In any sport, fans can spend hours arguing about "the greatest player of all time". Fortunately, in football, this polemic was brought to an end in 2010, when the NFL Network released a list of hundreds of the best players in history.
Rays of glory in football are known to be more than supportive to quarterbacks, which is quite logical: this position is the starting point of attack of any team, the outcome of the game largely depends on the decisions of the quarterback, especially in the current century, increasingly oriented to the speed and entertainment. And yet, the list of the voting results of the players themselves was headed not by the quarterback, but by the receiver – by Jerry Rice.
Rice grew up in a working family in Crawford, Mississippi. His father worked as a bricklayer, and Jerry believes that he trained his golden hands in his childhood, when he and his brother helped their father laying bricks, moving them through two floors.
The circumstances that led Rice to football are curious. The legend says Rice's high school principal came to the Rice home to discuss Jerry's truancy. Seeing the threat, Rice sprinted away as fast as he could.
The principal, noting the speed Jerry displayed in his dash, gave him the right to choose punishment or a spot on the school football team. Jerry chose football.
From 1981 to 1984, Rice played college football at Mississippi Valley State, where he was nicknamed "World", because there was no ball in the world that he could not catch.
At one time, the Delta Devils made noise throughout the country after averaging more than 59 points per game. Rice caught 17 passes for 199 yards against Southern, had 17 catches for 294 yards against Kentucky State and 15 grabs for 285 yards against Jackson State, who MVSU had not defeated since 1954. Rice was littered with accolades and took ninth place in the vote for Heisman Trophy.
Jerry Rice was a complete receiver and he strove for absolute perfection in al aspects of the game. He was always there, where it was required at the right time and was just as effective blocking as he was at receiving.
Jerry was a real workaholic and gave himself to training with fanaticism, sometimes even repelling some teammates. For 20 years in the league, he did not make a lot of friends, but thanks to the iron regime he missed only 10 games in the regular season.
On August 7, 2010, Rice was entered inducted into the Football Hall of Fame in Canton, and on September 20 of the same year hi number 80 was permanently retired in San Francisco.
In his 20-year career, Rice played in 303 games – more than anyone except for kickers and punters.
Rice's 1,549 receptions is 307 more than the second-ranking player in history – Tony Gonzalez.
The list of Rice's athletic achievements can be continued indefinitely, but we absolutely do not need it in this case. Jerry Rice is the best player in the history of the NFL and that’s the bottom line!
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