RICE EARNS BENEFIT OF DOUBT.

Byline: BILLY WITZ

Wandering through the tailgating parties outside the Oakland-Alameda, er, Network Associates Coliseum a few weeks ago, I was talking to Raiders fans about the return that day of Jon Gruden, Tim Brown and the rest of the former Raiders now playing for Tampa Bay.

When the subject turned to Brown, it rarely did so without the fans having a question of their own: Why didn't the Raiders dump Jerry Rice instead?

If the Raiders were going to cut a past-his-prime receiver, most fans thought it should have been Rice, who pouted after the Raiders beat the Bills because coach Norv Turner wouldn't call a gratuitous play for him to keep alive his NFL-record streak of games with a catch.

Just Whine, Baby didn't play too well in the Black Hole - especially if you're not making plays anymore.

Obviously, there comes a time for every athlete when talent erodes faster than moxie accrues, when smarts no longer compensate for declining skill. It's often the time to walk away.

The performances of Roger Clemens and Barry Bonds, still among baseball's best into their 40s thanks to rigorous - and, in Bonds' case, suspect - training, means only that the window has been held open a little longer.

Rice has done this, too. Two years ago, at age 40, he led the Raiders with 92 catches - the most he had accumulated since 1996 - and helped them to the Super Bowl. He still led Oakland last season with 63 catches.

Yet by the latter part of the season, not only did opponents no longer consider him a threat, the Raiders no longer looked at him as an option.

Six times in the final seven games, Rice caught three balls or less. This season, as new coach Turner emphasized a deep passing game, Rice saw the ball even less - five catches in five games.

When Rice, who requested a trade last week, was dealt Monday to Seattle, he was elated to be reunited with Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren, an assistant with the 49ers when Rice arrived as a rookie in 1985.

The terms of the deal, however, are telling. The Seahawks, whose receivers have struggled with drops the past two seasons and who might lose leading receiver Koren Robinson to a drug suspension, gave up just a conditional seventh-round pick for the most accomplished receiver in NFL history.

If there's plenty of debate over who might be the best quarterback (Elway? Marino? Unitas?) or the best running back (Brown? Payton? Sanders?), there is little discussion about who is the best receiver ever. Rice owns 13 NFL records - including most receiving touchdowns, yards and catches in a career.

Put another way, it's why Seahawks Hall of Famer Steve Largent was willing to un-retire his No. 80 jersey for Rice.

In rejoining Holmgren, Rice will be back at his familiar flanker spot in the West Coast offense, splitting time with Robinson for now.

``At his age, is he the same guy he was 10 years ago?'' former 49ers quarterback Steve Young told the Tacoma News-Tribune. ``Of course not. But he's capable of doing it, and I think that he's done it in that system for so long, he knows those routes, he knows zone defenses, he knows how to find space.

``He's determined to come up and show that he can still catch some balls.''

Soon enough, we'll see if he can.

Interestingly, Rice plays one of the few positions in professional sports where he can't answer that question by himself. Batters will tell you when they can't catch up to fastballs. Quarterbacks will tell you when their ball no longer arrives on time. Basketball players will tell you when their legs are shot.

Rice, however, must wait for someone to throw him the ball.

In the meantime, there will be plenty of tongue-clucking and wistful reminiscing about the shame of great ones not knowing when to walk away, how they're tarnishing their legacy - why, just look at Emmitt Smith.

Yet how many people remember that Johnny Unitas played his last game for the Chargers or Babe Ruth played out the string for the Boston Braves? And how many remember Willie Mays stumbling around the outfield for the '73 Mets instead of chasing down Vic Wertz's drive for the '54 Giants? Or Michael Jordan, Air Jordan, trying to dunk in an All-Star game and failing to get over the rim?

Rice isn't playing for records, rings or rewards. After all, the sweat he has put into the game, if someone's willing to give him a helmet and pads, he's still willing to put them on. That's an indulgence he deserves.

If not being Jerry Rice anymore is good enough for him, then it should be good enough for everyone else.

CAPTION(S):

2 boxes

Box:

(1) ON THE GRIDIRON

By Matthew Kredell

(2) NFL WEEK 7