Background

Jerry Lee Rice was born on October 13, 1962, in Starkville, Mississippi, United States. One of eight children, he is the son of Joe Nathan, a hardworking bricklayer, and Eddie Rice. Joe always employed Rice and his brothers as his assistants during the hot Southern summers. It was grueling work, but Rice later came to be grateful for it.

Education

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. He 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.

As a high school student, Rice was a versatile player, moving around on the field and trying out almost 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).

Career

Bill 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.

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 1985-1986 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 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. In 1987 the 49ers took a playoff loss to the Minnesota Vikings that deprived Rice of a trip to the Super Bowl.

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.

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 December 6, 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 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.

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 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. On September 5, 2005, Rice announced his retirement. In August 2006, the 49ers announced that Rice would sign a contract with them, allowing him to retire as a member of the team where his NFL career began. On August 24, he officially retired as a 49er, signing a one-day contract for $1,985,806.49. The figure was ceremonial, and Rice received no money.

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. Rice also served as an alumni captain for Team Rice during the 2014 Pro Bowl and 2016 Pro Bowl.

Achievements

• Maybe the greatest wide-receiver in NFL (National Football League) history, Jerry Rice has been a part of the San Francisco 49ers' success for his entire career. He holds numerous NFL regular season and postseason records, including most receptions in a career, most receiving yards in a career, and most touchdowns in a career. He has scored more points than any other non-kicker in NFL history with 1,256.
  
  Rice was selected to the Pro Bowl 13 times and named All-Pro 12 times. He won three Super Bowls and an AFC Championship. Rice also holds over 100 NFL records. In 1999, the Sporting News listed Rice second behind Jim Brown on its list of "Football's 100 Greatest Players." In 2010, he was chosen by NFL Network's NFL Films production The Top 100: NFL's Greatest Players as the greatest player in NFL history.
  
  Jerry Rice was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2010 and the College Football Hall of Fame in 2006. Rice was also inducted into the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame in 2007 and in that same year inducted into the Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame.

Works

More photos

• book

  • America's Game: The NFL at 100

    (In this entertaining and concise history, Jerry Rice and ...)

    2019
  • Go Long!: My Journey Beyond the Game and the Fame

    (Go Long! is an inspiring book by a living sports legend. ...)

    2008

Views

Rice has his own Jerry Rice 127 Foundation. It provides financial support to agencies and organizations in the San Francisco Bay Area and beyond dedicated to helping children and their families.

The 8 to 80 Zones are a collaboration between Steve Young and Jerry Rice, which provides youth living in underserved communities with the skills to pursue careers in technology, esports, gaming, and media.

Every Christmas, Jerry visits children at the Lucile Packard Children's Hospital at Stanford and brings them 49ers' "goodies."

Quotations: "Today I will do what others won't, so tomorrow I will do what others can't."

"The Enemy of the best is the good. If you're always settling with what's good, you'll never be the best."

"To me it was never about what I accomplished on the football field, it was about the way I played the game."

"The game of life requires the edge that chiropractic care provides."

"I think with my hands, it was catching a lot of footballs and working with my father during the summer because he would always make me. My father was a bricklayer so I was a helper. My job was to make sure that he had bricks to lay."

"Once you get your education it's going to open up so many doors for you. And the sky's the limit. So that's what I want to deliver to students."

"I think the thing about that was I was always willing to work; I was not the fastest or biggest player but I was determined to be the best football player I could be on the football field and I think I was able to accomplish that through hard work."

Membership

Rice used to be a member of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity at the Delta Phi chapter.

Personality

Rice is a man of incredible strength, energy, and focus. He continues to enlarge his world after football when many other ex-athletes are still re-living their past. Jerry has a reputation of being generous with his time and money, treating those he meets in a warm caring manner. Rice's most distinguishing feature is his determination.

In Jerry's book, Go Long, he explains that he was often driven by fear. He didn't want to disappoint his father.

Rice reached the final two on the reality show Dancing with the Stars.

Physical Characteristics: During his career, Rice tended to play through injuries and nurse himself back to health in the off-season. He had a number of weapons in his arsenal with which to confound defensive backs. First, he was fast even when hobbled by leg injuries. He was also agile, at times seeming to move in two directions at once to slip by a lunging opponent. He had a good head for the game and a well-rehearsed list of proven moves. At six-foot-two he could make towering leaps for lofted passes, and he was strong enough to hold up under a hit and force his way for extra yardage. Jerry Rice weighs 200 lb (91 kg).

Interests

• Sport & Clubs

  golf

Connections

On September 8, 1987 Jerry married Jacqueline Bernice Mitchell. They divorced in December 2009. They have three children together: Jacqui Bonet, Jerry Rice, Jr., and Jada Symone. Currently, Rice is married to Latisha Pelayo.

Father:

Joe Nathan Rice

(March 25, 1936 - February 24, 2004)

Mother:

Eddie Rice

Spouse:

Latisha Pelayo

Daughter:

Jacqui Bonet Rice

(born June 7, 1987)

Son:

Jerry Rice, Jr.

(born July 27, 1991)

Jerry Rice, Jr. played college football for the UCLA Bruins and the UNLV Rebels. The Washington Redskins signed him as an undrafted free agent in 2014.

ex-spouse:

Jacqueline Bernice Mitchell

Daughter:

Jada Symone Rice

(born May 16, 1996)

Friend:

Charles Fuller Jr.

(born March 5, 1939)

Charles Fuller Jr. is an American playwright, best known for his play A Soldier's Play, for which he received the 1982 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.

References

• San Francisco 49ers: Where Have You Gone? Joe Montana, Y. A. Tittle, Steve Young, and Other 49ers Greats In San Francisco 49ers: Where Have You Gone?, memories are revisited through profiles of 49 former players, ranging from colorful Visco Grgich, an original member of the organization, to Steve Young, the Hall of Fame quarterback.
  2011
• Jerry Rice's Instagram
• Jerry Rice's Twitter
• The Official Site of Jerry Rice
• Jerry Rice's Facebook