Jerry Rice is entering his eighteenth season of professional football. He has caught more passes for more yards and more touchdowns than anyone in the regular season, playoffs, and Super Bowl. He has dominated his position more than any player in NFL History.
A player's greatness is easier to embrace when that player overcomes early adversity in his career. Rice is no exception. He struggled early in his rookie season and came on strong to earn Rookie of the Year Honors in 1985. However, the first three seasons as a 49er, Rice's team bowed out of the playoffs in the first round.
Everything changed in 1988 when Rice exploded for 6 touchdowns in the playoffs and earned Super Bowl MVP honors with an 11 catch, 215 yard, 1 TD performance against the Cincinnati Bengals. The following season, the 49ers repeated as champions by outscoring their playoff opposition by more than 100 points (126-23). Rice scored 5 playoff touchdowns and notched 3 Super Bowl scores to go along with 7 catches for 149 yards against the Denver Broncos. Hopes of a threepeat ended in an NFC Championship loss to the New York Giants the following season. Joe Montana suffered an injury that would eventually lead to his departure.
Rice adjusted to Steve Young and Steve Bono as his quarterbacks without skipping a beat in the 1991 season, but the Niners failed to make the playoffs despite a 10-6 record. The next year, Young had an MVP season, but the 49ers lost to the Dallas Cowboys in the NFC Championship Game. In 1993, Rice earned NFL Offensive Player of the Year honors, but a weak defense prevented San Francisco from advancing to the Super Bowl again.
Rice, Young, a revamped Niner defense, and a fresh crop of rookies dominated football in 1994. The 49ers and Cowboys met for the third straight time in the NFC Championship game. Rice's 28 yard TD with 9 seconds remaining in the first half was the turning point of a 38-28 Niner victory. With 10 catches for 149 yards and 3 more touchdowns in the Super Bowl against the San Diego Chargers, Jerry Rice had his third Super Bowl ring and moved into first in all Super Bowl receiving and scoring categories.
Free agency, age, and poor drafts have nipped away at the 49er dynasty ever since then. Without a running game, and with Young injured, Rice somehow managed to have his best statistical season in receptions (122) and receiving yards (1,848) in 1995. The latter statistic is an NFL record and Rice finished second in MVP voting in 1995. The following year, Rice led the league in receptions the following season (108), but the 49ers could not advance past the divisional playoffs.
The nightmares of Rice and his fans came true in the 1997 season opener when Rice tore the ACL in his left knee against the Bucs. His comeback fourteen weeks later against the Broncos was bittersweet: he scored a crucial touchdown but broke his left kneecap in the process.
1998 would be Rice's comeback season. And despite the fact that Rice returned to the Pro Bowl and became the oldest player ever to record more than 1,000 receiving yards in a season (he actually had 1,157), the local papers proclaimed Rice was not the player he once was. Many suggested that he be traded so that younger receivers could develop. No one appreciated the fact that Rice, who could have easily called it a career before the season, was playing on a banged up body to help the 49ers win football games, not even many 49er fans themselves. It is because of this that I am not upset Rice is a Raider. In fact, I am happy Rice is proving those journalists and fans wrong in a Raider uniform.
In 1999, the 49ers missed the playoffs for only the second time in Rice's career. Rice endured a 4-12 season and the first season in which he did not record a 1,000 yard receiving season since his rookie year. He had 830 receiving yards, more than 1,000 less yards than he recorded just four years previous. 2000 marked the third decade in which Jerry Rice has played football and also signified Rice's swan song with the San Francisco 49ers. Gracefully accepting a diminished role on offense, Rice still managed to grab 75 passes for 805 yards and 7 touchdowns. However, it was clear that a change was needed for the greatest receiver of all time. He needed to play for a team that still believed he could contribute to an offensive scheme. It was clear that the 49ers no longer held this belief with Rice.
In 2001, Jerry Rice donned the silver and black for the Oakland Raiders. While odds were against him yet again, Rice broke the 1,000 yard mark...this time at the age of 38 years. He finished with 83 receptions for 1,139 yards and 9 touchdowns at the age of 39 years. He broke his own record of oldest player to record over 1,000 receiving yards in a season. It is clear that the Raiders believe in Rice.
The greatest wide receiver of all time is far from finished.