Jerry Rice knows a thing or two about playing wide receiver in the NFL. The Hall-of-Famer and three-time Super Bowl champion is the league's all-time leading receiver in receptions, yards and touchdowns, and Rice is generally considered the best player at his position in NFL history.
This season, Julio Jones broke Rice's record as the receiver to reach 12,000 career yards in the fewest number of games, reaching that mark in 17 fewer games. Therefore, it's no surprise that Rice told ESPN's Adam Schefter on "The Adam Schefter Podcast" that Jones is the receiver he's currently most impressed with.
"You've got a lot of young guys coming up, but it's still Julio Jones to me, man," Rice said. "Julio Jones, this guy, I think he's around about 12,000 yards already, and he was the fastest to ever get to 12,000. I think he's only going to get better because of his size, his speed, his jumping ability. He's one of those guys that believes in his where you can't cover me one on one, so I think he's only going to get better."
Jones, who was named to his seventh Pro Bowl this season and was voted a second-team All-Pro, finished the year with 1,394 yards and six touchdowns. He is the only player in NFL history to gain 1,400 receiving yards in five consecutive seasons, and he is the league's all-time leader in receiving yards per game.
To celebrate the birthday of one of the greatest wide receivers in the NFL, we pulled together 11 images that represented some of the most superhuman moments of Julio Jones' career.
AP Photo / Logan Bowles
AP Photo / John Bazemore
AP Photo / John Amis
Atlanta Falcons / Kara Durrette
AP Photo / John Bazemore
AP Photo / David Goldman
AP Photo / Kevin D. Liles
AP Photo / John Bazemore
Atlanta Falcons
Atlanta Falcons / Kara Durrette
Atlanta Falcons / Kara Durrette
