Global InformationJerry Rice information
 Rice in 2016 | |||||||||
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| Position: | Wide receiver | ||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||
| Born: | October 13, 1962 Starkville, Mississippi, U.S. | ||||||||
| Height: | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | ||||||||
| Weight: | 200 lb (91 kg) | ||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||
| High school: | B. L. Moor (Oktoc, Mississippi) | ||||||||
| College: | Mississippi Valley State (1981–1984) | ||||||||
| NFL draft: | 1985 / Round: 1 / Pick: 16 | ||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||
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| * Offseason and/or practice squad member only | |||||||||
| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||
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| Player stats at NFL.com · PFR | |||||||||
Pro Football Hall of Fame | |||||||||
College Football Hall of Fame | |||||||||
Jerry Lee Rice (born October 13, 1962)[8] is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver for 20 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He 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. Nicknamed "World" because of his superb catching ability, his accomplishments and numerous records, Rice is widely regarded as the greatest wide receiver of all time and one of the greatest players in NFL history.[9][10][11] His biography on the official Pro Football Hall of Fame website names him "the most prolific wide receiver in NFL history with staggering career totals".[12] In 1999, The Sporting News listed Rice second behind Jim Brown on its list of "Football's 100 Greatest Players".[13] 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.[14]
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. He joined the 49ers in 1985 after being drafted with the 16th overall pick. After a modest rookie season, Rice emerged in the following season as one of the best receivers in the league, leading the NFL in receiving yards and touchdowns, a feat he achieved four times. In 1987, Rice set the record for most receiving touchdowns in a season, with 22, in a twelve-game strike-shortened season. He won back-to-back championships in 1988 and 1989, and was the MVP of the former championship. 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.[15]
Going into the 1990s, Rice won a third Super Bowl in 1994, and a second Offensive Player of the Year Award. After recovering from a knee injury and his play regressing, San Francisco released him in June 2001, where the Raiders would sign him to a four-year deal. He continued to start for the team, and helped lead them to an appearance in Super Bowl XXXVII, where they were defeated by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, affecting Rice's previously unblemished Super Bowl record. Midway through 2004, the Raiders traded him to the Seahawks, where he spent his final season.[16][17] He briefly signed with the Broncos, retiring shortly before the start of the 2005 season.
Rice is the career leader in most major statistical categories for wide receivers,[18] 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. He scored more points than any other non-kicker in NFL history with 1,256.[19] Rice was selected to the Pro Bowl 13 times (1986–1996, 1998, 2002) and named All-Pro twelve times in his 20 NFL seasons, including ten First-team All-Pros, tied for the most by any player. Rice was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2010 and the College Football Hall of Fame in 2006. 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. The NFL honored him as a member of the NFL 1980s All-Decade Team and the NFL 1990s All-Decade Team, as well as both the NFL 75th Anniversary All-Time Team and NFL 100th Anniversary All-Time Team.
- ^ Most regular-season games by a player with 100+ receiving yards, StatMuse
- ^ Most playoff games by a player with 100+ receiving yards, StatMuse
- ^ Most total tds by a player in NFL history, StatMuse
- ^ Most total td by a player in the playoffs in NFL history, StatMuse
- ^ Most all-purpose yards by a player in NFL history, StatMuse
- ^ Most total yards by a player in the playoffs in NFL history, StatMuse
- ^ "Most career receptions in the Super Bowl by a player in NFL history". StatMuse. Retrieved March 19, 2024.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
Pro-Football-Ref-1was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Sando, Mike (March 26, 2008). "Start with Rice No. 1, Moss No. 2 in best WR debate". ESPN.com. Archived from the original on January 9, 2016. Retrieved December 27, 2019.
- ^ Sando, Mike (February 4, 2010). "The case for Rice as the greatest ever". ESPN.com. Archived from the original on December 27, 2019. Retrieved December 27, 2019.
- ^ Harrison, Elliot (July 29, 2013). "Joe Montana, Jim Brown on Hall of Fame 50th Anniversary Team". NFL.com. Archived from the original on December 1, 2017. Retrieved February 21, 2017.
Considered by many ... to be the NFL's greatest player
- ^ "Jerry Rice". Pro Football Hall of Fame Official Site. Archived from the original on May 19, 2022. Retrieved June 3, 2022.
- ^ Matthews, Bob (August 15, 1999). "Sporting News Top 100 Football Players". Democrat and Chronicle. p. 3D. Archived from the original on November 16, 2018. Retrieved February 27, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
Barall-2010was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Santorsa, Tony (December 7, 2011). "NFL History: Top 50 QB-WR Tandems of All-Time". Bleacher Report. Archived from the original on June 3, 2022. Retrieved June 3, 2022.
- ^ "Raiders agree: Rice to Seattle". ESPN.com. Associated Press. October 19, 2004. Archived from the original on June 26, 2018. Retrieved August 13, 2022.
- ^ Cour, Jim (October 20, 2004). "Rice's trade to Seahawks reunites star wide receiver with Holmgren". The Spokesman-Review. Associated Press. Archived from the original on August 14, 2022. Retrieved August 13, 2022.
- ^ "Individual Records: Receiving". NFL.com. Archived from the original on October 15, 2018. Retrieved April 24, 2011.
- ^ "NFL Points Scored Career Leaders". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Archived from the original on November 25, 2018. Retrieved October 29, 2018.