Jerry Rice - Go Long!: My Journey Beyond the Game and the Fame

FOREWORD

by Bill Walsh

I remember it like it was yesterday, though now its been more than twenty years. It was the first day of the San Francisco 49ers mini-camp in June 1985, and most of our veterans and recent draft picks had gathered at our practice facility to begin preparing to defend our Super Bowl title, which we had won just five months earlier. It didnt take very long that first day of practice for players and coaches alike to stop and stare at the new kid on the block. A few even gave me an approving nod. A six-foot-two physical specimen, first-round draft pick Jerry Rice was so explosive at every step that I think we were all in shock. I knew right away that Jerry was destined for greatness. He was so unusual, so different in his style and movements, in the way he glided along the field and absorbed the ball on the move. I had never seen anything like it.

Of course, I had seen glimpses of his talent a few months earlier, which is why I helped orchestrate a draft-day trade with the New England Patriots to make sure the 49ers snagged Jerry. Years later, coaches and general managers would claim that they, too, saw the greatness but just werent able to draft Jerry. When I first watched him on film before the draft, I was immediately taken in by his beautiful strides. It was almost laughable how good he was. I had been coaching a long time and knew the wide receiver position pretty well, and I saw enough on film to know he would be great. So when the receiver from Mississippi Valley State landed in 49ers mini-camp, we knew what he had. What we didnt know was just how far Jerry could take us.

Early in his 49ers career, Jerry struggled, dropping ball after ball. I remember a multiple-drop game in preseason against the Los Angeles Rams, when Jerry broke down at halftime and wept in the locker room but summoned the guts to go back out for the second half. He had never failed in football and felt that he had let himselfand the teamdown. Weeks later he would face the Rams in the regular season and break all kinds of 49ers receiving records.

There are three Super Bowl titles, numerous NFL touchdown and receiving records, and an MVP trophy as well, but statistics dont reveal the true Jerry Rice. The young man who stayed after practice virtually every day to study the game, to get better; the coach on the sideline who could see the plays develop and help our younger players; the receiver who sprinted downfield on every play to help block for his teammates and who inspired his fellow receivers to do the same; the loyal husband who was devastated by a wifes illness and stayed by her side; the consummate professional who understood why he couldnt remain a 49er.

There are so many great flashback memories I have of clutch catches and performances. At the top is Super Bowl XXIII when Jerry and Joe Montana took over in the last three minutes to win the title. Or an amazing seventy-yard touchdown catch against the New York Giants on the road in 1988, months after his fumble against the Giants had been costly for us in the playoffs.

I was fortunate enough to be a part of many championship teams and have had the pleasure to coach hundreds of top-level athletes, so I think I have pretty strong ground to stand on when I say that Jerry Rice was the best wide receiver ever and certainly among the greatest at any position. Ever. The way he made catches, turned little plays into touchdowns, and played with such agility and stamina was never before seen in the NFL. He set the standard for the wide receivers we see in todays gamebig, strong, fast, and explosive. He showed brilliance, stamina, athleticism, and intelligence and was the ultimate team player. His ability to focus and thrive in the atmosphere of competition is unparalleled, perhaps closely followed by that of Tiger Woods and Michael Jordan.

As one of the key decision-makers in the San Francisco 49ers organization after I stepped down from coaching, I bore the difficult task of watching Jerry leave the only team he ever knew. Things were not good within the organization in the late 1990s and early 2000s, and Jerry could not stand losing. On numerous occasions, I recall him standing before his teammates and challenging them to perform at a higher level and, on one occasion, becoming so passionate that he had to be ushered into another room. Thats Jerry Rice. So with losses mounting and the team facing a huge salary cap deficit, cuts in compensation had to be made and roster releases had to take place. We didnt expect, nor could we ask, the greatest player of all time to take a pay cut, though we knew that Jerry could still play and contribute. I even picked up the phone and called the Oakland Raiders to lobby on Jerrys behalf.

Jerry was simply a class act throughout his career. His work ethic has become legendary, as has his ability to handle adversity, whether it was the boos from 49ers fans early in his career or the devastating injuries he suffered along the way. Jerry has an ability to rise above. He seeks out the challenges in life and attacks them with full gusto. Thats probably why, when I heard he would be on Dancing with the Stars, my first reaction was Oh, no! then, If anyone can pull it off, it will be Jerry.

The Jerry Rice that I know never truly revealed himself to the public. Im glad he has decided to share his journey with you, because we all should be able to know him and understand him. Reading these pages, some things shocked me, and Ive known him for so long. I knew he was driven but never knew just how much impact his relationship with his father had on him.

Jerry and I had a unique and special relationship, our careers tied to each other after that draft-day move in 1985. We have a shared sense of humor, a common love for the game of football, an understanding that preparation is the key, and an appreciation for how we go about conducting ourselves. As a former receivers coach, I could teach Jerry the intricacies of the position, and Ive never had a player more willing and eager to listen. Weve remained friends for two decades, and I am a better man for it.

He is compassionate, funny, humble, and a loving husband and father, and he stands out as a true role model for all of us.

BILL WALSH
San Francisco, California
December 2006

PREFACE

In the middle of April 2006, I boarded a flight in San Francisco en route to Hartford, Connecticut, with a connection in Chicago. I was flying across the country for a meeting with ESPN executives in the tiny town of Bristol, Connecticut, for which the closest airport is in Hartford, about forty-five minutes from Bristol. Now, as you might imagine, I have been on thousands of airplane flights in my life. And, yes, typically a San Francisco 49ers fan will come up and ask me for an autograph or for a picture, which I am quite grateful to give.

After landing in Chicago, I walked to my gate to await boarding the flight into Hartford. Slowly, people started crowding around, lining up for pictures, chitchat, and autographs. But these werent middle-aged 49ers fans wearing Joe Montana jerseys wanting to reminisce about the 1989 Super Bowl. No, these were elderly gentlemen with silver hair, very young women surely too young to remember my football days, nervous little kids and their soccer moms, most of whom didnt know me from football; they knew me from the ABC television show