rather play with Tom Brady or Patrick Mahomes
By Staff
Jerry Rice is the greatest wide receiver of all-time, and between Tom Brady and Patrick Mahomes he knows which quarterback he’d want to play with.
The debate around Super Bowl 55 isn’t about the Kansas City Chiefs or the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. It’s not about Andy Ried and Bruce Arians, elder statesmen of the NFL, duking it out for a legacy-defining title.
Top billing for this year’s Super Bowl belongs to Patrick Mahomes vs. Tom Brady — a battle of GOATs. It’s the final boss stage of the Mahomes-Brady rivalry, it’s WrestleMania III on the gridiron.
For Mahomes, defeating Brady in the Super Bowl would not only prevent his rival from winning his seventh Super Bowl but would ensure his path towards one day overtaking Brady’s record number of rings. For Brady, it would distance himself from all other quarterbacks of the past and set an almost impossible legacy bar for all future stars — Mahomes included — to clear.
There will be other players mentioned in the GOAT conversation who aren’t named Mahomes or Brady — or who didn’t play quarterback. Jerry Rice is frequently discussed as the Magic Johnson to Brady’s Jordan, and was blessed with playing for two all-time greats in Joe Montana and Steve Young.
But when it comes to which of the two Super Bowl 55 quarterbacks he’d want to have played with, the answer is clear.
Jerry Rice on the Tom Brady vs. Patrick Mahomes debate
“It’d have to be the [Greatest Of All-Time] Tom Brady,” Rice told FanSided’s Mark Carman. “He makes everybody better around him, he has that ‘it’ factor.”
While Rice rattled off the scroll of accomplishments Brady has racked up throughout his career, he made sure not to brush Mahomes off.
“To be able to pull this off, if he can go back-to-back. He makes every throw on the football field, has an exceptional arm, can run with the football, or look you off like Michael Jordan and still throw the ball to you.”
Brady has a lot more in common with the quarterback that helped Rice define his legacy. Joe Montana is not only a similar quarterback to Brady but he also happens to be a childhood idol of the Buccaneers quarterback.
The idea of Mahomes and Rice, though, is extremely appealing. Imagine the best receiver to ever play the game at the disposal of someone with Mahomes’ ability. While Brady is the more traditional passer, Mahomes is the type of generational talent that he makes marginal receivers into potent pieces of the offense.
Rice also played in an era that wasn’t particularly fruitful for receivers, and still managed to put up legendary and nearly untouchable numbers. So regardless of Brady or Mahomes, seeing Rice with just about any capable quarterback in this era of football would be a sight to behold.
Jerry is part of Frito’s new SB commercial. Hard to believe the Super Bowl stage has been set and we’re less than two weeks away from the game! To get us in the spirit, Frito-Lay has teamed up with a ton of NFL legends including Jerry Rice to create their first portfolio Super Bowl commercial – “Twas the Night Before Super Bowl.” It’s a sequel to their hit “‘Twas the Night Before Kickoff” commercial. The campaign launches on 2/1 with a TVC featuring both the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Kansas City Chiefs! And an exclusive version of the TVC will air for the first time on Super Bowl Sunday.