Skip Bayless Thinks Irvin Is The GOAT Wide Reciever

Dallas Cowboys Fan;3786371 said:

I was just tuning into ESPN First Take right now and Skip Bayless thinks Michael Irvin is the greatest wideout of alltime, better than Jerry Rice. What are your thoughts on this? Me personally I think Bayless is nuts, I love Irvin as much as the next guy but there is no way he was a better wideout than Jerry Rice IMO.

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I agree with Skip Bayless. Any you know, the NFL did a list of the best 100 football players of all time where the put Jerry Rice at #1, and I'd still take Michael Irvin ahead of Rice in that category.

jterrell;3786901 said:

Not sure how you define talent but Aikman had less overall athleticism than either guy. He was accurate but those guys both had insane pass efficiency over their careers. Aikman was a big, tough, strong-armed guy with accuracy and smarts. But he did what he did with a lot of consistency and routine. I do not rank him higher than Young, especially, in pure talent.

I'd rather have Aikman but that's because he had an advantage between the ears.

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From an arm standpoint, I'd take Aikman over Young and Montana. I think if you put Montana in Norv's system...he's probably a very good QB who doesn't make the HOF. If you put Aikman in Walsh's system, I think he may actually put up bigger numbers, although I don't think he wins 3 Super Bowls.

Aikman had a cannon for an arm, a super quick release and was uncanny with his accuracy. Montana was extremely accurate and had phenomenal footwork, but he excelled in Walsh's system because it set up the deep ball for him perfectly. Had he been called to bomb it all the time like in an Al Davis scheme, I don't think he's a guy we even remember. Norv's scheme isn't a bombing scheme, but it calls for a lot of intermediate to deep throws again and again. I think Montana could pull that off pretty well, but HOF well? Not sure.

When it comes to Rice, a player I detested and still do, I always think about Parcells and his PC's here when asked about Rice. You could pretty much tell that he was not all that impressed with Rice and really thought Rice did it by being in better condition than everybody else and by the 4th quarter he'd blow guys away.

As much as I detest Rice, he's the best WR I've ever seen. I've seen Hutson on video and it's obvious that he was great, too...but hard to put into context for the time (which is why Hutson supporters still feel he's the greatest of all time).

I know some non-Cowboys fans reading this will think I'm crazy, but I'd take Irvin as a teammate over Rice (during the Jimmy days) and it's not even up for discussion with me. It's too bad that Irvin acted like a jerk during those years because his legacy as a phenomenal teammate will be tarnished by non-Cowboys fans.





YR

AMERICAS_FAN;3787185 said:

I agree with Skip Bayless. Any you know, the NFL did a list of the best 100 football players of all time where the put Jerry Rice at #1, and I'd still take Michael Irvin ahead of Rice in that category.

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Listen guys, I love me some Michael Irvin, but to put him ahead of Jerry Rice is insane -- there is absolutely no way to justify it other than complete and total homerism.

The guy had 90+ catches and 1200 yards when he was 40!

207 TDs!!!

Ashwynn;3787171 said:

The Barbarian stiff arm rule. The Jason Witten no running without your helmet rule. Was thinking there was an Emmitt Smith rule, but dont recall specifics now.

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The Emmitt rule is the one about taking your helmet off after a TD, Emmitt did it all the time til that rule and I guess Barber wasn't around watching when he did it this year.

I hated Rice and 88 was my favorite Cowboy ever so I'll take the Playmaker six days outta the week & twice that on Sundays! With that said, I do respect what Jerry was able to do for as long as he did. When you look at the numbers it's hard to argue against Rice, point blank, but if they switched teams I think Irvin would have been a beast in that WCO...

Sorry guys. :signmast:

dbair1967;3786392 said:

I dont know about greatest of alltime, but I do think that when Irvin was in his prime from 91-96 he was the best WR in the league, and not Rice.

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Agree. But when it comes to longevity and all records etc. Rice was indeed the best ever. He was never physical type like Irvin. Infact, I don't think he would have survived the beatings like what Irvin took. But he was bit of superior athlete to Irvin though.

I used argue during those nineties that Irvin was better than Rice myself. But when you look at the entire career, you have to give your hats off to Rice, no matter how much you hate Whiners.

Dallas Cowboys Fan;3786371 said:

I was just tuning into ESPN First Take right now and Skip Bayless thinks Michael Irvin is the greatest wideout of alltime, better than Jerry Rice. What are your thoughts on this? Me personally I think Bayless is nuts, I love Irvin as much as the next guy but there is no way he was a better wideout than Jerry Rice IMO.

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I put Mike right up there with Jerry Rice. Both were guys who could make the big play when their team needed it the most.

Michael Irvin would have put up monster numbers in a pass happy offense.

dbair1967;3786392 said:

I dont know about greatest of alltime, but I do think that when Irvin was in his prime from 91-96 he was the best WR in the league, and not Rice.

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Rice was great, no doubt. He was made better by being in the Walsh system.
Lots of picks, quick slants, high percentage stuff that was ahead of the league for awhile.

dbair1967;3786392 said:

I dont know about greatest of alltime, but I do think that when Irvin was in his prime from 91-96 he was the best WR in the league, and not Rice.

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Even Rice acknowledges this in his HOF speech. Irvin was his fiercest rival for best WR in the 90's. During this 5 year period, Irvin was undisputedly better.

And I agree with YR, Don Hutson was the greatest of all time. He had no real competition at any time in his career. None.

skip is a cowboys homer, he just HATED t.o. being on our squad. I remember when we beat the giants he said we were the best team in the NFL (this year)

BAT;3788061 said:

Even Rice acknowledges this in his HOF speech. Irvin was his fiercest rival for best WR in the 90's. During this 5 year period, Irvin was undisputedly better.

And I agree with YR, Don Hutson was the greatest of all time. He had no real competition at any time in his career. None.

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yes Hutson is my favorite but i could argue for Irvin but Hutson was so amazing... his stats were obsene for that time

ThreeSportStar80;3787615 said:

Michael Irvin would have put up monster numbers in a pass happy offense.

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ditto

rysko;3788307 said:

skip is a cowboys homer, he just HATED t.o. being on our squad. I remember when we beat the giants he said we were the best team in the NFL (this year)

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you obviously are new to the Cowboys then

Sorry, but Jerry Rice is the greatest of all time.


End of Discussion.

Diehardcowboy;3786649 said:

Irvin was a great wide out and leader but when the league outlawed the receiver induced contact they took away his game. In his last year or two it seemed he was targeted for offensive pass interference or illegal contact quite often. I have often wondered how he would fared if the rule was enforced in the beginning of his career as at the end. Weird how Cowboy's success led to three rules (Irvin - contact, Williams - hands to the face, smith - helmet)

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Don't forget Roy W - Horsecollar and Barber - Offensive hands to the face.

SDCowboy85;3786493 said:

I know he gets a bad rap around here but I don't get it. He loves the Cowboys, loves Tony, loves Dez, etc. He always talks very highly of the team.

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He is whats wrong with Journalism ( if you call it that )please don't get me started on this Puke they call Skip

BAT;3788061 said:

Even Rice acknowledges this in his HOF speech. Irvin was his fiercest rival for best WR in the 90's. During this 5 year period, Irvin was undisputedly better.

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People forget the Sterling Sharpe may have the most dominant in that 5-6 year timespan as well. He was drafted in the 1st round of the 88 draft like Irvin was. He suffered a career ending neck-injury in the prime of his career -- the year he was injured I think he had 18 TDs or so -- with 2-3 games to go!