Lions offensive coordinator John Morton is in his 22nd year as an NFL coach. In practice before the first game of this season, he told Amon-Ra St. Brown that St. Brown is the best receiver he's ever been around.
"And in my head I’m like, 'Didn’t you coach Jerry Rice? There’s no way I’m the best,'" St. Brown said Thursday with a laugh.
Morton, indeed, overlapped with Rice for four years with the Raiders when Morton was a young offensive assistant and Rice was winding down his Hall of Fame career. He watched Rice put up 1,211 yards and seven touchdowns at age 40 when the Raiders reached the Super Bowl in the 2002 season.
But Morton, once an NFL receiver himself, insists he's never seen a receiver as complete as St. Brown.
"I told St. Brown the other day, 'You’re the best I’ve ever been around. Run and pass. The way you prepare, the professionalism,' what he does in the offseason. ... I said, 'I don’t really care what the coverage is, you’re going to get open. And Jared (Goff) has that comfort level with him. When you’ve got that, it’s kind of easy to call plays," Morton said. "But just his attitude and how he approaches his preparation, I haven't seen it from a wideout like that."
While Morton understands what that might say about Rice, he pointed out that he only coached the 10-time All-Pro "towards the end of his career." And Rice didn't impact the game in as many ways as St. Brown does now.
"I’m talking about run (game) and pass (game), everything. I mean, Jerry would block every once in a while, but I don’t think (former 49ers head coach) Bill Walsh wanted him to block too much," Morton said with a smile. "He had other guys for that."
Rice, for St. Brown's money, is the best receiver to ever do it.
"You look at his stats, his numbers, his film. I see tape of him on the Seahawks when he’s like 40 years old routing dudes up. It reminds me of, like, the LeBron James of football with the longevity that he did it at. I don’t think anyone is ever going to touch the numbers that he has. He’s definitely the best receiver to ever play, just statistically and how long he was able to do it," said St. Brown. "He’s the greatest."
Through 70 games with the Lions, St. Brown has 457 catches for 5,158 yards and 39 touchdowns. Rice at the same juncture of his career had 315 catches for 5,924 yards and 62 touchdowns. Rice was in the midst of his fourth first-team All-Pro season, St. Brown is gunning for his third. Different players in different eras, but both on Hall of Fame tracks in year five.
St. Brown leads the NFL in catches since he entered the league. He's also first in receiving touchdowns and third in receiving yards over the last three seasons. He was voted a team captain this season for the third straight year. Asked this week what makes St. Brown such a good player, Goff replied, "Oh man, how long you got?"
"Gosh, I feel like I talk about him every week, but he’s smart, he’s tough, he’s physical, he can catch, he’s a leader, he blocks, he can run routes really well. He does everything well. He’s strong, he’s physical at the catch point, did I say he’s smart?" said Goff. "He’s a quarterback’s dream to throw to, and works tremendously hard. Sets the tempo for us on offense, at practice, and does everything right. He’s everything you want in a receiver, a teammate, and a leader. I love playing with him.”
Morton sometimes shows his players film of the great receivers he coached like Rice and fellow Hall of Famer Tim Brown. To be called the best of them "means a lot," said St. Brown. "It means the world."
"But I gotta keep proving it, man," he said. "Just because he says it now, it doesn’t mean much if I can’t keep doing it."