Jerry Rice

Jerry Lee Rice Sr. was born on October 13, 1962, in Starkville, Mississippi, and grew up in Crawford, Mississippi, the sixth of eight children. Crawford was a small town, having only 600 residents. Rice's father, Joe, was a brick mason who built houses by hand, while holding other jobs to provide for the family. Joe was described by Rice as "a tough man" and held him and his siblings to a strict lifestyle. Eddie B., Rice's mother, raised Rice while Joe was working, and after Rice left cleaned the houses of wealthy families. Rice and his brothers often worked with their father building houses, catching bricks on top of scaffolds to make sure his father had bricks to lay. He did not see bricklaying as being his future saying that "it taught me the meaning of hard work." The Rice family struggled financially, with Rice sometimes not having many pairs of clothing or having a "hearty meal on the table". Providing for his family, he and his brothers picked corn, cotton, carrots, and hay. Rice asserted that he was shy as a child and did not have many friends. Rice attended B. L. Moor High School in Oktoc, Mississippi. Although he played mock games of basketball and football, Rice did not initially play sports for his high school. He enjoyed playing sandlot football and watching football on television. His mother forbade him to join the school's football team in his freshman year, as she thought that football was "too rough" for Rice. During Rice's sophomore year, the school's assistant principal caught him skipping class with a friend, causing him to panic and sprint away. After Rice fled, the principal was impressed with his speed, and informed the school's football coach, Charles Davis, who offered Rice a place on the team. Initially unhappy about this, Rice's mother relented after realizing that "the more I fought it, the more determined he was, so I gave it up." Rice played multiple positions in high school, including running back, defensive back and tight end, but the position he was most skilled at was wide receiver. During the offseason before his junior year, he trained for the team by running the several miles back to his home as he did not have a ride. Rice had a breakout junior season, primarily playing wide receiver and defensive back. In his senior year, Rice was a Mississippi All-State selection at wide receiver. Due to the small size of Moor, few of his statistics were officially recorded. According to sports journalist Glenn Dickey, Rice caught 50 receptions and 30 touchdowns as a senior, helping to lead the team to a 17 wins, 2 losses"}]],"parts":[{"template":{"target":{"wt":"abbr","href":"./Template:Abbr"},"params":{"1":{"wt":"17–2"},"2":{"wt":"17 wins, 2 losses"}},"i":0}}]}' id="mw6A">17–2 record over his final two seasons. He and Moor's starting quarterback, Willie Gillespie, were very dependable, enough for them to be nicknamed Johnny Unitas and Raymond Berry. In addition to football, Rice also played basketball as a forward

Rice attended Mississippi Valley State University from 1981 to 1984. When Rice arrived at Mississippi Valley State, he attended summer school and freshman orientation before the regular season. Two of his former teammates from B.L. Moor were there as well, but both left before the start of training camp. Rice studied receiving techniques from Gloster Richardson, stating: "I soaked up everything I could." Rice with the Mississippi Valley State Delta Devils in 1983 In 1981, Rice's freshman season, he caught 30 passes for 428 yards and two touchdowns. In 1982, his sophomore year, Rice played his first season with freshman quarterback Willie Totten. They became friends and practiced into the evening. Under the direction of Cooley, Mississippi Valley State ran an "unusual" offense, playing four wide receivers who tended to line up on one side of the field. Rice caught 66 passes for 1,133 yards and seven touchdowns. Together, Totten and Rice became known as "The Satellite Express." Success on the field did not put any money in his pocket, and many times he relied on friends for food, stating that the food given to him at Mississippi Valley "were not enough for a growing man". Rice had a record-setting 1983 campaign, including NCAA marks for receptions (102) and receiving yards (1,450). He was named a first-team Division I-AA All-American. He set a single-game NCAA record with 24 receptions against Southern University. He acquired the nickname "World," because of his ability to seemingly catch anything thrown near him. After an August practice experiment, Cooley had Totten call all the plays at the line of scrimmage without a huddle, resulting in even more staggering offensive numbers. Rice caught 17 receptions for 199 yards against Southern, 17 receptions for 294 yards, and five receiving touchdowns against Kentucky State, and 15 for 285 yards against Jackson State. During the game against Kentucky State, Rice caught twelve passes and scored three touchdowns in a single quarter. As a senior in 1984, he surpassed his own Division I-AA records for receiving yards (1,845), and receptions (112); his 27 touchdown receptions in the 1984 season set the NCAA record for every division. The 1984 Delta Devils averaged more than 60 points per game. Rice was named to the Division I-AA All-American team and finished ninth in Heisman Trophy balloting in 1984. In the Blue–Gray Classic all-star game played on Christmas Day, he earned MVP honors after four receptions for 101 yards and a 60-yard touchdown. He finished his career with 301 catches for 4,693 yards and 50 touchdowns, (although some sources have his numbers as 310 receptions, 4,856 receiving yards, and 51 touchdowns); his NCAA record for total career touchdown receptions stood until 2006 when New Hampshire wide receiver David Ball recorded his 51st career receiving touchdown. Rice's all-division NCAA record for total career receptions stood until 1999 when Scott Pingel of Division III Westminster logged his 3

San Francisco 49ers (1985–2000) Rice's record-breaking season at Mississippi Valley State caught the attention of NFL scouts. Sources vary on his 40-yard dash time, which was measured between 4.45 and 4.71 seconds. Both the Dallas Cowboys and San Francisco 49ers showed interest in him. San Francisco had won two out of the previous four Super Bowls prior to the draft. Rice later wrote in Go Long! that he was unsure about what success he might have in the league, and that he would "often play head games" with himself; his backup plan if his football career didn't pan out was fixing electronics. In a 2022 interview with Fox News Digital, Rice expressed his doubts about being drafted at the time: "To be honest, I never thought I was going to get drafted, I downplayed everything because I didn't want that disappointment of getting up here and then come down in disappointment if it didn't happen". In the first round of the 1985 NFL draft, Dallas had the No. 17 selection and San Francisco, as Super Bowl champion from the previous season, had the last. 49ers coach Bill Walsh sought Rice after seeing television highlights of his college performances. Walsh "saw the deep-threat the 49ers lacked ... a player who could break open a game with one play." The 49ers traded their first, second, and third-round picks for the New England Patriots' first and third-round picks. The 49ers had the No. 16 selection overall and drafted Rice before the Cowboys had a chance. Walsh described Rice as "a swift, smooth player who's got great instincts running with the ball, going to the ball and catching in a crowd." Rice was selected by the United States Football League (USFL), where the Birmingham Stallions selected him with the No. 1 overall pick of the 1985 USFL draft, but the league folded after its 1986 season. In training camp, Rice had to compete with 49ers Dwight Clark and Freddie Solomon for roster spots at the wide receiver position. Joe Montana and first two Super Bowls (1985–1989) In July 1985, Rice was one of 21 rookie players who had not yet signed a contract. Rice signed a rookie contract for five years that paid him $377,000 per year. He wrote that during training camp, he was nicknamed "Fifi" because of his haircut, but he was praised by his teammates for his work ethic. It was with the 49ers where Rice switched from his college number, 88 (which was already taken by teammate Freddie Solomon), to his now famous #80 (in honor of his idol, Steve Largent). Rice made his NFL debut in the 49ers' regular season opener against the Minnesota Vikings. He had four receptions for 67 yards in the 28–21 loss. Rice scored his first receiving touchdown against the Atlanta Falcons on a 25-yard reception from Joe Montana in Week 5. Rice had a breakout game with ten receptions for a then franchise-record 241 yards against the Los Angeles Rams in Week 13, his first over 100 receiving yards, with San Francisco losing 27–20. For his game against the Rams, Rice earned NFC Offensiv

Rice (far right) at a White House ceremony honoring the San Francisco 49ers' Super Bowl XXIII victory Rice holds numerous NFL receiving records. His 197 career touchdown receptions are 41 scores more than the second place of 156 touchdown receptions by Randy Moss; his 208 total touchdowns (197 receiving, ten rushing, and one fumble recovery) are 33 scores ahead of Emmitt Smith's second-place total of 175. His 22,895 career receiving yards are 5,403 yards ahead of the second-place Larry Fitzgerald. His 1,256 career points scored make him the highest-scoring non-kicker in NFL history. Many of these records are considered by sports analysts to be unbreakable. During a career spanning two decades, Rice averaged 75.6 receiving yards per game. He received MVP votes in six out of his 20 seasons, finishing as the runner-up twice in 1987 and 1995. He won two NFL Offensive Player of The Year Awards, and a Bert Bell Award in 1987. Rice is remembered as one of the best clutch players in football history, often making game-winning catches throughout his career. Rice also was noted as an effective blocking receiver. Rice's "famous" catching ability, sometimes attributed to him having to catch bricks when working with his father during his childhood, led him to 1,549 career receptions, 117 ahead of the second-place Fitzgerald. Despite being keen about his public image early in his career, Rice is remembered for his work ethic and dedication. He still cared extensively about his physical appearance, often tailoring his uniform and jersey, and combed his hair before putting on his helmet; his philosophy was: "If you look good, feel good, you'll play good", as described by Shawn Rogers, one of his friends. In his 20 NFL seasons, Rice missed only 17 regular season games, 14 of them in the 1997 season and the other three in the strike-shortened season of 1987; his 303 games are the most by an NFL wide receiver by a wide margin. In addition to staying on the field, his work ethic showed in his dedication to conditioning and running precise routes, with coach Dennis Green calling him "the best route runner I've ever seen". One of the best-known examples of his dedication and ethic was "The Hill," a steep hill in Edgewood County Park & Natural Preserve which is 2.5 miles (4 km) long. Rice sprinted across the hill every day during the offseason to improve his abilities. Rice signing autographs in Madden, Mississippi northwest of Meridian to celebrate the launch of Madden NFL 07 on Xbox 360, August 2006 In 1999, Rice was ranked No. 2 on the Sporting News' list of the 100 Greatest Football Players, behind only Jim Brown, and was 35 places ahead of the next-highest-ranked player then active, Deion Sanders. In 2000, Rice won the ESPY Award for Pro Football Player of the Decade for the 1990s. On November 4, 2010, he was ranked No. 1 on The Top 100: NFL's Greatest Players. In 2011, The Sports Network awarded the inaugural Jerry Rice Award, to be given each year to the most ou

Legend AP NFL Offensive Player of the Year Super Bowl MVP Won the Super Bowl NFL record Led the league Bold Career high Regular season Year Team Games Receiving Rushing Fumbles OtherTDs GPGSRecYdsAvgLngTDAttYdsAvgLngTDFumLost 1985SF 1644992718.96636264.315100— 1986SF 1615861,57018.3661510727.218100— 1987SF 1212651,07816.657228516.417100— 1988SF 1616641,30620.496 9131078.229100— 1989SF 1616821,48318.168175336.617000— 1990SF 16161001,50215.06413200.02000— 1991SF 1616801,20615.17314122.02010— 1992SF 1616841,20114.380109586.426121— 1993SF 1616981,50315.3801536923.043130— 1994SF 16161121,49913.4691379313.328211— 1995SF 16161221,84815.181155367.2201331 1996SF 16161081,25411.639811777.038100— 1997SF 2177811.11611−10−10.0−10000— 1998SF 1616821,15714.1759—————22— 1999SF 16166783012.46252136.511000— 2000SF 16167580510.76871−2−2.0−2032— 2001OAK 1615831,13913.7409—————10— 2002OAK 1616921,21113.27573206.712011— 2003OAK 16156386913.8472—————21— 2004OAK 6556713.4180—————00— SEA 1192536214.5563—————00— Career3032841,54922,89514.896197876457.4431019111 Postseason Year Team Games Receiving Rushing Fumbles GPGSRecYdsAvgLngTDAttYdsAvgLngTDFumLost 1985SF 1144511.3200—————10 1986SF 1134816.0240—————11 1987SF 113289.3130—————00 1988SF 332140919.561 63299.721000 1989SF 331931716.7725—————00 1990SF 221112211.1191—————00 1992SF 221421115.1361199.09000 1993SF 22912614.02301−9−9.0−9000 1994SF 331623314.644411010.010000 1995SF 111111710.6320155.05000 1996SF 229869.6361—————00 1997SF 00Did not play due to injury 1998SF 2246917.3381—————00 2001OAK 221323117.8471—————00 2002OAK 331436214.5482—————10 2004SEA 11——————————00 Career29291512,24514.972227446.321031