Jerry Rice’s HBCU Underdog Story

Jerry Rice carved out a truly iconic HBCU underdog story at Mississippi Valley State. While Rice is now a holder of multiple NFL records, an NFL Hall of Famer, and considered as the greatest wide receiver of all time, everything began in Crawford, Mississippi.

Born to Eddie and Joe Rice, Jerry Rice was the sixth of eight children. Rice established a blue-collar mentality early on as he and his brothers helped his father build houses on multiple occasions.

While Rice did not see bricklaying in his future, he credited the experience for teaching him hard work.

As Rice grew older, he attended B.L. Moor High School in Oktoc, Mississippi. Despite a tremendous college and NFL career, Jerry played no sports in high school. In Jon Sterngass’ book Jerry Rice, he highlights how Jerry’s mother did not allow him to join the football team because she thought the sport was ‘too rough.’

However, in the most unusual way, Rice caught the attention of B.L. Moor’s high school football coach. One day during Rice’s sophomore year, he sprinted away from his school’s assistant principal after he was caught skipping class. His impressive speed led to the assistant principal informing the school’s coach, Charles Davis, about Rice. Davis then offered Rice a spot on the team.

While Rice’s mother pushed back the decision initially, she stated that “the more I fought it, the more determined he was, so I gave up.” After Rice joined B.L. Moor’s football team, the rest was history.

Rice was a elite talent for B.L. Moor, lining up all over the football field as a running back, defensive end, tight end, and wide receiver. He earned All-State honors in his senior year at wide receiver and helped lead the team to a 17-2 record his final two years. Due to the size of Rice’s school, his stats were not always properly recorded. However, Sterngass discusses how veteran sports journalist Glenn Dickey stated Rice caught 50 receptions and 30 touchdowns as a senior.

Rice’s dominance lead to a ton of NCAA Division 1-A interest, but it was Archie Cooley’s pass-happy offense that drew the wideout to HBCU Mississippi Valley State. Rice built an extremely strong relationship with coach Cooley during the recruiting process.

The Delta Devils confidence in Rice led to a strong start for his college football career. Rice finished his freshman season with 30 receptions for 428 yards and two touchdowns. Sterngass highlights in his book how Cooley ran one of the most innovative college offense’s at the time. Cooley ran a variety of quad formations (four receivers on one side of the field) and empty formations (five receivers on the field) to distort defenses. A large part in the offense succeeding is that defenses were not use to the unique offensive game-plan.

As Rice became more comfortable in the Delta Devils offense, it seemed as if defenses were not used to him either.

Rice hauled in 66 catches for 1,133 yards and seven touchdowns as a sophomore before a record breaking junior and senior year. As a junior, Rice broke the NCAA’s receptions (102) and receiving yards (1,450) records. He followed up his stellar junior year performance 112 receptions and 1,845 receiving yards. If there is any confusion, yes, Jerry Rice broke his own records in back to back seasons.

While a few of Rice’s records have been broken, his touchdown (27) and receiving yards per game (168.2) records remain today. Rice additionally earned Division 1-AA All-American honors in his junior and senior year.

As Rice declared for the draft, Rice’s HBCU status did not shy the San Fransisco 49ers away from drafting him in the first round of the 1985 NFL draft. Following his career, Rice expressed that he played ‘head games’ with himself. Per Fox News Digital, Rice “downplayed everything” so he remained free of any disappointment. He even went as far as saying that his backup plan was “fixing electronics.”

However, the Mississippi Valley State wideout had undeniable talent, and it was on full-display from day one.

Rice finished his first season with 49 receptions for 927 yards and 3 touchdowns as a rookie. From there, rice steadily drove down the road to creating the NFL’s most impressive wide receiver resume ever.

Today, rice holds nearly every significant receiving record. He has the most NFL receptions (1,549), receiving yards (22,895), 1,000 yard seasons (14), and total touchdowns (208). Rice’s ability to change the football game through the air resonated with during the NFL’s run-heavy era.

Additionally, beyond Rice’s individual states lies another long list of accolades. Rice earned first team All-Pro honors for 11 consecutive seasons while also earning 13 Pro Bowl selections. He additionally made the 1980 and 1990 NFL All-Decade teams, and made the NFL’s 75th Anniversary Team.

Equally important, Jerry Rice was the ultimate winner on the San Fransisco 49ers. Rice served as a key receiver for three of the 49ers Super Bowl runs, two with Joe Montana, and one with Steve Young.

From not playing football, to dominating through high school and college, to becoming an NFL Hall of Famer, Rice’s HBCU journey is the ultimate testament of what hard work can accomplish.