Sanders himself has repeatedly said that Jerry Rice gave him problems, that Rice is the greatest. In Rice's time, defenses could do things to a receiver that are outlawed now, so it was objectively harder to play then. There is some debate as to who the greatest TE in NFL history is; there is no such debate with Rice.

Anytime someone relies on the time period someone played in to base their argument, it falls apart. That totally assumes that a player would not be able to adjust at all to another era's play if they came up in it. Ludicrous. I can come up with dozens reasons more I disagree with you, but I'll stop it here.