Rice says goodbye to Broncos, NFL

The greatest receiver of all time realized he would be no better than the fourth receiver for the Denver Broncos. It was no way for Jerry Rice to end his career, so he called it quits after 20 sensational seasons.

“I never thought I’d ever see this day,” Rice said Monday during an emotional news conference at Broncos team headquarters.

And the NFL may never see anyone like Rice again.

The 42-year-old receiver, a first-round draft pick out of tiny Mississippi Valley State in 1985, leaves the field with 38 NFL records, including the most career receptions (1,549), yards receiving (22,895) and touchdowns receiving (197).

But as much as the numbers, it was the way he did things that made the biggest impression — the right way. He was a slave to details, a master of route-running precision, a good guy off the field and a workout junkie both in season and out.

Revered by fans and his peers, Rice told his short-time teammates in Denver that he was retiring during a short meeting held after his public announcement. The Broncos gave him a standing ovation.

“Not many people that own all the records spend that type of commitment and give that type of commitment in the off-season,” Broncos coach Mike Shanahan said. “That’s why, in my opinion, he’s the greatest player to ever play the game.”

Next, it’s time for that debate, and nobody can accuse Shanahan of overstating it.

Rice led the 49ers to three Super Bowl titles and helped make Joe Montana and Steve Young look great. He mastered the West Coast offense and made a career of turning short catches into long gains. His work ethic and attention to the little things gave an entire generation of receivers someone to look up to.

How detail-oriented was he?

Shanahan said Rice insisted the right-handed assistant who threw practice passes to the receivers be replaced with a lefty when the 49ers switched from the right-handed Montana to the left-handed Young.

“… I’d see him upstairs. One time, I said, ‘Jerry, what are you doing?’ ” recalled Shanahan, who spent three years coaching Rice as San Francisco’s offensive coordinator. “He said, ‘I was looking at film. I’m looking at the top 10 receivers in the AFC and the top 10 receivers in the NFC. I don’t want any of these young guys ever to catch me.’ “

Seahawks ready for opener

After a seemingly endless summer of hypotheticals, roster moves and depth chart tweaking, the Seattle Seahawks are finally ready to get down to business this weekend.

The regular season opener at Jacksonville gives Seattle an opportunity to get its 2005 season off to a strong start.

The Seahawks have won their past two openers and gone on to see both seasons finish with a playoff game.

“You want to get into a groove,” wide receiver Bobby Engram said. “Winning is contagious. I felt like we’ve had as good a camp this year as we have the past two years, and if we go out and take care of our business, we should get off to a good start again.”

History doesn’t necessarily dictate that Week 1 victories guarantee a trip to the postseason, nor does a Week 1 loss give reason to throw in the towel, but season-opening wins proved to be vastly important last season.

In 2004, 11 of the 12 teams that went on to the postseason won their season openers. Only Indianapolis, which lost to eventual Super Bowl champion New England, bounced back from an 0-1 start to go on to the playoffs.

Giants-Saints set for Monday night

The Giants-Saints game, driven from New Orleans by Hurricane Katrina, will be played as part of a nationally televised doubleheader starting at 4:30 p.m. PDT on Monday, Sept. 19.

The game, already moved to the Giants’ home in the New Jersey Meadowlands, will begin on ABC, then be switched to ESPN at 6 p.m., when ABC goes to the regularly scheduled game between Washington and Dallas in Irving, Texas. In New York and Louisiana, as well as other parts of the Gulf Coast, ABC will continue to carry the Giants-Saints game, switching to Redskins-Cowboys when the Saints game ends.

NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said other details, such as ticket sales, will be announced soon.

The NFL said fund-raising efforts for hurricane relief will be intertwined in the telecasts of both games.

Ward signs four-year contract

Hines Ward now knows how much he is valued in Pittsburgh.

The four-time Pro Bowl wide receiver is one of the few players to walk away from contract negotiations with the Steelers with more money than he expected to get.

Ward, on the verge of becoming the leading receiver in franchise history, agreed Monday to a four-year contract that could be worth as much as $25.8 million and includes $10 million in guaranteed money and more than $2 million in incentives.

If he collects those bonuses, Ward will earn more than the $12 million in assured money he wanted before the extended negotiations began. The Steelers were believed to have originally offered $8 million to $9 million in guaranteed money.

“I think they went out of their way,” Ward said of an organization that has long set its own value on players and ignored huge money deals given by other teams. “It was far more than what I expected.”

Ward had one year left on his previous contract, worth $1.67 million this year, and is now signed through 2009.

Cards ink Swinton

The Arizona Cardinals signed wide receiver Reggie Swinton on Monday, and coach Dennis Green quickly made him the team’s kick returner, a position of need since J.R. Redmond was placed on injured reserve Aug. 29 and lost for the season.

To make room, Arizona waived kick returner J.J. Moses after a six-day trial run, along with defensive end Antonio Smith.