9501040289
DETROIT FREE PRESS
950127
Friday, January 27, 1995
METRO FINAL
1C
Photo Color Associated Press
:
49ers receiver Jerry Rice: "Special players make the plays no
matter what."
MITCH ALBOM
Copyright (c) 1995, Detroit Free Press
ALL OTHER RECEIVERS PLAY CATCH-UP TO RICE LEGEND
MIAMI -- Many fine football players will shed sweat in Sunday's Super
Bowl. Only one will be a legend.
Jerry Rice stands alone.
You watch the microphones on Deion Sanders and the probing spotlight on
Steve Young and the human interest around Stan Humphries and Natrone Means and
you almost have to laugh. As good as they all are, none -- and I am absolutely
serious here -- none is in Rice's class. None will be the topic of
conversation 30 years from now. None will lead the fat history of players to
try his position, none will be considered the greatest quarterback, greatest
linebacker or greatest defensive back ever to play the game.
But the greatest receiver?
Jerry Rice stands alone.
Does anyone realize how unusual a talent No. 80 truly is? Certainly not
most of the media here, which is more captivated with quickie sound bites by
rapping wannabes. And certainly not corporate America, which has made beefcake
posters out of Junior Seau and video games out of Sanders but has left Rice
nearly untouched.
The hell with them. What do they know about football? What do they know
about beating one man, passing another, and outfighting the third in midair
for the ball? What do they know about running into the sky and landing with
your legs still in stride, so you needn't waste time accelerating? What do
they know about twisting your torso as you make a reception, to avoid
contact, or grabbing the back end of a spiraling football? What do they know
of countless Pro Bowls or countless NFL records or two Super Bowl rings, and a
Super Bowl MVP trophy?
What do they know of Rice, a man who can still, as his college coach once
marveled, "catch a BB in the dark"?
You can look at his numbers and be dazzled -- he has more touchdowns than
any other player in NFL history -- but it's dazzled the way a non-musician is
dazzled by Mozart, or a child is dazzled by computer graphics. The flash gets
your attention.
But the magic is in the details.
Jerry Rice stands alone.
Greatness at work
He was born in rural Mississippi, the son of a bricklayer, and he started
running one day and never stopped. "I was like Forrest Gump," Rice said this
week, laughing. "I didn't even know where I was running. I was like 9 years
old and I was running roads, six miles, seven miles."
Farm kids sometimes grow into football players from the strength of their
chores. Rice might have seemed destined for receiving after catching bricks
tossed by his father, and chasing horses near his home.
But more than anything, he became the best there ever was because of two
things: 1) his body -- 6-feet-2, minimal fat, huge hands -- and 2) his work
ethic. Even today, at age 32, the minute he accomplishes something, he sets
the bar higher and starts again. His personal drills would leave an Olympic
team gasping -- and these are in the off-season. And his emphasis on body
control, from health food to the bandage he wears for his nasal passages, has
given him his most incredible record of all: not a single game missed in his
10-year NFL career.
Incredible, right? Yet you look back on the year he was drafted, 1985, and
you see 15 players taken before him. These include two receivers, Eddie Brown
and Al Toon, both no longer in football, and such forgettables as Duane
Bickett (Indianapolis), Kevin Allen (Philadelphia) and Ethan Horton (Kansas
City).
"To be honest, I felt like I should have gone before those other
receivers," Rice admits now, "but I figured, in time, I would show everybody
where I belonged."
He's sorry about retirement comment
He has done that over and over. So why isn't there more fuss? He is
articulate, handsome, a perfect spokesman for any product. When was the last
commercial you saw starring Jerry Rice? Is it because he doesn't dance?
"I could, you know," he says. "I mean, I have some coordination, and a
little rhythm. . . . "
The point is, he shouldn't have to. This is a man who will soon own the
ultimate statistical prize for his position: the NFL record for most
receiving yards -- that is, if he comes back next season. Earlier this week,
he made a comment about retiring.
"I'm sorry I ever said that now. What I meant was that I know how hard it
is to get to a Super Bowl, and I treat each game like it's my last one."
Maybe he should quit. Michael Jordan did, and if he doesn't return, in
time, that will cement his legend even more. Go out on top. With a
championship. Maybe Rice should. Maybe that would do it.
There are two questions I had always wanted to ask him. One is if he would
have done as much with a mediocre quarterback -- instead of Joe Montana or
Young.
"Yes, I would," he says, "because the special players make the plays no
matter what. The quarterback throws it up there, but it's still the
receiver's job to get it. If the balls were higher instead of right in my
hands, I would just have to adjust -- and I'd work until I could."
My second question is if he has ever had a bad game.
"Yes," he says.
Ever have two in a row?
"Never."
He smiles. "And to be honest, the last game we played, against Dallas, I
didn't think I did so well. . . . "
Uh-oh.