Jerry Rice is simply the best
Decades after Jerry Rice left Mississippi Valley State for the National Football League, he remains one of the NFL’s all-time success stories. After having had the privilege to watch Rice grow into a living legend, there is not one particular catch that describes arguably the NFL’s best receiver of all time. He dazzled onlookers with spectacular one handed touchdowns, leaped over defenders in double coverage, and transformed short plays designed to pick up a few yards into long foot races into the end zone that he rarely lost.
Considered a god amongst mortals, Rice used the grandest stage of them all to solidify his name alongside some of the game’s all time greats.
Every time Jerry Rice stepped on to the football field, he gave it his all and left it all on the field. This is a trait of a champion. Shortly after winning the Super Bowl in 1995, quarterback Steve Young returned to the 49ers’ training facility to pick up a few items he had left behind. Young was amazed with what he saw and it still gives him “shivers” just thinking about it.
“No one was around and I saw Rice out on the field running wind sprints,” said Young of Rice’s work ethic and commitment to excellence. “That’s leadership when no one is around and that’s what football is all about. You have to lead [by example] not only when the lights are on.”
A player with exceptional talent, Rice relied on hard work first and his uncanny ability to play football second. His work ethic was second to none and his routine consisted of hitting the weight room around mid-day, followed by sprints and conditioning in the afternoon. This is what separates Rice from the other great receivers, before him and after him—his dedication to the game and the desire to excel in every single aspect of football.
The end result: Rice is simply the best. It seems that Rice never trailed in anything and always topped the list. He leads the league in receptions with 1549, leads all players in yards with 22,895, and leads all receivers in touchdowns with 208. Simply put, he was the most dominant player to play at the receiver position since the league’s existence.
So it was a mystery why the legend himself was so anxious before they announced the inductees, almost uncertain that he was going to be enshrined into the Hall of Fame and get his much deserved traditional gold jacket.
“I never take it for granted,” said Rice. “I mean I never took the season for granted…I felt like it could happen [him not being inducted]. So when they called my name, I was like Oh my God! This is really happening.”
But it’s not all smiles and joking for Rice when it comes to the Hall of Fame. He had to sit down with sculptor Blair Buswell and strike a pose for the clay replica of his portrait that will be cast in bronze and sit forever in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
“I believe a true football player, you can’t smile. You have to be angry,” said Rice with a smile on his face during an ESPN interview. So I have this little frown in my forehead to let them know that I am serious, I mean business.”
To make the sculpture as realist as possible, Rice maintained that Buswell give him a neatly-trimmed beard with a clean-shaven head, as seen for the majority of his career with the exception of his early days in San Francisco where he sported long frizzy hair and a moustache to go along with it.
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