Barry Bonds and NFL records

Filed in archive on August 9, 2007

Courtesy Jerryricefootball.com

This is the first, and hopefully last, time I'm going to mention barry bonds on this blog. Like most fans, I believe Bonds is a horrible cheater, who should be stripped of all records and banned from baseball.

Bonds' home run record, though, got me thinking about NFL records. Baseball experts like to call the all-time home run record the greatest in baseball and perhaps in all of sports.

We'll leave that argument for another day and leave the ignominious Bonds forever, in favor of a look at the NFL's best records.

This debate begins and ends with Jerry Rice - the greatest football player in history.

Although Rice has many remarkable receiving records, the most impressive and maybe the most imposing record in NFL history is his 1,549 career receptions. Rice's mark is 448 catches better than the next closest receiver, Chris Carter.

Carter would have needed six more seasons, averaging 75 catches per year, to catch Rice. It's difficult in any sport to see one player with a record that is this far ahead of second place.

Rice's 208 career touchdown catches are also a remarkable NFL record that may never be reached. Even TD machine LaDainian Tomlinson would need to average more than 22 scores over the next five seasons to catch Rice. As great as he is, Tomlinson is 28, and running backs begin a rapid decline after age 30.

So, the home run record may be amazing, but even if you know who hits 800, he'll still be just 45 ahead of Hank Aaron - not nearly as impressive as Jerry Rice's 1,549 receptions.