From Green Kid to Great Player
BY RON BARR
When I look back on my sports broadcasting career, one of the personal high points is getting to watch a young player develop into a great player. Jerry Rice comes immediately to mind. I personally watched him through a NFL career that led him to the Hall of Fame.
Jerry Rice is the best wide receiver to ever play in the National Football League. He holds many of the leagues receiving records, and some of those records may never be broken. As he was speaking after his selection to the Hall of Fame was announced, I couldn’t help but flashback to when Rice arrived in the NFL with the San Francisco 49ers in 1985. Bill Walsh became enamored with Rice after watching highlights of Rice the Saturday night before San Francisco played the Houston Oilers in 1984. On draft day, the 49ers traded its first two picks for New England's first-round choice and selected Rice before the Cowboys who were intending to pick him.
Rice’s early days with the 9ers were a mixed bag. The skinny kid from Crawford, Mississippi dropped passes, but his potential to be explosive and a great receiver was evident. As 49ers owner Eddie DeBartolo, Jr. said when I asked him what his first impression was of Rice, he said, “He was either going to be a great player or a great bust.” The answer came quickly as Rice was named the NFC Offensive Rookie of the Year, catching 49 passes, averaging 18.9 yards a catch. The following season, he caught 86 passes for a league-leading 1,570 yards and 15 touchdowns. It was the first of 6 seasons in which Rice would lead the NFL in receiving and touchdown receptions. In 1987, a strike shortened 12 game season, Rice set a NFL record with 22 touchdown receptions. The record stood until 2007 when Randy Moss broke it in 16 games. In 1990, Rice caught a career best 5 TDs against the Atlanta Falcons. After the 2000 season, Rice left the 49ers and played 3 seasons with the Oakland Raiders. In his first year with the Silver and Black he had 89 catchers and over a thousand yards receiving. In his second season, he was instrumental in leading the Raiders to the Super Bowl. After 3 seasons in Oakland, Rice played his last season with the Seattle Seahawks. After 21 seasons, Rice walked off the field for the last time. He took with him NFL records for career receptions (1,549), career receiving yards (22,895) and total touchdowns (208). He also won 3 Super Bowl Championships with the 49ers.
Besides watching Rice develop as a great player, also I enjoyed watching him develop as a person. Rice came into the league a shy person. His work ethic is legendary and over the years he worked on the personal side of Jerry Rice as diligently as the football side. His early 49er media interviews were difficult for him as well as those who interviewed him. And, as Rice became a NFL star, he got more product endorsement deals. I remember being at the Super Bowl in Phoenix one year. Prior to doing an interview with Rice, I listened to him trying to record a commercial for a sponsor. Let’s just say it was difficult and it was going to take a lot of editing. But like his pass catching abilities, Rice’s public confidence and persona also developed. Today Jerry Rice is a gracious, articulate, well presented former NFL star with confidence that allowed him to go on Dancing With the Stars. And, in front of millions of viewers each week, Rice showed that he could also dance his way into the hearts of non- football fans.
As Rice sat in south Florida absorbing the news that the shy kid from Mississippi who developed his hands working beside his brick mason father is now going to be in the hallowed halls of football greatness, he was overcome with emotion. Football is a team sport, but through determination and hard work Jerry Rice showed individual success and greatness can be achieved. For me, watching Rice achieve that greatness, on and off the field, was an honor I deeply appreciate and will never forget.
I’m Ron Barr.
Ron Barr is an Emmy award winning writer and the host of the nationally and internationally syndicated sports talk show, Sports Byline USA.
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