No. 1: Wide Receiver Jerry Rice
Perhaps the greatest NFL player of all-time, Jerry Rice spent his entire career on the west coast. From 1985-2000, Rice teamed up with Joe Montana and Steve Young to become the most prolific wide receiver the league had ever seen, making 12 Pro Bowl appearances and being named an All-Pro a staggering 10 times in 15 seasons.
Rice led the league in receiving yards six times in a 10-year period, and is the record holder in nearly every major category for receivers in NFL history.
However, all good things must come to an end, and for Rice his tenure in San Francisco ended at the turn of the millenium. He didn’t have to move too far, however, spending 2001 through part of 2004 with the nearby Raiders of Oakland, where he was named a Pro Bowler a final time in 2002.
Rice traveled his biggest distance yet to play out the rest of the 2004 season in Seattle, appearing in 11 games for the Seahawks and hauling in 25 receptions for 362 yards and the final three touchdowns of his career, giving him a staggering 208 in total.
Rice, more than anyone else, encapsulates Seattle’s desire to bring aging superstars to the Pacific Northwest to finish their career. While he’ll never get remembered for his time in the green and blue, it did happen, and it helped continue a string of NFL legends heading west before calling it quits.
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