Antonio Brown has some lofty goals, to say the least.
The new Oakland Raiders wideout, in his introductory press conference with the silver and black, told the media that one of his goals is to “catch Jerry Rice,” the former Raiders legend who’s the all-time greatest wide receiver to play in the NFL.
It’s going to be pretty tough to catch him, even for a receiver like Brown who has amasses over 1,100 yards in all but two of his nine seasons with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
But let’s have fun with it. Although Brown didn’t specify which categories he wants to pass Rice in (we’d guess all of them), let’s break down the math:
Receptions
Brown is currently 28th all time with 837 catches. Rice has 1,549 (and, just for perspective, that’s a whopping 224 more than the next guy, Hall of Fame tight end Tony Gonzalez).
That means Brown has to catch 713 more footballs before his career is over. He’d need to keep up his current streak of 100-plus catches (six straight seasons) for just over seven seasons. Did we mention Brown will turn 31 years old later this year? It’s not impossible — Larry Fitzgerald had three 100-plus catch years from 2015 to 2017 — but it’s going to be extremely tough.
Receiving yards
Rice amassed 22,895 yards in his storied career. With 11,207 thus far, Brown is 11,688 yards behind. Let’s say he keeps up his current average of 1,245 yards a season. That would mean he’d need nine-plus seasons — he’ll be 41 by then — to catch Rice in that category.
Receiving touchdowns
Rice has 197. Brown (tied for 35th all time) has 74.
The challenge: Brown just has to find the end zone … 123 more times.
He’s averaged 8.2 scores per season. So all he has to do is catch around eight per season for 15 more years.
So, yeah. It’s going to be extremely tough to meet his goals. Good luck!
