While some guys held back at this year's Super Bowl Media Day, Ray Rice was extremely frank and sharing his honest thoughts on who he thought was the better running back.
Rice placed himself first because then he'll be placed last. He respects San Francisco 49ers running back, Frank Gore, but he thinks he's the better back in the NFL.
Maybe he misunderstood the question and thought Deion Sanders was asking him who the best running back was in the Super Bowl, but even then he'll be incorrect. Rice has respectable numbers, but Gore has been a machine that has steamed the 49ers' offense when they were nobodies in Alex Smith's first years in the league.
When Rice goes for 1,600-plus yards in a season then we could talk. Gore missed having seven straight 1,000-plus rushing yards because in 2010 he missed five games. He finished that year with 853 rushing yards, just 147 from getting to 1,000 yards. Gore has been the go-to guy for the 49ers year after year.
Rice, he's good, without a doubt, probably one of the Top 5 backs in the league when you look at his body of work in the short amount of time he's had in the NFL. Rice has furshed for 1,000-plus yards in four consecutive years, which is no small accomplishment. He also has 33 career rushing touchdowns, which gives him an average of seven per season.
Rice is strong and young, meaning he will be giving NFL defenses a hard time for years to come.
However, Gore has to be given the edge for Super Bowl's game. Rice said, "With all due respect" before voting for himself and that's pretty cool as he pays respects to a man who had three years in the league before he joined. However, the numbers don't lie, Rice will have some catching up to do after Gore hangs up his cleats.
If the discussion is the best back in the NFL, Rice really messed up because there is no doubt, even before his 2012 performance, that Adrian Peterson holds that honor. 2,000-plus yards in the season and just nine from breaking the single-season record? There's no question about it.
Rice is probably Top 5, but he's definitely not No. 1. When examining entire careers Peterson, Gore and Marshawn Lynch are automatically Top 3.
Anyhow, we admire Rice's courageous comments and we'll have to conclude that he was being cocky with his comments. There is a fine line between cocky and confident, while in front of the thousands of reporters, Rice came out a tad cocky.
Where do you think Rice sits in the charts of best running back in the league?
