The Underwear Olympics can skew things. Rice may have clocked at 4.7, but I'll bet he was just as fast in pads. And his game sense and feel for the secondary was unmatched. I will always hate the 9ers, but I respect the hell out of Rice.
I agree on the gamespeed. It was something else entirely different than what he displayed on the 40. The thing about Rice was there no human element of wearing down in a game at all. The stamina and speed was as much there in the 4th quarter as it was his first snap. That crazy intense training he did every single off season running up inclines for miles showed me he was the hungriest WR I had ever seen. WR's who bragged and claimed they were in the best shape were left crying and cramped trying to do Rice's training.
He and Barry remain the best I ever seen at their respective positions, that was one talented era no doubt. And up until that time Montana was the unanimous goat at 4-0 in superbowls.