I already pointed out that Rice was a beast from his rookie year, but to label Strahan as a compiler is BEYOND ludicrous!!!
And let's compare apples to apples shall we, Simeon Rice was a beast in college, to the point of being the #3 pick overall for the Cardinals, ANY top 5 pick is an automatic starter and deemed an immediate impact player and as such Rice started ALL but one game his rookie season...
Meanwhile...
Michael Strahan DID NOT PLAY football until his senior year in high school, and got better throughout his college career, even though he was a second round pick (40th overall) he DID NOT START a single game in his rookie season, but still managed to grab one sack, he did not become a starter until his second year, IF you compare first 10 years
as starters the numbers are MUCH closer, Rice avg. 11.9 sacks vs. Strahan's 11.3, Strahan's 9 sacks in his final season is a good mark for ANY player, let alone one playing months before his retirement!
As far as injuries go if you play injured that's part of the game, but if you don't play period, how can you put up numbers, Strahan played in 8 & 9 games respectively in his two down years, to bounce back to 11.5 & 9 after each is a testament to the fact that he left the game on his own terms.
Oh, and in one paragraph or less, please explain how a "compiler" put up
more tackles in his final season(46) than Simeon Rice did in his BEST season(44)?!?
And THAT in a nutshell is why Simeon Rice would get a slight nod as a pass rusher with better sack numbers, dude was a straight liability vs. the run, can anyone say shades of Mark Gastineau?!?
Strahan was the more consistent and better OVERALL player, Rice may have had a couple of better seasons as a pass rusher, but Strahan beats him in every other category!!!
As vandamation points out, WHY single out Strahan, as a Giant fan even I will admit that while Strahan got sacks I can only count on one hand when they came @ a time to shut down teams on that last drive to end a game, but this REALLY sounds as though Sapp is jealous of the life Strahan has now while he had to sell his entire sneaker collection!