Jerry Rice
Have you ever met an athlete with a god given talent for a sport? Or have you ever had to play a sport to go “pro” and provide for your family? Well Jerry Lee Rice born October 13, 1962, raised in Starkville, Mississippi had a hard childhood. Jerry grew up “Simon pure”, no street lights, no sidewalks, no sidewalks, no stadium or concerts. As a youngster, Jerry saw a lot of poor events in his life but very little of luxury that later became a part of his life.
His father, a brick mason built a home for his large family. When money was short, rice helped his father carry bricks and mix mortar. When money was rational, Jerry started to worry about sports. In high school, Jerry played every position, from quarterback to tackle. The coach started to see that jerry can play at a college level; from there jerry made a promise to a Crawford coach, Archie Cooley, to take a recruiting trip.
A graceful, speedy, and nearly unstoppable wide receiver was born. Rice helped put Mississippi State on the map, the caught more than 100 passes in each of his last two seasons. As a senior, he had 28 touchdowns receptions. He was so good that since he was 18 years old he has been doubled teamed. After leading state to a 24-6-1 record, Jerry was going down the road of success, Bill Walsh a 49ers coach heard about the amazing and best wide receiver in the, he had to come and talk to him.
Walsh came to the 1985 pro football draft determined to win jerry’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. Instantaneously Walsh took some heat for the decision because rice had not proven himself in the high-stakes. Rice’s rookie season had a rocky start. He dropped a record fifteen passes, Rice blamed his early failures on the complex offense that Walsh ran. He simply had to acquire the moves.
He said he needs to revise, so to the point, he could run a play without thinking about the route, 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 1985-86, living the dream rice never forgot where he came from he gave back to the community took care of his mom and family, and became the role model he wished to be. In one of jerry rice’s quotes, he said “Today I will do what others won’t, so tomorrow I can accomplish what others can’t”.
