LAS VEGAS–One of the greatest National Football League players of all time shared stories here with credit unions on the indirect start to his football career, who his mentors were, a few war stories and more.
Jerry Rice, widely regarded as the greatest wide receiver in NFL history, a first-ballot Hall of Famer, and a three-time Hall of Famer, was an opening keynoter to the NACUSO Network meeting here. He participated in a Q&A with Nick Evens, CEO of Curql.
Here’s what Rice had to say in response to Evens’ questions:
Evens: You didn’t start playing football until your sophomore year of high school. How did you get started?
Rice: I ran like Forrest Gump. But I started running and my mother would always ask me, ‘Why are you doing this? it's 110 degrees out here!’” I was running and probably putting it in maybe eight to 10 miles. One day I decided not to go to class and I was behind this building. I didn't know the principal was making his rounds and he walked up on me and he scared me. He noticed I could run really fast. I got disciplined--10 lashes—and he wanted me to go out for the football team.
I'm not the most gifted player, I'm not as talented, but I said if I really work at this maybe I could become a starter. It also inspired me. I was this real nerdy guy in high school. I had humongous hands and big feet. Nobody paid attention to me. When I started playing football I noticed that the girls started liking me more. So, I said wow, just by playing football, catching the ball, being the star, I liked all this attention. I decided to work a little bit harder because the girls started liking me even more.
Evens: You put Mississippi Valley State on the map. How difficult was the transition from a small college to the NFL?
Rice: I got letters from the major schools like Notre Dame and USC, but Mississippi Valley State sent a coach out to talk to me face to face, and in Mississippi that goes a long, long way. When you can actually shake someone's hand and look that person in the eye, that's how I decided to go to Mississippi Valley State.
It would have been nice to go to those major schools, but I just felt like I was destined for Mississippi Valley State. It’s an HBCU school. I wouldn't change that for anything, because I got a chance to really help a lot of those players back in Mississippi. It was an amazing experience.
Evens: What was it like coming out of a small school?
Rice: I never thought I was going to get drafted, to be honest with you. I said to myself, the most important thing is to get my education, to have something to fall back on. When I'm talking to kids now I tell them that's the number-one thing--get your education.
A lot of you people around me thought I was going to get drafted, but I didn't want to give into that because I didn't want to be disappointed just in case nobody called my name. Had Bill Walsh not made a trade with the New England Patriots to get that 16th pick, I wouldn’t have gotten to play for the greatest coach of all time.
The 49ers had just won the Super bowl against the Miami Dolphins. I think (Joe) Montana was the MVP and they played (the Super Bowl) at Stanford University. When you’re drafted you’ve got to prove to everyone that you deserve to be there. I said, ‘I’m going to work hard, I'm going to do everything possible to gain your trust,’ and I was able to do that and play the game for over 20 years.
Evens: Who helped you when you were younger and mentored you along the way?
Rice: My parents. My father was a bricklayer and he took me to work with him during the summer. It was very demanding work. If I did not do my job I got disciplined in a certain way. In Mississippi, you got whippings. It was very difficult work.
My job was to make sure my father had bricks to lay. I was sometimes on a scaffold 20 feet in the air. My brothers would toss bricks up and I would snatch them. People say you learned how to catch footballs from catching bricks, but that’s not true. If you are 20 feet in the air you can’t catch bricks like footballs or you will come tumbling down. I learned hard work.
I would try to emulate other receivers. Drew Pearson and Dwight Clark and John Stallworth. I wanted to be all of those guys combined into one. I had confidence in my route running. I had confidence in my hands. I knew I might not be the fastest guy, but if you run precise, exceptional routes you're going to get separation where you can get open for the quarterback, so he doesn't have to hold on to the ball.
I had one of the best mentors with Dwight Clark from day one. He took me under his wing and I always just sat back and just watched those guys, the way they prepared.
Evens: You were a 13-time Pro Bowler. A first ballot Hall of Famer. You won three Super Bowls. Now you’re in the second phase of your life and when you hear all those things and see that video, what do you think of today?
Rice: I have to pinch myself. But I give all the credit to my teammates. Without teammates you can't be successful in football. You have to be accountable and you’ve got to lead by example.
I only had one speed; it was 100%. I wanted to bring people to their feet. I wanted them to be standing in that stadium and just cheering. I could go 95 yards and hear that crowd cheering like crazy; I miss those things. I was just like a little kid out on the football field and I hear moms and dads who would say, ‘You ran 80 yards and I was running right next to the television with you.’ I don't take for granted that I was able to do some great things on the football field, but it's all about your teammates and we had an exceptional team with great players.
Evens: What else motivated you?
Rice: I never wanted to let anyone down, especially the fans. If you paid your money I wanted you to witness something special every time you stepped into that stadium. I wanted people to walk away from that game and say, ‘Wow, did you see what happened today? Did you see how he made that catch or he scored that touchdown? That was something that just always pushed me and still does today I don't want to let anyone down.
Evens: You played with some pretty incredible players, such as Joe Montana (“I made Joe Montana. And Steve Young!” joked Rice). What was that like?
Rice: Montana and I had such great chemistry. If Joe was a female we would have dated. I would come to the line of scrimmage and Montana would give me that look. I just knew I had to beat that defender and I would score a touchdown.
Then along comes Steve Young. Steve was a lefty; he had a different spin on the football and it was just weird looking to see a lefty throw you a football because I had never caught the football from a lefty. I had an equipment guy who was left-handed and he would just throw me balls and I got used that rotation and the spin of it.
When Steve Young took over and I'm running the route and I'm about to get the separation from the defensive back and I just knew Steve Young is going to throw me that ball. I looked back and Steve Young was running past me.
I had 1,549 receptions, 208 touchdowns, 22,895 yards. If Steve Young had stayed in the pocket, I would probably have had double that. But Steve was more of a running quarterback.