Jerry Rice (not Very Good)

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Many people in this world prove the old saying "Hard work pays off." Not every one of these people gets a big name, but one exception to that is a football player known nation wide. This quote taken from one of the greatest game commentators ever John Madden explains.

"That work ethic is what makes Jerry Rice so special. He's not only better than any of the other wide receivers, he works harder than any of the others. You don't see that combination too often: where the guy that's the best also works the hardest (Gates)." Jerry Rice has had a hard life, broke many records, and had many standout highlights during his career.

Jerry Rice was born Jerry Lee Rice on October 13, 1962. Jerry Rice lived in a small town in Mississippi called Starkville. Growing up in such a poor family, Jerry and his brothers had to help their father out a lot by going to work with him.

Jerry's father was a well-known bricklayer in the town that he lived in. One way that Jerry developed such skillful hands was by catching multiple bricks at once. His brothers used to have contests with him to see how many more he could catch over the last time (Evans 15-16).

Although work was a big part of Jerry's life he still went to school on a normal basis. The high school Jerry went to was called B.C. Moore High School. During his younger years Jerry never played any type of league football. He did occasionally though throw the ball around with his brothers on the weekends. The reason that Jerry got into football is an amazing story. One day at Jerry's high school he got bored of one of his classes and decided to skip it that day. He was about midway down the hall when he looked back and saw the principal standing right there. Hoping that he would see him Jerry ran as fast as he could out of the school. The principal knew who it was and called him in the next day. Instead of punishing him the principal made a deal with Jerry that if he played football and not only basketball that there would be no punishment for that day (Evans 18,19).

Jerry Rice has only played for two teams his entire career. The first team he was drafted into was the San Francisco 49ers. The San Francisco 49er fans loved to watch Jerry Rice play. After his first couple of years in the National Football League Jerry started to become a really big part of the team always coming through when they needed him. He became their go to man (Gates).

Considered one of the best football players of all time Jerry Rice was part of the best quarter back, receiver combo The quarterbacks who gave Jerry most of his glory were Steve Young and Joe Montana.

These are two of the greatest quarterbacks of all time. They hold many records for passing yards, and need to be mentioned because they are the ones who through the ball to Jerry and gave him a chance to make the plays that he did. During his last year playing for the San Francisco 49ers the quarterback was a young player who didn't connect to Jerry as well as the other two mentioned.

The current team that Jerry Rice is playing for is the Oakland Raiders. The raiders lead by quarterback Rich Gannon have a good chance for having an excellent offense. The starting wide receivers for the raiders are Jerry Rice, and Tim Brown. Starting at running backs are Tyrone Wheatley, and Jon Ritchie. Mostly everyone of these guys are experienced players and know what its like to play in the big league. The first game of the season for the Oakland Raiders they started off with a boom and beat the Kansas City Chiefs 27-24.

Jerry Rice has broken many records and has had many standout highlights in his career. Jerry Owns more records than any other receiver that has ever played the game of football. One of the most amazing of these records is most consecutive games in the NFL with a reception. Jerry's record for this statistics is 225. Another great record that he holds is most career touchdowns, with an incredible number of 187. Also, Jerry holds the record for most receiving yards in a career 19,247. One of the hardest records that Jerry holds is a 1,000 yards of total receiving yards in a season. He has had 12 of these seasons and is on the verge of obtaining another one (Gates).

A lot of professional athletes in this world have a good play once and a while and then fall off after that. Jerry Rice is most definitely not one of these people. Through out his career Jerry has had more game highlights than almost any other person. One Jerry's greatest game highlights was in Super Bowl XXIII were he set a record with 11 catches for 215 yards and had one touchdown. Another one of Jerry's career highlights was in the 1994 Super Bowl. Jerry had a 44 yard touchdown one minute and twenty four seconds into the game, which is the fastest to ever score a touchdown in a Super Bowl (Jerry Rice).

Sometimes the hard things in life are what makes you a better person in the long run. In this case Jerry Rice did not have the greatest childhood and showed the world how hard work pays off. Now he is living great and is doing something he loves as a job and should be looked up to by anyone who wishes to go anywhere in life.