Jerry Rice 1962–

Professional football player

At a Glance…

Fitting into a Game Plan

On Top and Staying There

Going for the Record

Sources

In 1992 Jerry Rice, the star wide receiver for the San Francisco 49ers, grabbed the record for most touchdown receptions in a professional football career, with 101. That milestone—coming as it has during the prime of his career—assured Rice a future berth in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. San Francisco Chronicle correspondent Ron Thomas described Rice as “a ballet dancer in cleats” whose “dazzling runs leave defenders grasping at air and gasping for breath. Even when Rice doesn’t have the ball, he can dominate a game.”

Rice has been a mainstay on a football team that is never far from Super Bowl contention. The San Francisco 49ers dominated professional football in the late 1980s and advanced to the playoffs each year throughout the early 1990s. Rice is part of the reason for that success. He is tall, fast, and obsessively determined to catch passes and score. Washington Post columnist Thomas Boswell praised Rice for “the range of creative expression” in his performance, which is almost always carried out under double-team pressure. Boswell continued: “The way Rice moves while a ball is in the air, gliding like a hawk on an air current, and what he does after he grabs that ball, changing direction as suddenly as a snake in water, takes the breath from those who watch him and steals the heart from those who try to defend him.”

Sports Illustrated correspondent Ralph Wiley claimed that Rice is “running his name into the record books with a smooth and impeccable stride.” Wiley also offered a tongue-in-cheek warning to Rice’s opponents: “You’re dealing with a cold executioner. You must study Jerry Rice—what he does, when he does it, how he thinks, what he doesn’t like. You must find the flaw in his character. You must know him as well as you know yourself. Why? So you won’t embarrass yourselves or the cities and the institutions you represent when Rice comes to terrorize you and tread on your painted end-zone grass.”

Wiley noted that Jerry Rice “grew up simon-pure. No street lights, or sidewalks, or traffic signs, or stadium concerts. No drugs, or crime, or sirens. No distractions.” The reporter is referring to life in tiny Crawford, Mississippi, an all-black rural community where Rice was born in 1962. As a youngster the athlete saw few paved roads and even fewer of the luxuries that are now part of his life. His father was a bricklayer who built a home for the large family on the edge of a pasture. Rice and his five brothers amused themselves by playing sports, including a favorite pastime of chasing the horses in the

At a Glance…

Born October 13, 1962, in Crawford, MS; son of Joe Nathan (a bricklayer) and Eddie B. Rice; married, wife’s name Jackie; children: Jacqui (daughter). Education: Attended Mississippi Valley State University.

Selected in the first round of the 1985 NFL draft by the San Francisco 49ers. Wide receiver for the 49ers, 1985—.

Awards: Numerous, including NFL Most Valuable Player, 1987, and Super Bowl Most Valuable Player, 1989. As of early 1993, held record for most touchdown receptions in a professional career.

Addresses: c/o San Francisco 49ers, 4949 Centennial Blvd., Santa Clara, CA 95054.

pasture until one could be caught and ridden. When work was plentiful, Rice helped his father by carrying bricks and mixing mortar. “I always did have good work habits,” he told Newsday. “I guess it’s from my parents. I take a lot of pride in everything and try to be the best in what I’m doing. Every time I step on the football field, it’s not like a job to me; I really enjoy it. Working with my father taught me the necessity of hard work. On my mother’s side, I’m a caring person. I guess that’s why I’ve been successful.”

His work ethic notwithstanding, Rice was not above some pranks in high school. In fact, he says, he owes his whole career to an attempt to play hooky from school one warm afternoon. As he tells the story, he was sneaking out of the school building when the vice principal saw him and told him to stop. Rice didn’t stop—he ran, with the vice principal in hot pursuit. He was caught, whipped, and sent to the gym for football practice. Remembering the incident in the Los Angeles Times, Rice said that the principal “made me go out for the [football] team, and that’s how I started playing this game. Until the day I played hooky, I had no intention of playing football.”

In high school Rice played just about every position, from quarterback to tackle. He showed promise, but only one college coach made a recruiting trip to Crawford—Archie Cooley, then with tiny Mississippi Valley State in Itta Bena. According to Wiley, coach Cooley “took one look at Rice and began devising all manner of bizarre formations designed to spring Rice loose.” A graceful, speedy, and nearly unstoppable wide receiver was born. Wiley wrote: “Rice helped put Mississippi Valley State... on the map.… [He] caught more than 100 passes in each of his last two seasons. As a senior he had 28 [touchdown] receptions. He has faced constant double-teaming since he was an 18-year-old freshman.” With Rice’s help the Delta Devils ran up a 24-6-1 record in their conference, a feat that drew the attention of 49ers coach Bill Walsh.

Fitting into a Game Plan

Walsh came to the 1985 pro football draft determined to win Rice’s services for the 49ers. So sold was the coach on Rice that he traded up in order to select the young man sixteenth pick in the first round. Immediately Walsh took some heat for the decision, because Rice had not proven himself in the high-stakes arena of Big-Ten or Pac-Ten football. Walsh explained his reasoning in a Los Angeles Times feature. “Jerry’s movements were spectacular for a pass receiver, no matter the level,” the coach said. “Even a casual fan looking at him on that [Mississippi] team would have asked, ‘Who is that?’ We also knew about the long exposure he’d had as a receiver. He’d been catching 100 passes year after year. We felt that if they’d throw to him that much, and if he’d catch that many, he must have the basic instincts for the job.”

Rice’s rookie season had a rocky start. He dropped a record fifteen passes, a feat not lost on the press or the fans. In retrospect, Rice blamed his early failures on the complex offense that Walsh ran. He simply had to learn the moves, he said, to the point where he could run a play without thinking about it. It is not at all uncommon for rookie professional players to stumble a bit, especially those who have not seen much top-level competition in college. Rice recovered quickly. Even before his first season ended he had set a team record with 241 receiving yards in one game. He was a unanimous choice for the 1985-86 all-rookie team and a new favorite—despite his shyness— in the San Francisco area.

Rice turned in two stellar seasons in 1986 and 1987. In 1986 he scored an impressive fifteen touchdowns and averaged 18.3 yards per carry. The following year was one of his best. Eyebrows everywhere were raised as he set NFL records for receiving touchdowns (22) and touchdown catches in consecutive games (13). His regular season scoring total of 138 points led the league and set a team record as well. At season’s end Rice garnered Most Valuable Player honors from the Pro Football Writers of America, the Sporting News, Pro Football Weekly, and the Maxwell Club. The recognition was unsatisfying, however. In 1987 the 49ers took a playoff loss to the Minnesota Vikings that deprived Rice of a trip to the Super Bowl. Asked how he felt at the end of that season, Rice told the San Jose Mercury News: “I don’t think about how many touchdowns I scored. I don’t think about the yardage. I guess a lot of people sit down and look at stats. But not me. I just want to go to the Super Bowl.”

On Top and Staying There

Rice finally got his Super Bowl wish in 1989, when the 49ers met the Cincinnati Bengals and won a dramatic 20-16 last-minute victory. Just prior to the game, Rice sprained his ankle so badly that he was listed as “questionable” for the contest. He played, and he was voted Super Bowl Most Valuable Player after a series of stunning catches and slippery runs that saved his team from defeat. Boswell described the action: “Rice shagged posts in traffic, like a 27-yarder in the final minute to set up the winning score... like his touchdown that tied the game, 13-13. He shook deep up the sideline for 30 yards with a defender in his lap. He caught hitches when cornerbacks laid off him in fear... when linebackers couldn’t spin their heads fast enough to find him.... What Rice did this windy evening... warps the imagination and redefines what is possible.”

Until that Super Bowl moment, Rice had been relatively unknown outside the San Francisco area. The 49ers had many other stars, from the white-haired coach to the riveting quarterback Joe Montana, and the team had won two Super Bowls in the 1980s without Rice. Super Bowl XXIII changed the determined receiver’s status. Suddenly he was able to renegotiate his contract from a position of power, and his performances were chronicled in glowing sports features in print and on television. Nevertheless, within days of his first Super Bowl win, the Most Valuable Player was complaining that he had been ignored by the press and passed over for commercial endorsements. “I really don’t want all the recognition, but I feel like I deserve to get some of it,” he told the San Francisco Chronicle. “Right now you read the newspapers, there’s nothing about Jerry Rice being MVP. If it was Joe Montana, Dwight Clark there would be headlines all over. I’m really just speaking from my heart. I think everybody in the Bay Area feels that way.”

The matter might seem insignificant, but it isn’t. Professional sports superstars can quadruple their multi-million dollar salaries with contracts for product endorsements. Montana, for instance, has earned vast sums with television commercials for Hanes underwear. When Rice did not receive the attention he felt he deserved, he suggested that race was the reason. In recent years he has been featured in some national advertising, but his endorsements still lag behind any number of NFL quarterbacks, most of them white.

Rice tried to diffuse his remarks on his celebrity by telling the Washington Post: “You won’t hear that from me again. I guess I matured a little.” Indeed, as the 1980s ended, Rice matured on the field as well as off. Still dogged by ankle problems, he turned in another outstanding season in 1989 and went with the 49ers to yet another Super Bowl—a 55-10 rout of the Denver Broncos—in 1990. Rice did not play as decisive a role in that Super Bowl win as he did in the one prior to it. However, his very presence on the field helped to confound the Bronco defense and assured a lopsided 49er victory. As early as the next season, the countdown began for Rice’s record-breaking touchdown reception.

Going for the Record

The record stood at 100, an impressive number compiled by Steve Largent, a former Seattle Seahawks receiver who had played more than ten professional seasons. Observers were amazed that Rice was closing in on the record after only six years in the league—and while still in his early thirties. The pressure mounted as Rice became a premier superstar on the 49ers with the injury-related benching of Montana and the retirement of Walsh. Meanwhile, the talented receiver had to contend with injuries of his own.

Notoriety in the NFL can be quite hard on a receiver, as defenders exert themselves doubly to catch and hit. It is remarkable that Rice has never been sidelined for long. He tends to play through injuries and nurse himself back to health in the off-season. He has a number of weapons in his arsenal with which to confound defensive backs. First, he is fast even when hobbled by leg injuries. He is also agile, at times seeming to move in two directions at once to slip by a lunging opponent. He has a good head for the game and a well-rehearsed list of proven moves. At six-foot-two he can make towering leaps for lofted passes, and he is strong enough to hold up under a hit and force his way for extra yardage. Rice’s most distinguishing feature, though, is his determination. He has a passion for football and plays for the sheer joy of it. He simply craves the end zone. “You see a lot of receivers... they’re satisfied once they catch the ball and they fall to the ground,” he told the San Francisco Chronicle. “I’m not satisfied until I get into the end zone.”

That bald obsession with scoring brought Rice to the brink of the receptions-for-touchdowns record in 1992. During the fourth quarter of a rain-soaked game against the Miami Dolphins on December 6, 1992, Rice ran a z-slant into the end zone and caught a twelve-yard reception. The catch was his 101st for a touchdown, breaking Largent’s record. The sodden 49ers fans and players erupted in an ovation that lasted several minutes, and Rice ran to the stands to embrace his wife, Jackie. After the game, which San Francisco won, 27-3, Rice told the San Francisco Chronicle that he was relieved. “I’ve tried to downplay the record and focus in on football, but it’s something I’ve been chasing for a long, long time,” he said. “There is a lot of pressure off me now.”

San Jose Mercury News reporter Bud Geracie was present when Rice scored his 101st touchdown. “Rice couldn’t say what The Record meant to him, just that it meant ‘a whole lot,’” Geracie recalled. “He credited his teammates, his coaches, his luck. He praised Largent. In his greatest moment, Rice was humble, classy and just happy to win the game.”

Rice may have several more prime seasons ahead of him. The 49ers continue to look strong under coach George Seifert, and Rice is still considered a pivotal part of the offense. “I love to score touchdowns,” the receiver told the Los Angeles Times. “There’s nothing like the feeling you get in the end zone. When you score a touchdown, it feels like winning $6 million in the lottery.”

During the off-season, Rice, his wife, and daughter Jacqui live in Crawford, Mississippi. Having broken one of football’s toughest records—and played his entire career with a championship team—Rice is not likely to be passed over for those product endorsements anymore. The player once commented in the Los Angeles Times: “My goal is to be the best receiver to ever play pro ball.” Today he can bask in the glory of his accomplishments and look forward to future seasons. “I’m a modest guy,” Rice said in 1992. “I’m not going to say I’m the greatest ever to play the game.”

Sources

Fresno Bee, January 28, 1990.

Los Angeles Times, December 13, 1987.

Newsday (New York), January 28, 1990.

San Francisco Chronicle, January 26, 1989; January 28, 1989; November 7, 1989; January 25, 1990; December 7, 1992.

San Jose Mercury News, September 2, 1988; December 7, 1992.

Sports Illustrated, September 28, 1987.

Washington Post, September 1, 1989; January 22, 1989; January 23, 1989.

—Mark Kram

Jerry Rice

1962-

American football player

When you mention "the greatest football player ever," you will find many different ideas about who that might be. Jerry Rice, however, will always be near the top of the list. Playing the bulk of his years with the San Francisco 49ers, a powerhouse of a team that won a record five Super Bowls over the past twenty years, Jerry Rice is still a force to be reckoned with.

A man who has dominated the record books, his accomplishments could fill up an encyclopedia. The most prolific pass receiver in professional football, Rice forces teams to change their defense and double-team him, because he's not only a threat to catch the ball, but he's liable to tack on major yards once he pulls the ball in.

Growing Up

Jerry Rice was born on October 13, 1962, in Crawford, Mississippi, to Joe Nathan and Eddie B. Rice. His father was a mason, and as a kid, Jerry Rice helped haul bricks and mortar when his father had too much work. He grew up with five brothers, with whom he began playing sports, and learned early on the value of playing and having fun, but also about hard work, thanks to his father's insistence that he give it his all.

Like many kids, when Rice got bored, he wasn't immune to getting into trouble. This penchant for trouble is what eventually led him to a career in professional football. Were it not for his attempt to skip school one day, we might never know Jerry Rice's potential. He told the Los Angeles Times that he had "never had any intention of playing football" until the vice principal caught him sneaking out of the school and then, after catching Jerry in a footrace, hauled him back to the gym. As punishment for his attempted truancy, Rice was ordered to go to participate in football practice. "He made me go out for the team," Rice told the Los Angeles Times, "and that's how I started playing the game."

As a high school student, Rice he was a versatile player, moving around on the field and trying out most every position. Not many colleges showed interest in him as he entered his senior year, however. Except for Archie Cooley,

with Mississippi Valley State (MVS), a small NAIA school in Itta Bena, Mississippi. He thought he saw something in Rice, and he wouldn't be disappointed.

Rice attended MVS and majored in auto-technology. During his college career he caught an amazing fifty-one touchdown passes, and over the course of his junior and senior seasons would average two touchdown receptions per game. In his best and final season, 1984, Rice put up statistics that he'd rival in the pros. That senior season, he pulled down 112 passes, netting 1845 yards, with an unbelievable 28 of those catches for touchdowns. He accomplished this in only eleven games (Rice's team averaged over fifty-nine points a game that year).

Superstar in the Making

Some say Rice wasn't fast enough to be a star receiver in the National Football League (NFL), but San Francisco 49ers coach Bill Walsh selected Rice as the 16th pick of the first round. "Jerry's movements were spectacular for a pass receiver," Walsh told the Los Angeles Times. "He'd been catching 100 passes year after year. We felt that if they'd throw to him that much.… he must have the basic instincts for the job."

Yet in his first few games, people wondered about Walsh's decision. In Rice's rookie season, he dropped fifteen passes, but this was due to the complicated 49ers offense, and soon, after he got over the learning curve, he started hanging onto the passes. By the end of the season, Rice had caught passes for 927 yards and three touchdowns, on the way breaking the 49ers single game receiving record with a 241-yard game. He earned a spot on the NFL's All-Rookie Team.

Rice continued his dominance in the NFL, teaming up with Joe Montana to become one of the most successful quarterback/receiver duos in the history of the game. The 49ers had won the Super Bowl the season before Rice joined the team, and Rice wanted to be a part of that. He wanted a ring of his own.

He wouldn't have to wait long. His team, with two Super Bowls in the past six seasons, would become "the team of the '80s," as the 49ers returned to the Super Bowl after the 1988 season, beating the Bengals 20-16 in Super Bowl XXIII. Rice was voted the game's Most Valuable Player.

That was the third Super Bowl for the 49ers in the 1980s, but it wouldn't be their last. In the next season, Rice led all NFL receivers with seventeen touchdowns, and helped his 49ers, which had amassed a 14-2 regular season record, return to Super Bowl XXIIV, which they won. Scoring the most points ever in the most lopsided victory in Super Bowl History, Rice and his teammates blew away the Denver Broncos 55-10. Jerry Rice caught seven passes for 148 yards in the game.

Rice and his team would fall one victory short of making it to the next Super Bowl, but that season he led the NFL in catches (100) and receiving yards (1,502) as well as receiving touchdowns (13). After Joe Montana hurt his back, the 49ers continued to pile up winning records, but for several years they seemed to fall just short of the Super Bowl.

Then, Rice and the 49ers returned to Super Bowl XXIX in 1995, facing off against the San Diego Chargers. Though Rice had been sick the night before the game, and although still weak before game time, he played, and went on to catch ten passes for 149 yards and three touchdowns as his team won a record fifth Super Bowl, 49-26. This put Rice in the record books as the man with the most Super Bowl touchdowns (7) in the history of the NFL.

Chronology

Related Biography: Coach William Earnest "Bill" Walsh

From 1979 until his retirement in 1989, Bill Walsh led his team, the San Francisco 49ers, to three Super Bowl victories. He created an NFL team that came to be known as "team of the eighties," adding, in the middle of the decade, Jerry Rice to an already successful formula. With one Super Bowl victory secure, the addition of Rice to the mix netted the 49ers two more championships before the Walsh decade expired.

Walsh, a native of Los Angeles, California, was born on November 30, 1931. Though he has been in sports his entire life, he wasn't a standout athlete by any measure but played football at San Jose State University in the early 1950s. After service in the military, he returned to complete a graduate degree in Education while working as an assistant coach for the football team.

Bill Walsh began his pro football coaching career as an offensive backfield coach for the Oakland Raiders in 1966. From 1968-75, he would spend eight seasons with the Cincinnati Bengals as their quarterbacks and receivers coach. Then, after a few seasons at the college level, as Stanford's head coach, he took on the position as head coach with the 49ers, in 1979, giving rise to an era of dominance that has been matched by few teams in the history of the league.

With license to build the team the way he saw fit, Walsh invented an incredible team. He led his 49ers to the National Football Conference (NFC) Championship in only his second season as head coach. Then, following the 1984 season, piloted the franchise to its first championship with a victory in Super Bowl XIX over the Miami Dolphins. His team that season went 18-1, the second best in NFL history, setting Super Bowl records in several categories.

Jerry Rice, coming out of Mississippi Valley State University, wasn't heavily favored in the 1985 NFL draft. But Walsh saw something in the receiver and drafted him. Walsh has been labeled a football genius by many (though he denies it) and told the Los Angeles Times that, "Jerry's movements were spectacular for a pass receiver, no matter the level."

When Walsh retired from the NFL after the 49ers' third Super Bowl victory in 1989, he returned to Stanford for several seasons. In 1999 he made his way back to the 49ers, this time as their General Manager. After the 2001 season, he stepped down as GM and now serves as a consultant for the organization.

Rice considered retiring after that third Super Bowl ring, but thought better of it and came back in '95. He continued to put up great stats, and soon became the all-time NFL reception leader with 942 catches. In 1996 he caught his 1,000th pass, still at the top in a sport where he should have been entering the twilight of his career. In 1997 it seemed his luck had run out when he injured his left knee in the first game of the season. Rice needed surgery, and it looked like he would be out for the season. But he hated the injury, and the cast bothered him so much that at one point, wrote Gary Swan of the San Francisco Chronicle, he "went into his garage at 3 am.… took a saw and cut the cast off."

Still Going Strong

Rice returned to the field at the end of that 1996 season in a December game against the Denver Broncos. It had been a remarkable recovery, and even more remarkable when Rice caught a touchdown pass, putting him over 1,000 points for his career. But the tackle in the end zone cracked his kneecap, and he was out of commission once more. He would return full-strength in 1998.

After the 2000 season, Rice left the 49ers, much to the chagrin of fans who'd spent fifteen years watching his every move on the field. Rice moved across the Bay and began the final years of his career with the Oakland Raiders. But neither the move nor age has seemed to slow down Jerry Rice, who, in 2002, was selected for his 13th Pro Bowl Appearance.

CONTACT INFORMATION

Address: Jerry Rice, c/o The Oakland Raiders, 1220 Harbor Bay Parkway, Alameda, CA 94502.

Career Statistics

SELECTED WRITINGS BY RICE:

(With Michael Silver) Rice, St. Martin's Press, 1996.

FURTHER INFORMATION

Books

Dickey, Glenn. Sports Great Jerry Rice. Hillside, N.J.: Enslow Publishers, 1993.

Evans, J. Edward. Jerry Rice: Touchdown Talent. Minneapolis: Lerner Publications, 1993.

"Jerry Rice." Sports Stars. Series 1-4.U•X•L, 1994-98.

Rice, Jerry, and Michael Silver. Rice. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1996.

Periodicals

Chi, Samuel. "Rice comes of age (40) with Pro Bowl No. 13.#x201D; Denver Post (December 20, 2002).

Fresno Bee (January 28, 1990).

Los Angeles Times (December 13, 1987).

Los Angeles Times (November 4, 1996).

Los Angeles Times (December 15, 1997).

King, P. "Rice suits Raiders fine: a star is reborn." Sports Illustrated (August 20, 2001): 68.

Sports Illustrated (September 28, 1987).

Sports Illustrated (December 15, 1997).

Sports Illustrated (November 29, 1999).

Swan, Gary. "Rice Wants to Cast Off Doubts." San Francisco Chronicle (September 20, 1997).

USA Today (November 4, 1996).

Washington Post (January 22, 1989).

Washington Post (January 23, 1989).

Washington Post (September 1, 1989).

Other

"Farewell Jerry Rice." List of accomplishments as a 49er. http://www.49erswebzone.com/rice/ (December 29, 2002).

"Jerry Rice." NFL.com. http://www.nfl.com/players.1291_bios.htm (December 20, 2002).

"Jerry Rice." http://pro-football-reference.com (December 20, 2002).

Sketch by Eric Lagergren

Awards and Accomplishments

Jerry Rice

1962–

Professional football player

In 1992 Jerry Rice, then the star wide receiver for the San Francisco 49ers, grabbed the record for most touchdown receptions in a professional football career, with 101. That milestone—coming as it did during the prime of his career—assured Rice a future berth in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. San Francisco Chronicle correspondent Ron Thomas described Rice as "a ballet dancer in cleats" whose "dazzling runs leave defenders grasping at air and gasping for breath. Even when Rice doesn't have the ball, he can dominate a game." In 2005, after brief stops at the Oakland Raiders, Seattle Seahawks, and Denver Broncos, Rice finally retired from football at the end of a remarkable 20-year career. Rice held NFL regular-season records for touchdowns scored, receiving touchdowns, receptions, receiving yards, total yards, and 1,000-yard receiving seasons, among others, and had earned three Super Bowl rings.

Rice is best-remembered for his play with the San Francisco 49ers, who dominated professional football in the late 1980s and advanced to the playoffs each year throughout the early 1990s. Rice—tall, fast, and obsessively determined to catch passes and score—was a big part of the reason for that success. Washington Post columnist Thomas Boswell praised Rice for "the range of creative expression" in his performance, which is almost always carried out under double-team pressure. Boswell continued: "The way Rice moves while a ball is in the air, gliding like a hawk on an air current, and what he does after he grabs that ball, changing direction as suddenly as a snake in water, takes the breath from those who watch him and steals the heart from those who try to defend him." Sports Illustrated correspondent Ralph Wiley claimed that Rice "[is] running his name into the record books with a smooth and impeccable stride." Wiley also offered a tongue-in-cheek warning to Rice's opponents: "You're dealing with a cold executioner. You must study Jerry Rice—what he does, when he does it, how he thinks, what he doesn't like. You must find the flaw in his character. You must know him as well as you know yourself. Why? So you won't embarrass yourselves or the cities and the institutions you represent when Rice comes to terrorize you and tread on your painted end-zone grass."

Forced into Football

Wiley noted that Jerry Rice "grew up simon-pure. No street lights, or sidewalks, or traffic signs, or stadium concerts. No drugs, or crime, or sirens. No distractions." The reporter is referring to life in tiny Crawford, Mississippi, an all-black rural community where Rice was born on October 13, 1962. As a youngster the athlete saw few paved roads and even fewer of the luxuries that later became part of his life. His father was a bricklayer who built a home for the large family on the edge of a pasture. Rice and his five brothers amused themselves by playing sports, including a favorite pastime of chasing the horses in the pasture until one could be caught and ridden. When work was plentiful, Rice helped his father by carrying bricks and mixing mortar. "I always did have good work habits," he told Newsday. "I guess it's from my parents. I take a lot of pride in everything and try to be the best in what I'm doing. Every time I step on the football field, it's not like a job to me; I really enjoy it. Working with my father taught me the necessity of hard work. On my mother's side, I'm a caring person. I guess that's why I've been successful."

His work ethic notwithstanding, Rice was not above some pranks in high school. In fact, he says, he owes his football career to an attempt to play hooky from school one warm afternoon. As he tells the story, he was sneaking out of the school building when the vice principal saw him and told him to stop. Rice didn't stop, he ran, with the vice principal in hot pursuit. He was caught, whipped, and sent to the gym for football practice. Remembering the incident in the Los Angeles Times, Rice said that the principal "made me go out for the [football] team, and that's how I started playing this game. Until the day I played hooky, I had no intention of playing football."

In high school Rice played just about every position, from quarterback to tackle. He showed promise, but only one college coach made a recruiting trip to Crawford—Archie Cooley, then with tiny Mississippi Valley State in Itta Bena. According to Wiley, coach Cooley "took one look at Rice and began devising all manner of bizarre formations designed to spring Rice loose." A graceful, speedy, and nearly unstoppable wide receiver was born. Wiley wrote: "Rice helped put Mississippi Valley State … on the map…. [He] caught more than 100 passes in each of his last two seasons. As a senior he had 28 [touchdown] receptions. He has faced constant double-teaming since he was an 18-year-old freshman." With Rice's help the Delta Devils ran up a 24-6-1 record in their conference, a feat that drew the attention of 49ers coach Bill Walsh.

Joined 49ers

Walsh came to the 1985 pro football draft determined to win Rice's services for the 49ers. So sold was the coach on Rice that he traded up in order to select the young man sixteenth pick in the first round. Immediately Walsh took some heat for the decision, because Rice had not proven himself in the high-stakes arena of Big-Ten or Pac-Ten football. Walsh explained his reasoning in a Los Angeles Times feature. "Jerry's movements were spectacular for a pass receiver, no matter the level," the coach said. "Even a casual fan looking at him on that [Mississippi] team would have asked, 'Who is that?' We also knew about the long exposure he'd had as a receiver. He'd been catching 100 passes year after year. We felt that if they'd throw to him that much, and if he'd catch that many, he must have the basic instincts for the job."

Rice's rookie season had a rocky start. He dropped a record fifteen passes, a feat not lost on the press or the fans. In retrospect, Rice blamed his early failures on the complex offense that Walsh ran. He simply had to learn the moves, he said, to the point where he could run a play without thinking about it. It is not at all uncommon for rookie professional players to stumble a bit, especially those who have not seen much top-level competition in college. Rice recovered quickly. Even before his first season ended he had set a team record with 241 receiving yards in one game. He was a unanimous choice for the 1985–86 all-rookie team and a new favorite—despite his shyness—in the San Francisco area.

At a Glance …

Born October 13, 1962, in Crawford, MS; son of Joe Nathan (a bricklayer) and Eddie B. Rice; married, wife's name Jackie; children: Jacqui Bonet, Jada Symone, and Jerry Jr. Education: Attended Mississippi Valley State University.

Career: San Francisco 49ers, professional football player, 1985–2000; Oakland Raiders, professional football player, 2001–04; Seattle Seahawks, professional football player, 2004–05; Denver Broncos, professional football player, 2005.

Awards: Numerous pro football awards, including NFL Most Valuable Player, 1987, and Super Bowl Most Valuable Player, 1989; hold NFL records for career receptions (1,549), receiving yards (22,895), receiving touchdowns (197), and total touchdowns (208); named to NFL All-Time Team, 2000.

Addresses: Home—Crawford, Mississippi.

Rice turned in two stellar seasons in 1986 and 1987. In 1986 he scored an impressive fifteen touchdowns and averaged 18.3 yards per catch. The following year was one of his best. Eyebrows everywhere were raised as he set NFL records for receiving touchdowns (22) and touchdown catches in consecutive games (13). His regular season scoring total of 138 points led the league and set a team record as well. At season's end Rice garnered Most Valuable Player honors from the Pro Football Writers of America, the Sporting News, Pro Football Weekly, and the Maxwell Club. The recognition was unsatisfying, however. In 1987 the 49ers took a playoff loss to the Minnesota Vikings that deprived Rice of a trip to the Super Bowl. Asked how he felt at the end of that season, Rice told the San Jose Mercury News: "I don't think about how many touchdowns I scored. I don't think about the yardage. I guess a lot of people sit down and look at stats. But not me. I just want to go to the Super Bowl."

Became Super Bowl MVP

Rice finally got his Super Bowl wish in 1989, when the 49ers met the Cincinnati Bengals and won a dramatic 20-16 last-minute victory. Just prior to the game, Rice sprained his ankle so badly that he was listed as "questionable" for the contest. He played, and he was voted Super Bowl Most Valuable Player after a series of stunning catches and slippery runs that saved his team from defeat. Boswell described the action: "Rice shagged posts in traffic, like a 27-yarder in the final minute to set up the winning score … like his touchdown that tied the game, 13-13. He shook deep up the sideline for 30 yards with a defender in his lap. He caught hitches when cornerbacks laid off him in fear … when linebackers couldn't spin their heads fast enough to find him…. What Rice did this windy evening … warps the imagination and redefines what is possible."

Until that Super Bowl moment, Rice had been relatively unknown outside the San Francisco area. The 49ers had many other stars, from the white-haired coach to the riveting quarterback Joe Montana, and the team had won two Super Bowls in the 1980s without Rice. Super Bowl XXIII changed the determined receiver's status. Suddenly he was able to renegotiate his contract from a position of power, and his performances were chronicled in glowing sports features in print and on television. Nevertheless, within days of his first Super Bowl win, the Most Valuable Player was complaining that he had been ignored by the press and passed over for commercial endorsements. "I really don't want all the recognition, but I feel like I deserve to get some of it," he told the San Francisco Chronicle. "Right now you read the newspapers, there's nothing about Jerry Rice being MVP. If it was Joe Montana, Dwight Clark there would be headlines all over. I'm really just speaking from my heart. I think everybody in the Bay Area feels that way."

The matter might seem insignificant, but it isn't. Professional sports superstars can quadruple their multimillion dollar salaries with contracts for product endorsements. Montana, for instance, has earned vast sums with television commercials for Hanes underwear. When Rice did not receive the attention he felt he deserved, he suggested that race was the reason. In recent years he has been featured in some national advertising, but his endorsements still lag behind any number of NFL quarterbacks, most of them white.

Rice tried to diffuse his remarks on his celebrity by telling the Washington Post: "You won't hear that from me again. I guess I matured a little." Indeed, as the 1980s ended, Rice matured on the field as well as off. Still dogged by ankle problems, he turned in another outstanding season in 1989 and went with the 49ers to yet another Super Bowl—a 55-10 rout of the Denver Broncos—in 1990. Rice did not play as decisive a role in that Super Bowl win as he did in the one prior to it. However, his very presence on the field helped to confound the Bronco defense and assured a lopsided 49er victory. As early as the next season, the countdown began for Rice's record-breaking touchdown reception.

Set Multiple NFL Records

The record stood at 100, an impressive number compiled by Steve Largent, a former Seattle Seahawks receiver who had played more than ten professional seasons. Observers were amazed that Rice was closing in on the record after only six years in the league—and while still in his early thirties. The pressure mounted as Rice became a premier superstar on the 49ers with the injury-related benching of Montana and the retirement of Walsh. Meanwhile, the talented receiver had to contend with injuries of his own.

Notoriety in the NFL can be quite hard on a receiver, as defenders exert themselves doubly to catch and hit. It is remarkable that Rice has never been sidelined for long. He tends to play through injuries and nurse himself back to health in the off-season. He has a number of weapons in his arsenal with which to confound defensive backs. First, he is fast even when hobbled by leg injuries. He is also agile, at times seeming to move in two directions at once to slip by a lunging opponent. He has a good head for the game and a well-rehearsed list of proven moves. At six-foot-two he can make towering leaps for lofted passes, and he is strong enough to hold up under a hit and force his way for extra yardage. Rice's most distinguishing feature, though, is his determination. He has a passion for football and plays for the sheer joy of it. He simply craves the end zone. "You see a lot of receivers … they're satisfied once they catch the ball and they fall to the ground," he told the San Francisco Chronicle. "I'm not satisfied until I get into the end zone."

That bald obsession with scoring brought Rice to the brink of the receptions-for-touchdowns record in 1992. During the fourth quarter of a rain-soaked game against the Miami Dolphins on December 6, 1992, Rice ran a z-slant into the end zone and caught a twelve-yard reception. The catch was his 101st for a touchdown, breaking Largent's record. The sodden 49ers fans and players erupted in an ovation that lasted several minutes, and Rice ran to the stands to embrace his wife, Jackie. After the game, which San Francisco won, 27-3, Rice told the San Francisco Chronicle that he was relieved. "I've tried to downplay the record and focus in on football, but it's something I've been chasing for a long, long time," he said. "There is a lot of pressure off me now."

San Jose Mercury News reporter Bud Geracie was present when Rice scored his 101st touchdown. "Rice couldn't say what The Record meant to him, just that it meant 'a whole lot,'" Geracie recalled. "He credited his teammates, his coaches, his luck. He praised Largent. In his greatest moment, Rice was humble, classy and just happy to win the game." Rice collected his third super bowl ring with San Francisco in 1995. During the 1996 season, for the second time in his career he led the league in receptions—with 108—but succumbed to a knee injury early in the 1997 season, which limited his play to only two games. He returned to full strength in 1998 and logged 1,157 yards receiving. By 2000 his career receptions surpassed 19,000 yards, topping the next closest contender by more than 4,000 yards. By the end of that season, his sixteenth with the 49ers, Rice had accumulated 19,247 yards receiving. While many in San Francisco thought that Rice's best years were behind him and that it was time for him to retire, Rice had different ideas.

Not Quite Ready to Hang Up His Spikes

In 2000 Rice was listed on the 75-year NFL roster and was voted by the Pro Football Hall of Fame voters to the NFL All-Time Team. He had broken broke 14 NFL records and 10 Super Bowl records. "I love to score touchdowns," the receiver once told the Los Angeles Times. "There's nothing like the feeling you get in the end zone. When you score a touchdown, it feels like winning $6 million in the lottery." In June of 2000, at age 38, Rice refused a $1-million retirement bonus offered by the San Francisco management and opted instead to continue to play football, signing with the Oakland Raiders for four years and $5 million. In his first two seasons with the Raiders Rice showed that he could still play with the best, averaging 87 catches for 1175 yards. In 2003 his playing time diminished as the Raiders turned to younger, faster receivers. Rice was openly dissatisfied with his lack of playing time, and after just a six games of the 2004 season he won a trade to the Seattle Seahawks. The Seahawks had a young, inconsistent receiving corps and Rice brought needed stability to a team that was on the verge of joining the NFL's elite. The highlight of the 2004 season came when he made eight catches for 145 yards against the Dallas Cowboys on Monday Night Football.

Though Rice caught a total of 25 passes for 362 yards for the Seahawks, they were not ready to grant Rice a starting role. Rice, who could not tolerate being a backup, signed with the Denver Broncos and fought during their training camp and preseason to gain a starting position. When Denver coach Mike Shanahan offered Rice a spot as a reserve, Rice recognized that it was finally time for him to retire. In a tearful press conference held in September of 2005, Rice announced that "I never played for a legacy. I played because I love football." Rice retired with statistics that may not soon be surpassed: he caught 1549 passes for 22,895 yards, for a career average of 14.8 yards per catch; along the way he caught 197 touchdown passes.

In retirement, Rice returned with his wife to his hometown of Crawford, Mississippi, though he was back on television in 2006 as a contestant in the popular ABC reality TV show Dancing with the Stars.

Sources

Books

Evans, J. Edward, Jerry Rice: Touchdown Talent, Lerner, 1993.

Periodicals

Fresno Bee, January 28, 1990.

Jet, January 8, 2001; June 25, 2001; September 26, 2005.

Los Angeles Times, December 13, 1987.

Newsday (New York), January 28, 1990.

San Francisco Chronicle, January 26, 1989; January 28, 1989; November 7, 1989; January 25, 1990; December 7, 1992.

San Jose Mercury News, September 2, 1988; December 7, 1992.

Sporting News, August 6, 2001; September 23, 2005.

Sports Illustrated, September 28, 1987; September 12, 2005.

Time, September 19, 2005.

Washington Post, September 1, 1989; January 22, 1989; January 23, 1989.

On-line

"NFL Players: Jerry Rice," NFL, www.nfl.com/players/playerpage/1291 (January 4, 2006).

"Player: Jerry Rice, Wide Receiver," Denver Broncos, http://www.denverbroncos.com/page.php?id=498&contentID=4377 (January 4, 2006).

RICE, Jerry Lee

(b. October 13, 1962 in Starkville, Mississippi), professional football player who holds the National Football League (NFL) record for most touchdown receptions in consecutive games, he was NFL Most Valuable Player (MVP) for 1987 and Super Bowl MVP in 1989.

Rice was one of six sons born to Joe Nathan, a bricklayer, and Eddie B. Rice, a homemaker. He was reared in a rural African-American community in Crawford, Mississippi. The family lived in a large house that his father built at the edge of a pasture, where Rice and his brothers would play sports and chase horses to ride. A strict disciplinarian, Rice's father instilled a strong work ethic in his sons; they had many chores and would sometimes help their father at work by carrying bricks and mixing mortar.

Rice attended Starkville High School, where he would often get into mischief. In fact, his football career got its start as a result of one his pranks. While trying to skip class one day, he was spotted by his vice principal and was ordered to return to the school. Afraid of the punishment he would face, Rice started running with the vice principal chasing after him. He was caught and whipped, but then encouraged to try out for the school's football team. Rice made the team and soon became its most valuable player. His quickness and versatility allowed him to play nearly every position from quarterback to tackle.

Despite Rice's outstanding high school career, few college recruiters were willing to make the trip to Crawford to watch him play. One person who did was Mississippi Valley State University coach Archie Cooley. Cooley was so impressed by Rice's performance that he offered him a football scholarship to the school in Itta Bene, Mississippi, and began devising new strategies that would best utilize Rice's talents as a wide receiver.

After graduating from high school in 1980, Rice made the transition to college easily and became one of the most popular athletes on campus. He caught over 100 passes during his last 2 years and had 28 touchdown receptions his senior year alone. Rice helped put Mississippi Valley State University on the map by leading the Delta Devils with a 24–6–1 record within their conference. His achievements caught the attention of many recruiters, including San Francisco 49ers coach Bill Walsh, who selected him as the sixteenth pick in the first round of the 1985 NFL draft.

Many sports journalists and fans second-guessed Walsh's decision because Rice had not attended a "Big Ten" college. Unfamiliar with the complex offenses found in top-level college and professional competitions, he had great difficulty his rookie year and dropped fifteen passes. However, he worked diligently at learning all the moves and practiced until he could play them without thinking. His dedication paid off and he ended the season with a record-setting 241 receiving yards in one game and was selected to the 1985–1986 National All-Rookie team.

Rice emerged as a premiere player his second season; he scored 15 touchdowns while averaging 18.1 yards per carry. His third season was one of the best in his professional career. He set NFL records for receiving 22 touchdown catches in 13 consecutive games, and led the league in scoring with 138 points. He was named MVP by the Pro Football Writers of America, the Sporting News, Pro Football Weekly, and the Maxwell Club. Yet despite the awards and accolades, Rice felt unaccomplished because he had not yet played on a team that won a Super Bowl.

He got his wish in 1989 when the 49ers faced the Cincinnati Bengals in Super Bowl XXIII. Rice played through a sprained ankle to lead his team to a 20–16 victory and was named MVP. His Super Bowl performance catapulted his reputation to new heights and he became one of the NFL's most feared receivers. Two years later after an outstanding season, Rice and the 49ers made it to the Super Bowl again, beating the Denver Broncos 55–10.

The 1992 regular season was memorable for the six-foot, two-inch Rice and for the 49ers. The team had the best record in the NFL with fourteen wins and only two losses. On 6 December 1992 Rice caught a twelve-yard reception during a game against the Miami Dolphins to raise his total number of touchdown catches to 101, an NFL record. By the end of the season, he had become the NFL's all-time leader in touchdown catches with 103. He set another record in 1994 when he opened the season with three touchdowns to bring his total to 127, breaking Jim Brown's record for most career touchdowns. The following year Rice became the NFL's reception leader with a total of 942 catches.

In 1996 Rice faced one of the biggest scares of his life when his wife, Jackie, nearly died after giving birth to the youngest of their three children. After experiencing complications she had to undergo two operations and spent ten days in intensive care. Rice held a vigil at his wife's side and stayed with her the entire time. Later that year, Rice made NFL history after catching the 1,000th pass of his career to make his mark as one of the best receivers ever to play in the NFL.

In June 2001, after sixteen seasons with the 49ers, Rice was released from his contract and offered a bonus of $1 million to retire. He declined the offer and later signed a four-year, $5 million deal with the Oakland Raiders. Rice is one of the oldest receivers in the NFL and competes with athletes half his age. His strong work ethic, discipline, and character have brought him success on the field as well as off the field. He is known for his pleasant demeanor and his willingness to share his time and knowledge of the game with younger players. When he is not trying to get to the end zone, Rice spends time with his family at their homes in California and Crawford, Mississippi. A philanthropist, Rice devotes his time and money to numerous charities, including the United Negro College Fund, March of Dimes, Packard Children's Hospital, and AIDS Research.

Rice is the subject of two full-length biographies detailing his life and career: Glenn Dickey, Sports Great Jerry Rice (1993), and Edward J. Evans, Jerry Rice: Touchdown Talent (1993). Entries on Rice can be found in Current Biography (1990), and African American Sports Greats (1995). Rice has also been featured in Legends in their Own Time (1994), Sports People in the News (1996), and Athletes and Coaches of Winter (2000); as well as in articles in Sports Illustrated (28 Sept. 1987), and Jet (12 Jan. 1998).

Sabine Louissaint