Jerry Lee Rice was born on October 13,1962 and is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver for 20 seasons in the National Football League.
97 Facts About Jerry Rice
2.
Jerry Rice won three Super Bowl titles with the San Francisco 49ers before two shorter stints at the end of his career with the Oakland Raiders and Seattle Seahawks.
3.
Jerry Rice played college football for four seasons with the Mississippi Valley State Delta Devils, setting several NCAA and team receiving records, including becoming the all-time leader in NCAA receiving touchdowns.
4.
Jerry Rice joined the 49ers in 1985 after being drafted with the 16th overall pick.
5.
In 1987, Jerry Rice set the record for most receiving touchdowns in a season, with 22, in a twelve-game strike-shortened season.
6.
Jerry Rice won back-to-back championships in 1988 and 1989, and was the MVP of the former championship.
7.
Jerry Rice developed connections with quarterbacks Joe Montana and Steve Young that are viewed as among the best in NFL history, helping him lead the league in both receiving yards and touchdowns six times, and in receptions twice.
8.
Jerry Rice briefly signed with the Broncos, retiring shortly before the start of the 2005 season.
9.
Jerry Rice is the career leader in most major statistical categories for wide receivers, including receptions, receiving touchdowns, receiving yards, scrimmage yards, and total touchdowns, holding the postseason records for these statistics, and once held the single season records for yards and touchdowns.
10.
Jerry Rice scored more points than any other non-kicker in NFL history with 1,256.
11.
Jerry Rice was selected to the Pro Bowl 13 times and named All-Pro twelve times in his 20 NFL seasons, including ten First-team All-Pros, tied for the most by any player.
12.
Jerry Rice was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2010 and the College Football Hall of Fame in 2006.
13.
Jerry Rice was inducted into the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame in 2007, and in the same year was inducted into the Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame.
14.
Jerry Lee Rice was born on October 13,1962, in Starkville, Mississippi, and lived in Crawford, Mississippi, the sixth of eight children.
15.
Jerry Rice's father, Joe, was a brick mason who built houses by hand, while holding other jobs to provide for the family.
16.
Jerry Rice asserted that he was shy as a child, and had few friends.
17.
Jerry Rice enjoyed playing sandlot football and watching football on television.
18.
Jerry Rice played multiple positions in high school, including running back, defensive back, and tight end.
19.
Jerry Rice had a breakout junior season, primarily playing wide receiver and defensive back.
20.
Jerry Rice was a Mississippi All-State selection at wide receiver in his senior year.
21.
Jerry Rice initially wanted to go to Mississippi State University, who wasn't interested in Jerry Rice.
22.
Jerry Rice attended Mississippi Valley State University from 1981 to 1984.
23.
When Jerry Rice arrived at Mississippi Valley State, he attended summer school and freshman orientation before the regular season.
24.
In 1982, Jerry Rice played his first season with freshman quarterback Willie Totten.
25.
Jerry Rice caught 66 passes for 1,133 yards and seven touchdowns as a sophomore that year.
26.
Jerry Rice had a record-setting 1983 campaign, including NCAA marks for receptions and receiving yards.
27.
Jerry Rice set a single-game NCAA record with 24 receptions against Southern University.
28.
Jerry Rice acquired the nickname "World," because of his ability to seemingly catch anything thrown near him.
29.
Jerry 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.
30.
Jerry Rice was named to the Division I-AA All-American team and finished ninth in Heisman Trophy balloting in 1984.
31.
Jerry Rice finished his career with 301 catches for 4,693 yards and 50 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.
32.
Jerry Rice became a member of the Phi Beta Sigma fraternity at the Delta Phi chapter.
33.
Jerry Rice was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2006, and was in the inaugural class of the Black College Football Hall of Fame in 2010.
34.
Jerry Rice eventually approached her, and they dated casually before Jerry Rice met her mother.
35.
Jerry Rice's mother was initially unhappy about Rice and preferred that Mitchell see another boy that lived in Greenville, Mississippi, but after meeting Rice in person she approved of him.
36.
In training camp, Jerry Rice had to compete with 49ers Dwight Clark and Freddie Solomon for roster spots at the wide receiver position.
37.
In July 1985, Jerry Rice was one of 21 rookie players who had not yet signed a contract.
38.
Jerry Rice then signed a rookie contract for five years that paid him $377,000 per year.
39.
Jerry Rice wrote that during training camp, he was nicknamed "Fifi" because of his haircut, but he was praised by his teammates for his work ethic.
40.
Jerry Rice scored his first receiving touchdown against the Atlanta Falcons.
41.
Jerry Rice followed that with a seven reception, 120-yard game against the New Orleans Saints.
42.
Jerry Rice had his second career 200-yard receiving game against the Washington Redskins, having a 12 reception, 204-yard performance.
43.
Jerry Rice was named to the Pro Bowl and First-team All-Pro teams.
44.
Jerry Rice struggled in the Divisional Round against the eventual Super Bowl-winning Giants, fumbling what would have been a long touchdown on the game's first drive.
45.
Jerry Rice picketed outside the 49ers practice facility while some of his teammates, crossed picket lines to play.
46.
Jerry Rice scored a receiving touchdown in every game he played that season.
47.
Jerry Rice was named the NFLs MVP by the Newspaper Enterprise Association.
48.
Jerry Rice was plagued by an ankle injury throughout the season, but still put up high numbers in the games he played, finishing the season with 64 receptions for 1,306 yards and nine receiving touchdowns, averaging a career-high 20.4 yards per reception, earning him more selections to the Pro Bowl and First-team All-Pro teams.
49.
Jerry Rice became the third wide receiver to earn Super Bowl MVP honors.
50.
Jerry Rice had a successful year, leading the NFL in receptions, receiving yards, and receiving touchdowns, becoming the first player to lead the NFL in all three categories in the Super Bowl era: only Sterling Sharpe, Steve Smith Sr.
51.
Jerry Rice was named to the Pro Bowl and First-team All-Pro teams.
52.
Jerry Rice recorded 80 receptions for 1,206 yards and led the league in receiving touchdowns with 14 in the 1991 season, and was again selected to the Pro Bowl and First-team All-Pro teams.
53.
Jerry Rice suffered a torn posterior cruciate ligament against the Vikings, but the injury did not cost him any games.
54.
Jerry Rice openly supported Montana, but Young ended up starting, while Montana rehabbed.
55.
Jerry Rice eventually signed with the 49ers for a three-year, $7.5 million contract, returning to training camp.
56.
Jerry Rice had eight receptions for 123 yards and a touchdown in the game, with the touchdown being his 13th of his postseason career, an NFL record.
57.
Jerry Rice caught 98 receptions for 1,503 yards and 15 touchdowns in the 1993 season; both his receiving yards and touchdown numbers led the league.
58.
Jerry Rice was awarded his second career NFL Offensive Player of The Year Award, along with being selected to the Pro Bowl and First-team All-Pro teams.
59.
Jerry Rice passed Largent for second place in the 16th game of the season.
60.
Jerry Rice was selected to the Pro Bowl and First-team All-Pro teams.
61.
In three Super Bowl appearances at this point in his career, Jerry Rice caught 28 receptions for 512 yards and seven touchdowns, with all three statistics career Super Bowl records.
62.
Jerry Rice had one of the best statistical games in his career against the Vikings, catching 14 passes for a career-high 289 yards, and three touchdowns.
63.
Vikings head coach Dennis Green said of Rice: "We did take the 49ers out of their running game, but Jerry was the one ingredient we had a hard time stopping", "In fact, we had a hard time slowing him down".
64.
Jerry Rice was selected to the Pro Bowl and First-team All-Pro teams.
65.
Jerry Rice's single-season receiving yards record was not broken until Calvin Johnson broke it in 2012.
66.
Jerry Rice was selected to the Pro Bowl and First-team All-Pro.
67.
Jerry Rice scored a touchdown, but he cracked his left patella as he came down with the catch.
68.
Jerry Rice missed the Pro Bowl team for the first time in 11 years due to the injury.
69.
Jerry Rice finished the 1999 season with 67 receptions for 830 yards and five touchdowns.
70.
Jerry Rice joined a Raiders team coming off a loss in the playoffs to form one of the oldest receiver duos with Tim Brown.
71.
Jerry Rice caught 83 passes for 1,139 yards and nine touchdowns for the year.
72.
Jerry Rice scored his 200th career touchdown against the Broncos.
73.
Up to this point, Jerry Rice had been undefeated in the Super Bowl, having already won three with San Francisco.
74.
Jerry Rice was traded to the Seattle Seahawks six games into the 2004 season in exchange for a seventh round pick and reunited with Seattle head coach Mike Holmgren, who had previously worked with Jerry Rice as San Francisco's offensive coordinator.
75.
Jerry Rice finished that game eight receptions for 145 yards and a touchdown.
76.
In total Jerry Rice had 25 receptions for 362 receiving yards and three touchdowns with the Seahawks, having 30 receptions for 429 yards and three touchdowns in total for the season.
77.
Jerry Rice played his last non-preseason professional game for Seattle, a Wild Card Round loss to the St Louis Rams in which he did not catch a pass.
78.
Jerry Rice never played for the Broncos, therefore he was only allowed his guaranteed money for a grand total of $25,000.
79.
Just before the 2005 season, on September 5,2005, Jerry Rice announced his retirement after twenty-seasons.
80.
The number represented the year Jerry Rice was drafted, his No 80, the year he retired, and the 49ers.
81.
Jerry Rice received MVP votes in seven out of his 20 seasons, won two NFL Offensive Player of The Year Awards, and a Bert Bell Award in 1987.
82.
Jerry Rice is remembered as one of the best clutch players in football history, often making game-winning catches throughout his career.
83.
Jerry 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.
84.
Jerry Rice 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.
85.
In 1999, Jerry 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.
86.
In 2000, Jerry Rice won the ESPY Award for Pro Football Player of the Decade for the 1990s.
87.
Jerry Rice was selected for induction in the Pro Football Hall of Fame class of 2010 in his first year of eligibility.
88.
Jerry Rice was officially named to both the NFL 75th Anniversary All-Time Team and the NFL 100th Anniversary All-Time Team.
89.
Jacqueline Jerry Rice filed for divorce in June 2007, which became final in late December 2009.
90.
Jerry Rice paired with dancer Anna Trebunskaya, and they reached the final two before losing to singer Drew Lachey and his partner Cheryl Burke.
91.
In 2009, Jerry Rice portrayed Hal Gore in the film Without a Paddle: Nature's Calling.
92.
Jerry Rice served as an alumni captain for "Team Jerry Rice" during the 2014 and 2016 Pro Bowls.
93.
In 2022, Jerry Rice partnered with the American Red Cross to raise awareness about blood donations.
94.
Jerry Rice has played golf for over 20 years and woke up early to play golf during his football career.
95.
Jerry Rice missed the cut and finished one shot ahead of last place, 17-over and 151st among the 152 players who completed two rounds.
96.
Jerry Rice was a team captain on The Big Break Puerto Rico, where his team won.
97.
Jerry Rice backtracked these statements later that month, after being criticized by the public and other players.