10 best receiver-defensive back rivalries in NFL history

1. Deion Sanders vs. Jerry Rice

Randy Moss may be the most gifted wide receiver of all time, but the greatest of all time is considered to be Jerry Rice. Rice benefitted from being paired with Joe Montana and Steve Young, but he had to find a way to remain open against defensive backs like Deion Sanders, a contender for the GOAT title at his own position.

The fact that these two played for the Dallas Cowboys and San Francisco 49ers, one of the biggest rivalries in the 1980s and 1990s, compounds to make Sanders vs. Rice the biggest rivalry of all time.

“I did not like the Cowboys at all,” Rice told NFL Films. “It was a very intense rivalry. It’s something you don’t get over, because if you care about something, you shouldn’t be able to get over it just like that.”

When Sanders was drafted by the Atlanta Falcons in 1989, the Falcons were included in the NFC West division, which also included the 49ers. That meant that Sanders and Rice battled one another twice a year until 1994, when Sanders and Rice became teammates for a season.

Fellow 49ers teammate Ricky Watters admitted that Sanders and Rice didn’t get along “very well” during their year together, primarily because of their differing approaches to the game. Rice was studious and intense, while Sanders was gregarious and laid-back. Of course, both players took their roles seriously and excelled on the field, but Rice wasn’t a fan of Sanders’ methods.

“I was a little curious if he would be able to come in and do it the 49er way because we worked hard every day,” Rice said. Rice described Sanders as having “a lot of baggage” yet wanted him to join the team in hopes a Super Bowl run.

“I think they had the understanding of, ‘This is work, this is a job, we’ve got to come in and do it,'” Sanders said of his time with San Francisco. “Now I came in and said, ‘Hey, we’re gonna work, but we’re gonna play.'”

The teammates clashed before Super Bowl XXIX after Sanders partied out past curfew and Rice told him to take their game preparation more seriously.

“That was the first time that I had seen the two of them really getting upset and really going at each other and really being upset to where they could come to blows,” Watters said. That being said, the two came together and won the Lombardi Trophy together, after which Sanders left to join their arch-rival in Dallas.

“I hated that guy, man [Deion Sanders]. Ah, man, we couldn’t get along,” Rice told Kevin Hart in 2021. “If Deion was on the opposite side, it was going down the next day.”

While Rice and Sanders reminisce about their rivalry, Rice made it clear that both have let go over any potential grudges from their playing days.

“You’ve got to let it go,” Rice told Hart concerning NFL grudges. “It’s like with Deion and I. We still talk about those old days, but it’s over now.”

“I think about it. For a split second, I’m like, ‘Let’s go!'” Rice continued as he laughed.