Jerry Rice is easily the greatest receiver in 49ers history but he is also arurgbly the best to ever to it at the position.
However, coming out of small Mississippi Valley State, Rice was concerned that he wouldn't even be taken in the 1985 NFL Draft.
Despite destroying opposing secondaries in college and being named a two-time D1 AA All-American, Rice feared that if he wasn't selected in the draft, he'd have to face disappointment in front of his family and friends.
“To be honest, I never thought I was going to get drafted,” Rice told Fox News. “I downplayed everything because I didn’t want that disappointment of getting up here and then come down in disappointment if it didn’t happen. A lot of my friends, a lot of people around me, were saying that ‘Hey, you’re going to get drafted, you’re going to get drafted.’ But you know, I downplayed it and I got drafted by the San Francisco 49ers, and it’s just like something I’ll never forget.”
As we now know, Rice was selected by Bill Walsh's 49ers who were fresh off winning a Super Bowl against the Dolphins in 1985. The Hall of Famer retold the story of the moment when Walsh called him while he was at his brothers' one-bedroom apartment and how excited he was about playing with guys like Joe Montana, Dwight Clark and Ronnie Lott.
"I have one camera guy and I get the call from the greatest coach ever, Bill Walsh. And it was so cool. Here I am, I’m on the phone and I’m just smiling to myself." Rice said. "And then after I hung the phone up, I said, ‘Oh my God, they just won the Super Bowl. They just won the Super Bowl against the Miami Dolphins at Stanford University. I’m gonna get a chance to meet (Joe) Montana, Dwight Clark, Ronnie Lott, Roger Craig. All these great players. Oh my God. Where can I fit in?' But I had to pinch myself, man, and it was a dream come true."
Rice was drafted in the first round but things got off to a slow start in San Francisco. He claimed that during practices his rookie season, he caught everything from Montana, but during games, that same performance wouldn't translate over.
"When I first came in, I said, ‘I’m gonna catch everything from Montana. Everything Montana throws me I’m gonna catch it. I got to win his confidence over.’ I was catching everything at practice but then during ball games and during preseason, I was dropping everything. I remember getting booed. I remember the media getting so down on me and saying, ‘Hey, look how can you go draft this guy out of Mississippi Valley State University from a small school like that and he’s dropping footballs? It’s just no way. He’s gonna be a bust,’" he said.
After a rough rookie season that only saw him record 927 receiving yards for three touchdowns, Rice thanked his coaches, teammates, and the rest of the 49ers organization for helping him fight through the adversity and become the player he became.
"So, I had some adversity right from the start and I was able to fight through that because of my coaches, the organization, my teammates. They got me through it because they were seeing it during practice. But now I just had to transition that to the football field on Sundays, those Mondays, those preseason games and those regular-season games."
Whatever change Rice made worked immediately the next season, accounting for over 1500 yards and 15 touchdowns. The NFL legend also offered up some advice about prospects who may be suffering the same type of feeling as they await to hear their names called in Las Vegas.
"I think you’re going to go through adversity and you’re gonna have to be able to fight through it. If you get knocked down, you got to get back up," Rice said "The most important thing that I did was that I surrounded myself. I made sure I watched what the veterans like the Montanas, like the Clarks, all of those guys, how they conducted themselves, how they prepared for a game, and you got there and play the game and be productive. So, that’s going to be very important, but you got to work."
Rice finished his illustrious career winning three Super Bowls with the 49ers and was a 10-time All-Pro. He also holds the all-time records for receptions, (1,549) yards, (22,895), and touchdowns. (197)
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