I, Jerry Rice, was born on October 13, 1962 in Starkville, Mississippi to Joe and Eddie Rice. I have 7 siblings. I was born into a poor family. I lived in Crawford as a boy. I helped my family as much as I could, which was hard labor like bricklaying. But this gave me lots of strength from carrying all the bricks.
I didn't really like school. When I was a sophomore at B.L. Moor High School I cut class one day. The principal saw me so I ran. When the principal saw me again he asked me why I wasn't on the football team since I was so fast. But I was already playing basketball and doing track, but I agreed to try football.
I enjoyed the game at first. In my first high school year I had 80 receptions and 35 touchdowns. I hoped MSU (Mississippi State University) would see my stats and look into me. But no one did until MVSU's (Mississippi Valley State University) did. This was a small college but still better than nothing. I did great and got 27 touchdowns and 100 receptions for 4,693 yards while I was in college.
Still no one saw me until the 49ers head coach, Bill Walsh, watched me on the sports highlights on T.V. He loved me and gave up his first, second, and third round picks to Dallas to sign me on his team. At first the NFL wasn't nice to me or fun. I had been dropping tons of passes. Lots of the veterans helped me get back in the game. In the 14th game of my first season I did great and got 10 receptions, 241 yards and 1 touchdown. Those, plus my other games, got me The Rookie of The Year honors.
In 1986 I was so happy leading the league with pass yardage and touchdowns. In 1989 I went to the Super Bowl. But during the pre-week workout I hurt my ankle. I decided to play since it was, after all, the Super Bowl. I had 11 receptions, 1 touchdown and 215 yards. This is a Super Bowl record. I was called the difference in the game by the Bengal's head coach.
After the Super Bowl I got married to Jackie and had 2 children. Joe Montana (49ers QB), and I were said to be one of the best NFL wide receiver/quarterback pair. I still hope I can keep on playing for more years and keep my position as one of the best wide receivers in NFL history.
