10 best individual player rivalries in NFL history

By Kinnu Singh | May 18, 2023

INDIANAPOLIS - NOVEMBER 15: Quarterback Peyton Manning #18 of the Indianapolis Colts greets Tom Brady #12 of the New England Patriots after the game at Lucas Oil Stadium on November 15, 2009 in Indianapolis, Indiana. The Colts won the game 35-34. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images) /

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IRVING, TX – NOVEMBER 12: Wide receiver Jerry Rice #80 of the San Francisco 49ers talks with cornerback Deion Sanders #21 of the Dallas Cowboys at Texas Stadium in Irving, Texas on November 12, 1995. The 49ers defeated the Cowboys 38-20. (Photo by Joseph Patronite/Getty Images) /

2. Deion Sanders vs. Jerry Rice

There’s a quarterback bias in NFL rivalries that causes team rivalries to be disproportionately represented by their passers. It’s how the media often portrays team rivalries, and understandably so: it’s easy to credit a Hall of Fame quarterback for leading a team to victory.

While Marino versus Kelly was taking place in the AFC, the NFC had an even more famous rivalry between the San Francisco 49ers and the Dallas Cowboys. Before the salary cap era, these two teams loaded up on Hall of Fame talent and stacked up Lombardi Trophies. The 49ers won three Super Bowls from 1988 to 1994; the Cowboys won three Super Bowls from 1992 to 1995. It was Joe Montana and Steve Young versus Troy Aikman at quarterback, but from 1995 to 1999, it was also Deion Sanders versus Jerry Rice.

Considered to be the greatest rivalry between a wide receiver and a defensive back in NFL history, it allowed two players to directly face one another in the greatest team rivalry of the 1990s. Rice and Sanders were actually teammates in 1994, clashing as the team made its way to the Super Bowl. Rice and Sanders had different personalities, with the fastidious Rice growing frustrated with the carefree Sanders. Rice, considered to be the greatest wide receiver of all time, faced his fair share of battles against Sanders since the Atlanta Falcons drafted the cornerback in 1989.

The relationship between Sanders and Rice is discussed at length in FanSided’s list of the 10 best receiver-defensive back rivalries in NFL history, but the two did share their moments of tension on and off the field. The two Hall of Fame players always had great respect for one another and are friends today, but their competitive natures kept their fiery feud alive.

“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.”

For fans of Rice, Sanders and the best football of the 1990s, seeing the two line up against one another was a must-watch event.

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