End of the Streak, End of the Myth

Having grown up a diehard 49ers fan, Jerry Rice is my favorite NFL player of all time. That being said, there has been way too much hoopla over the end of his pass reception streak yesterday. There's no two ways about it: this is the most overrated streak in sports. First of all, Rice has spent his entire career in a system that favors short throws, slants, and low risk routes. Second of all, there are so many more relevant football records that Rice already holds. Like his 294 touchdowns. His 22,000+ receiving yards. His 14 seasons with 1,000 yards. This wasn't a Cal Ripken Jr. situation, where the streak is the highlight of his career. There has been much, much more to Jerry's illustrious career.

Finally, my biggest problem with the record is that it completely ignores the 1997 season, which Rice missed with an ACL tear. Rice blew out his knee in the opening game (Steve Mariccui's debut as coach, nonetheless) and missed the next 14 games. How exactly does a consecutive-games-with-a-catch streak continue if the player isn't playing in consecutive games? The whole notion of a "streak" is a hoax. I've never understood why nobody ever questioned it in the past seven years.