Price Is Right for 'Boys; Rice Says No Dice

What I already expected to be an interesting season just got a little more interesting with the Dallas Cowboys' signing of Peerless Price and the retirement of Jerry Rice from the Denver Broncos.

Price is reunited with Drew Bledsoe, who was the quarterback in Buffalo when Price had his "breakout" year. This may very well be the rebirth or swan song or both or either player. If Price has another good year, it could go a long way toward showing what kind of a quarterback Michael Vick is -- or at least was the last few years. He still has the potential for improvement.

Of course, this is the NFL. All three might have great seasons. They might all have horrible seasons.

I've always liked Price, but not Bledsoe. It will be hard for Price to have a good season if Bledsoe doesn't. Unless of course Bledsoe is injured and Drew Henson has to step in. If, unless, if, unless. You can play that game until the cows come home and then some. As Drill Instructor Sergeant Rodriguez used to say, "IF! IF? If grasshoppers had machine guns, then birds wouldn't #&@% with them!" We'll leave the Bledsoe-Price "what ifs" until the end of the season.

Rice Retires a Legend

Jerry Rice finally retired, about 2 years later than he should have. Funny thing is that Denver probably really could have used him this year even as a No. 4 or 5 receiver, while his last year in Oakland and last season in Oakland and Seattle were jokes.

Regardless, Rice goes down as the greatest receiver of the modern game. No one else even comes close. He was in the right place at the right time as so many history-makers are, as were a handful of others on those early 49er teams, including Joe Montana and personnel guru and coach Bill Walsh. Rice took advantage, and that's that.

I really grew to hate that 5- to 7-yard slant from Montana to Rice that always went for 10, 20, 40 yards or more. I was an AFC guy, and I didn't like this NFC team being so dominant on one play that no one could stop. I could hate him, but I still had to respect him. Sometimes he'd take hits, and you'd just think he was going to snap in half. He'd just bounce back up and trot back to the huddle.

Rice became a big name when big name receivers were classy guys. Like Lynn Swann before him, he wore mantles of both grace and greatness. He didn't hold out in the second year of a contract, didn't stand at the line of scrimmage when the play was called to another receiver, didn't excessively showboat or taunt or draw attention to himself.

Check that last bit. If you weren't paying attention to Rice, he was running past you downfield. He drew to himself the kind of attention wide receivers are supposed to: that of the quarterback to throw him the ball and that of linebackers and defensive backs to run him down.

The current attitude of players in today's NFL indicates that it may be a very long time before we see the likes of Rice or his compatriots. But that -- that is what legends are all about.