Rice-A-Roni -- The Oakland treat?

For most 49ers fans, Monday, June 4, 2001, was the day that most were expecting for quite sometime. The legend known as Jerry Rice leaving San Fran and preparing his inevitable trip to Canton. I can guarantee you though, that no one, neither casual or hardcore fan, could ever imagine San Francisco's golden boy would plant down his roots now in the place known simply as the "Raider Nation." Thanks to Rice's release today, it's only a matter of time from this nightmare turning into reality. This has to be one of the biggest double profit deals in the history of the NFL. Let's first look at how Oakland would be affected with the introduction of Rice.

They get one of the greatest receivers in the NFL since Fred Biletnikoff. They get more punch to an already insane receiving core with Tim Brown and Andre Rison, if he resigns with the team this year. Remember folks, this Raider team was just a game away from the Super Bowl. They had the top QB/WR duo last year in Gannon and Brown. The defense was one of the best the AFC had to offer. You now add in Rice to an already killer offense, who knows what could happen. We might see words that strike fear in near every team or fan in the league: "Your new 2002 NFL Champions, the Raiders!" You think I'm smoking something heavy? I wouldn't be running my mouth if it does happen.

Now, you may ask what about the Niners? What type of profit would they gain by the recent release of Rice? Well, to the conventional moronic fan, not that much. But to the fan who has done his homework, you see the real profit in this decision. You see that the Niners free some more players to keep the true firepower on the offense in the Bay. Most forget in the NFC West with what happened in New Orleans that a little guy by the name of Jeff Garcia netted nearly 4,000 yards in his first season. That's damn impressive even though Charlie Garner was the main reason why Garcia got free that much. Even with that, Jeff is still gonna kick ass and San Francisco will be a team to watch in 2001.

This now leaves the question I bet all the people reading from the Bay are wondering: How are the regular season matchups gonna look? What will happen when the man nicknamed simply as "Rice-A-Roni" comes back to 3Com? How will Rice's first game as a Raider go? So many questions, one hell of a lot of football to do.

Ladies and gentlemen, let the Bay Wars begin!!!!