#2

 

JERRY RICE

Jerry Rice is largely considered the best wide receiver to ever take the field in the NFL and many believe that he is the best player—regardless of position—to ever line up in league history.

Nevertheless, Rice was merely another name on the draft board in 1985.

Give him credit. Rice had played at Mississippi Valley State and few fans had ever seen him play a college game. Nevertheless, Rice was expected to be a first-round draft pick and nobody was a bigger supporter than Bill Walsh.

The legendary San Francisco head coach first started thinking about Rice in October 1984 when his 49ers were in Houston preparing to play the Oilers the next day. Walsh was watching the sports report on TV and Rice was coming off a game in which he scored five touchdowns, all on plays of 50 yards or more. Then Walsh saw the films and fell in love. “When I saw Rice, I thought immediately of how well he would fit into our offense,” Walsh said later, “and how he would give us an extra dimension.”

That’s what separated Walsh from other game-planners and talent scouts. His bold assessment allowed him to throw the inexperienced Rice right into the mix without hesitation. Other coaches would have worked him in slowly.

The 49ers were able to select Rice with the No. 16 pick in the draft. Walsh never though he would get that lucky. He thought Rice would go within the first five picks of the draft and was thrilled at the chance to get him. A number of 49ers scouts thought Walsh had gone off the deep end and that Rice was worth no more than a sixth-round choice. Rice had played at a Division I-AA school and he didn’t have the 4.3 speed that makes scouts’ jaws drop. Walsh didn’t care because he knew Rice had football speed if not stopwatch speed.

In San Francisco, Rice became an immediate weapon. While he dropped some balls as a rookie that he would never drop again, Rice’s ability to deliver the big play showed up in Week 14 when he caught 10 passes for 241 yards in a game against the Los Angeles Rams. He never looked back. In his second season, Rice caught 86 passes for 1,570 yards and 15 touchdowns and was arguably the best receiver in the league. Those great numbers didn’t prevent him from fumbling away a sure touchdown while running in the open field after the catch in a playoff game against the New York Giants, though.

The argument came to an abrupt end the following year. In the 1987 season that had been torn apart by a players’ strike, Rice caught 65 passes for 1,078 yards and 22 touchdowns in only 12 games.

The numbers continued to build up and so did Rice’s monumental achievements. Rice was at his absolute best in Super Bowl XXIII against the Cincinnati Bengals, the only Super Bowl that Joe Montana played in that he didn’t win the game’s MVP. The award instead went to Rice, who caught 11 passes for 215 yards and a touchdown. More than the numbers, Rice made key catches on the game-winning drive in the final moments. One of those was a second-and-20 play from the Cincinnati 45 after center Randy Cross had been penalized for going downfield to sustain one of his pass blocks. Rice ran a square-in route over the middle and even though the Bengals attempted to cover him with three men—Lewis Billups, David Fulcher, and Ray Horton—Rice got free. Montana’s pass hit him in stride and he ran the ball another 14 yards after catching it for a 27-yard gain.

Walsh had his opponent right where he wanted. He knew the Bengals would sell out to stop Rice, so a play was called for Roger Craig and John Taylor. Craig couldn’t get free from the linebacker on “20 Halfback Curl X Up” but Taylor found the seam and Montana hit him in the end zone for the game-winning score.

“It was just a great moment,” said Rice. “I didn’t make that catch but it felt just like I did. To see your teammate succeed and to know that you played a huge role in making that happen was just a wonderful feeling. I couldn’t have been any happier if I had made the catch.”

A strong argument can be made that Rice cemented his status and made his case to be immortalized on the Mount Rushmore of sports (if such a monument existed) along with Babe Ruth, Michael Jordan, and Bobby Orr for his performance during the three-year span from 1994 through 1996. Rice caught 342 passes during those three seasons for 4,601 yards and 36 touchdowns. That three-year average of 114–1,534–12 meant that Rice was simply an uncoverable receiver who could get free any time he wanted.

It was Rice’s unshakable desire to get the most out of his ability and his unquenchable thirst to be the best player possible that kept him performing at a top level throughout his career. “I wanted to be the best and I wanted to separate myself from anyone else who played the position,” Rice said. “I wanted to play knowing that I had given my best on every play I took the field. I didn’t want to waste any opportunity. It was the game within a game. People tell you how much you are doing or how great you are and you can’t let that satisfy you at any point. The minute you start to believe what people are saying is the minute you start to relax. That can never be allowed to happen.”

Rice got his career going with Montana as his quarterback and then spent the latter half of his 49ers career with Steve Young calling signals. While Rice was in the Montana camp and threw his support behind Joe during his battle with Young for the quarterback job, Rice eventually caught more touchdown passes from Young than any other quarterback.

“It was the best feeling in the world to know that Jerry was out there with you,” Young said. “When we took the field in Super Bowl XXIX [against San Diego], everyone in a Niner uniform had this feeling of unbelievable confidence that we were going to win and we were the better team,” Young said. “It worked out that way as we jumped out to a big lead and won fairly comfortably [49–26]. The reason most of us felt confident was that we could look over there in the locker room and see Jerry getting ready and preparing for the game. He was the best player in the game and he was lining up for us. That’s all we needed to know.”

Rice’s career would finish up in a Seattle Seahawks uniform after a relatively successful stint with the Oakland Raiders following 16 seasons in San Francisco. His last season was 2004, and his numbers suggest that he may have stayed a year too long. However, he was the best at his craft for at least 15 years of his 20-year career and he is the standard all other receivers will be measured by for the next generation. He is the only player in league history with 200 touchdowns, finishing his career with 208 total, 197 of which came as a receiver.