Jerry Rice
Jerry Lee Rice (born
October 13,
1962 in
Starkville,
Mississippi) is a former
football wide receiver in the
NFL. He is generally regarded as the greatest wide receiver in NFL history. Rice was selected to the
Pro Bowl 13 times (1986-1996, 1998, 2002) in his 20 NFL seasons. He won three
Super Bowl rings as a member of the
San Francisco 49ers. He has also played for the
Oakland Raiders,
Seattle Seahawks, and played on the
Denver Broncos' 2005 preseason squad before retiring.
Jerry Rice grew up in the tiny "country" town of
Crawford, Mississippi, the son of a brick
mason. He developed his hands while working for his father by catching bricks that his brothers threw at him. Rice later recalled that working for his father also taught him "the meaning of hard work." His speed also helped him excel in football in high school. He enjoyed watching football on television, and his favorite team was the Dallas Cowboys.
He attended B.L. Moor High School in Crawford, Mississippi. He says his football career started after he played "hooky" one day in the 10th grade, according to AP sportswriter Tom Coyne's report after Rice was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame. According to the book "Rice" (by Jerry Rice and Michael Silver), the school's principal tracked him down, but when he called his name the startled Rice sprinted off running. Rice said the principal remarked afterwards, "Wow, this guy is really fast," according to the Coyne article. The next morning, the principal called Rice into his office, gave him his punishment (reportedly 5 or 6 lashings with a thick strap), and told the school's football coach about his speed. The coach, Charles Davis, talked Rice into trying out for the team, according to the Coyne article.
As a high school player, he became an All-State end and defensive back (and also played running back and quarterback at times), but not good enough to warrant scholarship offers from the 40 or so Division I-A schools that showed interest. Even Mississippi State, just 20 miles away, didn't offer a scholarship. But Archie Cooley, coach of Division I-AA Mississippi Valley State University in Itta Bena, Mississippi, had heard about Rice through his extensive network of black high school coaches. Rice says of Cooley: "no one else came to see me in person." Based on that, as well as the urging from his older brother Tom, Jerry accepted the scholarship offer from MVSU and arrived in Itta Bena in 1981.
Rice attended
Mississippi Valley State University, becoming a standout on the football team. He acquired the nickname "World" because there wasn't a ball in the world he couldn't catch. Statistics from his college career are rather sparse and inconsistent, but the College Football Hall of Fame website claims that Rice, as a sophomore in 1982, caught 66 passes for 1,133 yards and 7 touchdowns. That was his first season playing with redshirt freshman
quarterback Willie Totten, nicknamed "Satellite." Together, Totten and Rice would become known as "The Satellite Express" and set numerous NCAA records in the run-and-shoot offense of coach Archie Cooley, nicknamed "The Gunslinger."
Rice had a record-setting 1983 campaign, including NCAA marks for receptions (102) and receiving yards (1,450) and being named first-team Division I-AA All-America. He also set a single-game NCAA record by catching 24 passes against Southern. As a senior in 1984, he broke his own Division I-AA records for receptions (112) and receiving yards (1,845). His 27 touchdown receptions in that 1984 season set the NCAA mark for all divisions.
The 1984 season was also memorable for MVSU as the pass-happy Delta Devils attracted national attention, scoring 628 points (an average of more than 59 per game). After an August practice experiment, Cooley had Totten call all the plays at the line of scrimmage without a huddle. The result was even more staggering offensive numbers. Rice caught 17 passes for 199 yards against Southern, 17 for 294 against Kentucky State and 15 for 285 against Jackson State, the first time MVSU beat them since 1954. Rice scored 5 TDs twice that year. He finished his career with 301 catches for 4,693 yards and 50 touchdowns (some sources have the numbers as 310, 4,856 and 51). Even though Totten made the offense go, Rice was the acknowledged best player on the team and was named to every All-American team (including the
AP squad) and finished 9th in
Heisman Trophy balloting in 1984. In the Blue-Gray Bowl all-star game played on Christmas Day, he earned MVP honors. Rice wore No. 88 in college, but switched to No. 80 with the 49ers (he also wore No. 80 with the Raiders, but switched back to No. 88 with the Seahawks).
In the spring of 1999, the school renamed its football stadium from Magnolia Stadium to
Rice-Totten Field in honor of Rice and Totten. Totten, who played professionally in the CFL (British Columbia Lions 1986, Toronto Argonauts 1987) and NFL (a "replacement player" for the Buffalo Bills during 1987), became head coach at MVSU beginning with the 2002 season.
Rice was inducted into the
College Football Hall of Fame on August 12, 2006
announced, joining Totten, who was inducted in 2005.
Rice's 1984 record-breaking season at Mississippi Valley caught the attention of many NFL scouts, but his speed (reportedly only 4.6 or 4.7 in the 40-yard dash) kept most wary. Apparently, there were at least two exceptions, the Dallas Cowboys (his favorite team) and the San Francisco 49ers. In his autobiography, Rice says the Cowboys, Green Bay Packers, San Diego Chargers, and Indianapolis Colts had kept in contact with him prior to the draft. In the first round of the 1985 NFL draft, Dallas had the 17th selection and San Francisco had the last (as Super Bowl champions from 1984). 49er coach Bill Walsh reportedly became enamored with Rice after watching highlights of Rice the Saturday night before San Francisco was to play the Houston Oilers on October 21, 1984. On draft day (April 30, 1985), the 49ers traded its first two picks for New England's first-round choice, the 16th selection overall (the teams also swapped third-round picks as part of the deal), and selected Rice before, as some report, the Cowboys were intending to take Rice.
Although he struggled at times (dropping numerous passes), Rice took the NFL by storm in his rookie season for the 49ers in 1985, especially after a 10-catch, 241-yard game against the Los Angeles Rams in December. For that rookie season, he recorded 49 catches for 927 yards, an 18.9 yards per catch average. The following season, he caught 86 passes for a league-leading 1,570 yards and 15 touchdowns. It was the first of 6 seasons Rice would lead the NFL in receiving and touchdown receptions. In 1987 he was named the NFL's Player of the Year, but despite only playing in 12 games because of the NFL players strike, he still managed to gain 1,078 in receiving yards and an NFL-record 22 touchdown receptions.
Then in 1988, Rice had one of the best seasons of his career. He caught 64 passes for 1,306 yards and 9 touchdowns, assisting his team to a 10-6 record. In the postseason, he was instrumental in the 49ers' 28-3 win over the
Chicago Bears in the NFC title game, recording 5 catches for 123 yards and 2 touchdowns. But his performance in
Super Bowl XXIII was even better. Rice caught 11 passes for 215 yards and a touchdown, while also rushing for 5 yards, assisting the 49ers to a narrow 20-16 win over the
Cincinnati Bengals. His receptions and receiving yards were both Super Bowl records. For his performance, he became only the third wide receiver ever to earn
Super Bowl MVP honors.
In 1989, San Francisco made it back to the Super Bowl, aided by Rice's 82 receptions for 1,483 yards and 17 touchdowns during the season, and his 12 catches for 169 yards and 2 touchdowns in their 2 playoff games. He was once again a major factor in the 49ers championship win, finishing
Super Bowl XXIV with 7 catches for 148 yards and a Super Bowl record 3 touchdown receptions.
Rice had another superb season in 1990, leading the NFL in receptions (100), receiving yards (1,502) and receiving touchdowns (13). San Francisco finished the year with a NFL best 14-2 record, but failed to "3-peat" as Super Bowl champions, losing to the
New York Giants 15-13 in the NFC title game.
Rice made it back to the Super Bowl with the 49ers in the 1994 season, recording a career-high 112 receptions for 1,499 yards and 13 touchdowns. During the 49ers' first game of that season against the Los Angeles Radiers during a Monday Night showdown, Jerry Rice had one of his best performances, catching 7 passes for a season-high 169 yards and two touchdowns while rushing for one more and moving into first place all time in the NFL record books for career touchdowns with 127. The 49ers won the game 44-14. Although he only caught 6 passes in San Francisco's 2 playoff games that year, he proved to be a vital component in their 49-26 victory over the
San Diego Chargers in
Super Bowl XXIX, recording 10 receptions for 149 yards and 3 touchdowns - despite playing with a separated shoulder.
In 1995, Rice caught a career high 122 passes for an NFL record 1,848 receiving yards and 13 touchdowns. However, the 49ers lost in the divisional playoffs to the
Green Bay Packers, despite Rice's impressive 11-catch, 117-yard performance. The following year, he recorded 108 receptions for 1,254 yards and 8 touchdowns. San Francisco made it to the NFC title game, but once again lost to the Packers. In his 3 seasons between 1994 and 1996, Rice had racked up a whopping 342 catches for 4,601 yards and 36 touchdowns.
During the season opener of the 1997 season he tore the anterior cruciate and medial collateral ligaments in his left knee. The injury broke his streak of 189 consecutive games played. Fourteen weeks later he made his return, much earlier than doctors wanted him to. He scored a touchdown, but when he came down with the catch, he cracked the patella in his left kneecap. He was forced to miss the pro bowl for the first time in 11 years. However, he made a full recovery, coming back to record 82 catches for 1,157 yards and 9 touchowns in 1998.
After 2 more seasons with the 49ers, Rice left the team to sign with the Raiders. He excelled with them in the 2001 season, catching 83 passes for 1,139 yards and 9 touchdowns. In 2002 he did even better, catching 92 passes for 1,211 yards and 7 touchdowns, assisting Oakland to a championship appearance in
Super Bowl XXXVII. His team lost the game 48-24, but he had a good performance in it, recording 5 receptions for 77 yards and a touchdown. His 48-yard touchdown catch in the 4th quarter made him the first player ever to catch a touchdown pass in 4 different Super Bowls.
Super Bowl XXXVII turned out to be the final Super Bowl game Rice would play in. Oakland dropped from an 11-5 record in 2002 to a 4-12 record in 2003 and a 5-11 record in 2004. Rice left the Raiders 4 games into the 2004 season and joined Seattle for the remainder of the year. Rice would play his last post-season game for Seattle, which was a loss to the St. Louis Rams. He made the
Denver Broncos roster as a 6th wide receiver in the summer of 2005, but retired shortly before the season began.
Just like many of his opponent's defenses during his career, Rice retired leaving his competition for the NFL's receiving records very far behind. His 1,549 receptions were 448 receptions ahead of the second place record held by
Cris Carter. His 22,895 receiving yards were 7,961 yards ahead of the second place spot held by his Raiders teammate
Tim Brown. His 197 touchdown receptions were 67 scores more then Carter's 130, and his 207 total touchdowns were 32 scores ahead of
Emmitt Smith's second place spot of 175.
To get an idea of how massive his 22,895 receiving yards are, if Rice had not gained any other yards on rush attempts or kick returns, his 22,895 receiving yards would still rank him second place on the NFL's list all-purpose yard leaders (category based on combination of rushing, receiving, kick/punt return yards, and interception/fumble return yards).
But perhaps even more than his records, Rice will always be remembered for his supreme work ethic and dedication to the game. In his 20 NFL seasons, Rice missed only 17 regular season games, with 14 of them occurring in a single year (the 1997 season when he tore his knee legiments), and the other 3 occurring in the strike shortened season of 1987. His 303 games are by far the most ever played by an NFL wide receiver, and are only 51 games behind the NFL record.
*Rice currently resides in the
San Francisco Bay Area, with his wife Jackie and their children, Jaqui Bonet (b.
June 7,
1987), Jerry Jr. (b.
July 27,
1991), and Jada Symone (b.
May 16,
1996). He is considering stepping into the broadcasting booth.
*During the 2005-2006 broadcasting season, Rice competed in the reality TV show
Dancing with the Stars, where he, to his great surprise, achieved amazing success in the show, reaching the final two and finally losing to singer
Drew Lachey and his partner
Cheryl Burke. Paired with dancer
Anna Trebunskaya, they were considered the underdogs on the show. His amazing work ethic and exceptional sportsmanship charmed many viewers, and his determination also made him a judge's favorite.
*He also appeared in the first episode of Spike TV's Pros vs. Joes challenge show.
*Rice is a member of
Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc. He was initiated at Mississippi Valley State through the Delta Phi chapter.
*As of late June 2006, Rice co-hosts the radio talkshow "The Afternoon Blitz" on Sirius NFL Radio Channel 124.
Rice held the following
NFL records at the time of his retirement:
Regular Season
*Receptions (1,549)
*Receiving yards (22,895)
*Touchdown receptions (197)
*All-purpose yards (23,540)
*
Touchdowns (208)
*Receiving yards gained in a single season (1,848)
*Touchdown receptions in a single season (22)
*Seasons with at least 50 receptions (17)
*Seasons with at least 1,000 receiving yards (14)
*Games with at least 100 receiving yards (76)
*Consecutive games with at least one reception (274)
*Consecutive games with at least one touchdown reception (13)
Postseason
*Games played (29)
*Touchdowns (22)
*Receptions (151)
*Yards receiving (2,245)
*Touchdown receptions in a single game (3, three times; 10 others have had 3 in a game once)
*Games with at least 100 receiving yards (8)
*Consecutive games with at least one reception (28)
Super Bowl
*Receptions (33)
*Yards receiving (589)
*All-purpose yards (604)
*Touchdown receptions (8)
*Points scored (48)
*Receptions in a single game (11)
*Yards receiving in a single game (215)
*Touchdown receptions in a single game (3, twice)
*Points scored in a single game (18, twice)
*Rice is the only one of the top 25 scorers in NFL history who did not kick the football.
*Rice gained 645 rushing yards and 10 rushing touchdowns, unusually large figures for a wide receiver.
*Rice owns three
Super Bowl Championship Rings (
Super Bowl XXIII,
Super Bowl XXIV,
Super Bowl XXIX)
*
Statistics from NFL.com*
ESPN Classic: 49ers era was Rice era*
Super Bowl records*
Dancing with the Stars profile
