Atlas
05-25-2005, 01:24 AM
I only saw one Rice thread on the first page so I figured one more was needed.
Kreiger lays it all out perfectly. How does Jerry want to go out. Does he want to go out fighting or does he just want to hang it up and leave somewhat gracefully.
Krieger: Rice would go against grain in Denver
May 24, 2005
I admit to a certain morbid curiosity that makes me hope Jerry Rice says yes today or tomorrow or whenever he's finished ruminating on Mike Shanahan's offer to show up for Broncos training camp.
First of all, it would be great theater. In the time zone they don't mention on TV, we've been mere spectators to the comet that was Jerry Rice. Now, to see it up close, even at the end, when it's no longer visible in the nighttime sky, would be a vicarious thrill. You don't get this close to the immortals that often.
On the other hand, I remember a couple of other epilogues here - Tony Dorsett, Dave Logan - and I'm not sure either would do it again, given a choice. It just doesn't seem right that the end for Logan, one of his generation's best possession receivers, was trying to block Chip Banks when Dan Reeves moved him to tight end.
At the end of last week, Shanahan suggested the Rice tryout is no problem for either side; the stumbling blocks, if any, are about the contract and family issues, the family issue, presumably, being just how old Rice has to be before he stops chasing young men's dreams.
The answer is the real choice he faces now: Will he decide when he's done or will someone else?
For the first time in his career, he now risks giving up that decision, as Shanahan made clear:
"I told Jerry, 'I don't know if you've lost a step or two steps, but you're going to come here for one reason: To compete with our other guys. And if you're one of our top five guys at the end of camp, you'll be on our football team. If you're not,' I said I'd have one of the toughest jobs in the world and that would be to release a guy that is arguably the best player ever to play the game."
Jerry Rice released? Does anybody want that?
I'm guessing Rice has looked at the Broncos roster. Two receivers from among Charlie Adams, Triandos Luke and Nate Jackson would have to beat him out for the Broncos to cut him.
Still, it would be the first time Rice has faced even the possibility.
"One of the reasons why I didn't pick up Jerry Rice, or try to pick up Jerry Rice, after he was released from Oakland is that he expected to be the No. 3 receiver," Shanahan said. "I could not do that to Jerry Rice. I could not do that to Tim Brown. All I could tell those guys is, 'I'll give you a chance to come here and compete. But if you're looking for a guarantee, I can't promise you that.'
"And I think after a person understands his role, so be it with Seattle, he understands that 'Hey, I'm looking for a chance to make a football team and help that football team win.'
"Exactly where he is in his career I can't say because I haven't been with him for nine years or 10 years. So it's been a while, and we'll wait and see."
This is the first time Rice has been offered a make-good contract. According to Shanahan, as recently as a year ago, Rice still believed he was entitled to a guaranteed spot. Apparently, only his experience last season in Seattle, where he was used mainly as a decoy, brought home his actual status.
In all honesty, it's a little late in the day for this realization to set in. Freak of nature or not, Rice is 42. He's no longer a threat to go deep, no longer a threat to take a slant to the house, no longer a threat to beat man coverage.
Against a zone, he can find a hole and sit down. I mean this not as a football expression but literally. He still has great hands; probably will at 82.
He could also bring a wealth of wisdom to young players such as Darius Watts and Ashley Lelie, not to mention Adams, Luke, Jackson and whomever else comes to camp. But Shanahan insists he would not bring him in merely for his leadership or experience.
For great players in decline, the end usually takes too long. The instinct is always to play another year to disprove the disappointment of the last one. They don't get better, but each disappointment is reason to try again.
Now, Rice has the most fundamental choice: He can thank Shanahan for the offer, realize that competing with people half his age for the fourth receiver job in Denver is beneath his legacy and announce his retirement.
Or, he can give it yet another shot, the upside being 20 or 30 catches for the Broncos, the downside being the waiver wire.
Seems like a lousy risk/reward profile for the best receiver of all time. Then again, no knock on Adams et al, but on this particular roster, you have to like his chances. Not that that's necessarily a good thing
Kreiger lays it all out perfectly. How does Jerry want to go out. Does he want to go out fighting or does he just want to hang it up and leave somewhat gracefully.
Krieger: Rice would go against grain in Denver
May 24, 2005
I admit to a certain morbid curiosity that makes me hope Jerry Rice says yes today or tomorrow or whenever he's finished ruminating on Mike Shanahan's offer to show up for Broncos training camp.
First of all, it would be great theater. In the time zone they don't mention on TV, we've been mere spectators to the comet that was Jerry Rice. Now, to see it up close, even at the end, when it's no longer visible in the nighttime sky, would be a vicarious thrill. You don't get this close to the immortals that often.
On the other hand, I remember a couple of other epilogues here - Tony Dorsett, Dave Logan - and I'm not sure either would do it again, given a choice. It just doesn't seem right that the end for Logan, one of his generation's best possession receivers, was trying to block Chip Banks when Dan Reeves moved him to tight end.
At the end of last week, Shanahan suggested the Rice tryout is no problem for either side; the stumbling blocks, if any, are about the contract and family issues, the family issue, presumably, being just how old Rice has to be before he stops chasing young men's dreams.
The answer is the real choice he faces now: Will he decide when he's done or will someone else?
For the first time in his career, he now risks giving up that decision, as Shanahan made clear:
"I told Jerry, 'I don't know if you've lost a step or two steps, but you're going to come here for one reason: To compete with our other guys. And if you're one of our top five guys at the end of camp, you'll be on our football team. If you're not,' I said I'd have one of the toughest jobs in the world and that would be to release a guy that is arguably the best player ever to play the game."
Jerry Rice released? Does anybody want that?
I'm guessing Rice has looked at the Broncos roster. Two receivers from among Charlie Adams, Triandos Luke and Nate Jackson would have to beat him out for the Broncos to cut him.
Still, it would be the first time Rice has faced even the possibility.
"One of the reasons why I didn't pick up Jerry Rice, or try to pick up Jerry Rice, after he was released from Oakland is that he expected to be the No. 3 receiver," Shanahan said. "I could not do that to Jerry Rice. I could not do that to Tim Brown. All I could tell those guys is, 'I'll give you a chance to come here and compete. But if you're looking for a guarantee, I can't promise you that.'
"And I think after a person understands his role, so be it with Seattle, he understands that 'Hey, I'm looking for a chance to make a football team and help that football team win.'
"Exactly where he is in his career I can't say because I haven't been with him for nine years or 10 years. So it's been a while, and we'll wait and see."
This is the first time Rice has been offered a make-good contract. According to Shanahan, as recently as a year ago, Rice still believed he was entitled to a guaranteed spot. Apparently, only his experience last season in Seattle, where he was used mainly as a decoy, brought home his actual status.
In all honesty, it's a little late in the day for this realization to set in. Freak of nature or not, Rice is 42. He's no longer a threat to go deep, no longer a threat to take a slant to the house, no longer a threat to beat man coverage.
Against a zone, he can find a hole and sit down. I mean this not as a football expression but literally. He still has great hands; probably will at 82.
He could also bring a wealth of wisdom to young players such as Darius Watts and Ashley Lelie, not to mention Adams, Luke, Jackson and whomever else comes to camp. But Shanahan insists he would not bring him in merely for his leadership or experience.
For great players in decline, the end usually takes too long. The instinct is always to play another year to disprove the disappointment of the last one. They don't get better, but each disappointment is reason to try again.
Now, Rice has the most fundamental choice: He can thank Shanahan for the offer, realize that competing with people half his age for the fourth receiver job in Denver is beneath his legacy and announce his retirement.
Or, he can give it yet another shot, the upside being 20 or 30 catches for the Broncos, the downside being the waiver wire.
Seems like a lousy risk/reward profile for the best receiver of all time. Then again, no knock on Adams et al, but on this particular roster, you have to like his chances. Not that that's necessarily a good thing