Jerry Rice

Football player Jerry Rice was born on October 13, 1962 in Starkville, Mississippi to Eddie and Joe Rice. He graduated from B.L. Moor High School in Oktoc, Mississippi in 1980 and enrolled in Mississippi Valley State University in Itta Bena, Mississippi in 1981.

Under head football coach Archie Cooley at Mississippi Valley State University, Rice played as a wide receiver and was the all-time NCAA leader in receiving touchdowns. He was then drafted by the San Francisco 49ers as the sixteenth pick overall in 1985 under head coach Bill Walsh. Rice played with the San Francisco 49ers in their wins at Super Bowl XXIII in 1988, where he was voted MVP, Super Bowl XXIV in 1989, and Super Bowl XXIX in 1994. Following the 2000 football season, Rice signed with the Oakland Raiders under head coach Jon Gruden. He then briefly played for the Seattle Seahawks in 2004 and the Denver Broncos in 2005 before retiring as a San Francisco 49er later that year. Over his twenty-season career, Rice had fourteen 1,000-yard seasons, 22,895 receiving yards, 1,549 receptions, 208 touchdowns, and played a total of 303 games. In 2019, he co-founded G.O.A.T. Fuel, Inc., an energy drink company where he serves as executive chair.

Rice is widely regarded as the greatest wide receiver in NFL history and one of the greatest football players of all time. He 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 held the single season records for yards and touchdowns. He scored more points than any other non-kicker in NFL history with 1,256 points. Rice was selected to the Pro Bowl 13 times and named first-team All-Pro ten times, tied for the most by any player. He also was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2006, Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame and Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame in 2007, and Black College Football Hall of Fame and Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2010. The NFL honored him as a member of both the NFL 75th Anniversary All-Time Team and NFL 100th Anniversary All-Time Team. In 1999, The Sporting News listed Rice second behind football legend Jim Brown on its list of "Football's 100 Greatest Players." 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.

Rice has co-authored two books about his life: Rice, with Michael Silver, published in 1996, and Go Long: My Journey Beyond the Game and the Fame, with Brian Curtis, published in 2007. In 2019, he co-authored the book America's Game: The NFL at 100 with Randy O. Williams.

Rice and his wife, Latisha Rice, live in San Francisco. They have four children, Jaqui Rice, Jerry Rice Jr., Jada Rice, and Brenden Rice.

Jerry Rice was interviewed by The History Makers on July 1, 2022.