Former quarterback Tom Brady has thrown to some of the greatest receivers in NFL history. When he was asked to rank his personal Mount Rushmore of wide receivers on the Rushmore podcast on X, he had a very clear answer.

Jerry Rice came in at number one without hesitation. "If there was a perfect football player, it's Jerry Rice," Brady said on the Rushmore on X podcast. "The consistency, the durability, the dependability, the moments in the big-time games, the touchdowns, the yards, the route running, the practice habits, the tone setting."

Brady spent his childhood growing up watching him as a 49ers fan. That personal connection makes the praise even more meaningful. Rice wasn't just Brady's pick because of the numbers. It was everything around the numbers.

Rice spent 20 seasons in the NFL and holds the record for 1,549 catches, 22,895 yards, and 197 touchdowns.

Randy Moss came in at number two. Brady shared what it was actually like throwing to him from his own experience.

"I don't think there's a receiver in history that could scare a defense the way Randy did. He would run so far past people," Brady said on the Rushmore podcast.

Brady used a Steph Curry comparison to explain it. Defenses knew exactly what Moss wanted to do and still couldn't stop him. That's a level of dominance that only a handful of players in any sport have ever reached.

Larry Fitzgerald took the third spot. Brady described him as one of the three most consistent receivers ever to play.

"He caught the ball better than any receiver to ever play," Brady said. "He had more tackles on interception returns than drop passes."

Fitzgerald finished his career with 39 tackles and just 29 drops. For context, most receivers don't even approach that ratio.

For the fourth spot, Brady moved to tight ends and landed on Rob Gronkowski.

"Gronk was without a doubt the greatest run-blocking tight end the league has ever seen," Brady said. "He could dominate a 280-290 pound defensive end and then get open on 220-pound safeties."

Gronk possessed a rare physical combination that allowed him to overmatch heavy defensive ends in the running game and outrun lighter safeties in the passing game.

Tom Brady’s reasoning for leaving Calvin Johnson off the list

Brady acknowledged that Calvin Johnson forced defenses into coverage schemes that weren't used again after his retirement. Double coverage, press at the line, safety help over the top. It happened with Moss, too, per the Rushmore podcast.

The reason Johnson didn't crack Brady's top four came down to the overall body of work compared to Rice, Moss, and Fitzgerald over longer careers.

Brady also noted that comparing receivers across different eras of football is genuinely difficult. Rules around hitting receivers have changed, defensive schemes have evolved, and the game itself is unrecognizable.

Do you agree with Tom Brady's Mount Rushmore of NFL receivers? Let us know in the comments.

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Written by

Farheen Fathima

Edited by

Zaid Quraishi