November 3, 1996: Jerry Rice's 1,000th Catch

November 3, 1996: The San Francisco 49ers beat the New Orleans Saints, 24-14 at the Superdome in New Orleans. In the 2nd quarter, Steve Young threw a 36-yard touchdown pass to Jerry Rice. And with about 12 minutes left in regulation, Rice catches a pass from Young for 9 yards. These are the 999th and 1,000th receptions of Rice's NFL career. He becomes the 1st NFL player to catch 1,000 passes.

At age 34, at which most players relying on speed -- especially receivers, running back, and defensive backs -- tend to slow down, Rice caught just 3 passes on the day, but 108 for the season, leading the NFL. The previous 2 seasons, he had caught 112 and 122 passes, but neither total led the League. It was a golden age for receivers, but he was ahead of all of them.

Jerry Rice played for the 49ers from 1985 to 2000, then for the Oakland Raiders until 2004, and closed his career with 11 games for the Seattle Seahawks in the 2004 season. He finished his career with 1,549 receptions, 22,895 receiving yards, 23,546 all-purpose yards, 197 receiving touchdowns, and 208 overall touchdowns, all still records.

It must be pointed out that Montana and Young both made Rice better. It must also be pointed out that he did the same for them. Montana and Rice won Super Bowls XXIII and XXIV together. Young and Rice won Super Bowl XXIX together.

In 1999, while Rice was still with the 49ers, The Sporting News ranked him Number 2 on their list of the 100 Greatest Football Players. Jim Brown was Number 1. At Number 3 was the 49ers quarterback who helped launch Rice's career, Joe Montana. The next-highest-ranked receiver was Don Hutson, Green Bay Packers star of the 1930s and '40s, at 6, who set most of the NFL receiving records before Rice's generation. At Number 63 was Young.

In 2010, the year Rice was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, the NFL Network ranked the 100 Greatest Players. Rice was ranked Number 1, Brown Number 2, 1980s New York Giants linebacker Lawrence Taylor Number 3, Montana Number 4, 1960s San Diego Chargers star Lance Alworth the next-highest receiver at Number 38, Minnesota Vikings star Randy Moss as the best receiver since Rice at Number 65, and Young at Number 81.

A case can be made that Jerry Rice is the greatest player in the history of American football.

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November 3, 1996 was a Sunday. These other NFL games were played that day:

* The New York Giants beat the Arizona Cardinals, 16-8 at Giants Stadium in the Meadowlands. I was at this game, the 1st NFL game I'd ever seen live. It was a miserably cold day, with the Meadowlands wind blowing hard, holding attendance down to 68,282. The Giants led only 3-0 midway through the 3rd quarter, and it seemed like a poor investment. But they took a 16-0 lead with 6 minutes left in regulation.

Norman Julius "Boomer" Esiason, Long Island native and former Jets quarterback, led the Cards on a comeback, and got some applause from people who were obviously not so much Giant or Jet fans as they were people who went to Giants Stadium games when they had the chance, and appreciated him for his play rather than for his team. He got the Cards a touchdown and a 2-point conversion with 40 seconds to go, but the Giants recovered the onside kick to seal it.

* The New England Patriots beat the Miami Dolphins, 42-23 at Foxboro Stadium in the Boston suburb of Foxborough, Massachusetts. (Yes, the name of the stadium and the name of the town were officially spelled differently.)

* The Cincinnati Bengals beat the Baltimore Ravens, 24-21 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore.

* The Atlanta Falcons beat the Carolina Panthers, 20-17 at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta.

* The Philadelphia Eagles beat the Dallas Cowboys, 31-21 at Texas Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Irving, Texas.

* The Buffalo Bills beat the Washington Redskins, 38-13 at Rich Stadium (later Ralph Wilson Stadium) in the Buffalo suburb of Orchard Park, New York.

* The Pittsburgh Steelers beat the St. Louis Rams, 42-6 at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh.

* The San Diego Chargers beat the Indianapolis Colts, 26-19 at the RCA Dome (formerly the Hoosier Dome) in Indianapolis.

* The Chicago Bears beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 13-10 at Soldier Field in Chicago.

* The Green Bay Packers beat the Detroit Lions, 28-18 at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin.

* The Kansas City Chiefs beat the Minnesota Vikings, 21-6 at the Metrodome in Minneapolis.

* The Seattle Seahawks beat the Houston Oilers, 23-16 at the Kingdome in Seattle.

* The following night, on ABC Monday Night Football, the Denver Broncos beat the Oakland Raiders, 22-21 at the Oakland Coliseum.

* And the New York Jets and the Jacksonville Jaguars had the week off.

Baseball season had ended 8 days earlier, when the New York Yankees beat the Atlanta Braves to win the World Series. There were 4 games played in the NBA:

* The New York Knicks beat the Charlotte Hornets, 113-86 at Madison Square Garden.

* The Denver Nuggets beat the San Antonio Spurs, 88-79 at the Alamodome in San Antonio.

* And the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Minnesota Timberwolves, 91-85 at The Forum outside Los Angeles in Inglewood, California. Shaquille O'Neal had 35 points and 19 rebounds.

* And the Golden State Warriors beat the Vancouver Grizzlies, 105-95 at General Motors Place (now the Rogers Arena) in Vancouver.

And there were 4 games played in the NHL:

* The Chicago Blackhawks beat the Edmonton Oilers, 4-2 at the United Center in Chicago.

* The St. Louis Blues beat the Dallas Stars, 6-3 at the Kiel Center (now the Enterprise Center) in St. Louis.

* The Montreal Canadiens and the Phoenix Coyotes played to a tie, 4-4 at the America West Arena (now the Footprint Center) in Phoenix.

* And the Colorado Avalanche and the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim played to a tite, 1-1 at the Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim (now the Honda Center).