Rice retired as the leader in a number of statistics. His 1,549 receptions were 447 receptions ahead of the second place record held by Marvin Harrison. His 22,895 receiving yards were 7,961 yards ahead of the second place spot held by his Raiders teammate Tim Brown. His 197 touchdown receptions are 65 scores more than the 132 touchdown receptions by his former 49ers teammate Terrell Owens, and his 208 total touchdowns (197-p, 10-r, 1-ret) were 33 scores ahead of Emmitt Smith's second place 175.
To illustrate the significance of his 22,895 receiving yards, if Rice had not gained any other yards on rush attempts or kick returns, his 22,895 receiving yards would still rank him second place on the NFL's list all-purpose yard leaders (category based on combination of rushing, receiving, kick/punt return yards, and interception/fumble return yards).
Another example of Rice's dominance is his performance against Deion Sanders, considered by many as the best coverage cornerback of all-time. From 1989 to 1996, Rice and Sanders faced off ten times, with Rice compiling 60 receptions for 1,051 yards and 11 receiving touchdowns against Sanders's teams (this would project to approximately 96 receptions for 1682 yards and 18 touchdowns in 16 games). Rice's teams won six of the ten games. To Sanders credit, Deion had 4 interceptions for 58 yards and 0 touchdowns in those ten games. Rice played against Sanders's teams twelve times, but Sanders did not play in two of those games (once in 1992 and once in 1993).[5][6]
Rice is remembered for his work ethic and dedication to the game. In his 20 NFL seasons, Rice missed only 10 regular season games, 7 of them in the 1997 season, and the other 3 in the strike-shortened season of 1987. His 303 games are by far the most ever played by an NFL wide receiver, and are only 72 games behind the NFL record for games played by any player. In addition to staying on the field, his work ethic showed in his dedication to conditioning and running precise routes, with coach Dennis Green calling him "the best route runner I've ever seen." Also known as one of the best blockers at his position, there was no aspect of playing wide receiver at which Rice did not excel.
In 1999, he was ranked number 2 on The Sporting News list of the 100 Greatest Football Players, behind only Jim Brown, and Rice — 35 places ahead of the next-highest-ranked player