Super Bowl Media Day gives us a bunch of great opportunities for nonsensical questions from media to players in hopes of one quote that could be used and spun into 500 different stories.

Randy Moss obliged the media with this comment about being the greatest receiver ever.

“Now that I’m older, I do think I’m the greatest receiver to ever do it. I don’t think numbers stand. Because you can talk about this and this, I think I’ve had … this year has been a down year for me statistically. The year before I retired was a down year, and Oakland was a down year. I don’t really live on numbers — I really live on impact and what you’re able to do on that field.”

Everybody’s reaction to this was just pure shock. Jerry Rice is clearly the greatest receiver ever to play the game. In fact, some consider him the greatest player ever. How could Moss say he is better than Rice?

I can’t say that Moss is better than Rice. What Rice did revolutionized the position and has records beyond belief that will never be broken. Rice is on top of the list. Moss could be debated as number two. But not number one.

So why would Moss say such a thing? He knows that he doesn’t have the statistics, success and rings.

Is he going with what George Costanza said?

I read the quote over again and I think I found out what he meant.

“I don’t really live on numbers — I really live on impact and what you’re able to do on that field.”

That’s the part that Moss was referencing to and to an extent, he is right.

I can’t name a better packaged deep threat, speed demon, jumpball receiver in league history. What Moss did when he came into the league was change the game. His rookie year was phenomenal. He gave defensive coordinators headaches because he gave us a glimpse of greatness that we had never seen before. It was this type of talent that made him better than anyone we had seen before and haven’t seen since.

Comparing him to Rice is different because both played differently. Rice was a precision route runner that excelled with slants and quick out routes. The complexity of the offense made Rice so great. Adding to his longevity allowed us to marvel at his success.

Moss on the other hand played in an offense that allowed him to fly up the field and simply just outrun the defender. Because of Moss, the Vikings and Patriots became offensive machines. Those years in Oakland were a bad speed bump for him. But overall, he put up amazing catches and touchdowns year after year.

But going back to Moss’ quote, he referenced impact. Both he and Rice had an impact on the league that were game changers. Both became iconic for what they did in the league. Their impacts were different, but no other receivers have equaled what they did for the NFL.

I’m not saying that Moss is better than Rice. In terms of overall statistics and performance, Rice is clearly the best.

But for me, if Moss was seriously talking about impact on the game, he’s up there. Maybe it’s easier to say that since both Rice and Moss made great impacts in two different ways, maybe they could be a tie. Like 1A and 1B.

That’s the debate we should be having. Moss will never catch up to Rice. But in terms of changing the game, Moss isn’t too far off from thinking he was the greatest at it. The wide receiver position surely hasn’t been the same since his arrival.