Simeon Rice is apparently bitter. And obviously delusional. Watch Rice, in the video above, rip on former New York Giants defensive end Michael Strahan and the Pro Football Hall of Fame and there really are no other other conclusions to be drawn.
Bitter?
"I didn't have nobody falling down to help me get sacks," says Rice. "I didn't have that. I had to earn everything I got."
That, of course, is an obvious shot at Strahan, given the single-season sack record in 2001 when Brett Favre slid down in front of him.
Delusional?
"There's no Hall of Fame without me in it," Rice says. "There's just not. I dominated when I played. There was nobody better at my position. Nobody."
That's not just a shot at Strahan. That's a slap in the face to every person already enshrined in Canton, Oh. That's Rice saying to everyone in the Hall of Fame that their accomplishments mean nothing because he isn't in their club.
What is it about former Tampa Bay Buccaneers that makes them so bitter toward Strahan? We know all about Warren Sapp and his long-running feud with Strahan. Most likely it's simple jealousy. Jealousy that Strahan did have the good fortune of playing in New York, was personable enough to have a good relationship with the media and that those things have helped him become a bigger star after his career than he was during it.
As for Rice's claim that nobody was better than he was, that's blatantly incorrect. Rice's career ran from 1996-2007, roughly parallel to Strahan (1993-2007). There is a reason Strahan was considered a better player and is in the Hall of Fame while Rice is not. He WAS a better player.
Rice was a tremendous pass rusher. He had 122 career sacks, including eight seasons in double digits. Rice, though, was a better version of Osi Umenyiora. Simply put, the only thing he did was rush the passer. He did not play the run.
Rice made 471 tackles in his 13-year career, an average of 36 per year. Pro Football Reference measures his 'approximate value' at 104.
Strahan was both a great pass rusher AND an extraordinary run defender. He had 141 sacks in 15 seasons, with six double-digit seasons. He also made 851 tackles, an average of 57 per year. His approximate value is 160.
The numbers, then, as well as the Hall of Fame voters, show that Strahan was a better player. By a pretty significant margin. No matter how much Rice, and Sapp, want to voice their disagreement.