Legacy
Jerry Rice is the NFL record holder in a number of statistics for receivers. His 1,549 career receptions are 445 receptions ahead of the second place record held by Tony Gonzalez. His 22,895 career receiving yards are 6,961 yards ahead of the second place spot held by his former 49ers teammate Terrell Owens. His 197 career touchdown receptions are 44 scores more than the second place record of 154 touchdown receptions by Randy Moss, and his 208 total touchdowns (197-rec, 10-rush, 1-pass) are 33 scores ahead of Emmitt Smith's second place total of 175. Furthermore, his 1,256 career points scored make him the highest-scoring non-kicker in NFL history. A career spanning two decades, Rice averaged 75.6 receiving yards per game that he played, fifth-highest in NFL history among wide receivers. Only Andre Johnson (79.7), Torry Holt (77.4), Marvin Harrison (76.7), and Larry Fitzgerald (76.0) have averaged more receiving yards per game over a career.
To illustrate the significance of his 22,895 receiving yards, if Rice had not gained any other yards on rush attempts or kick returns, his 22,895 receiving yards would still rank him second place on the NFL's list all-purpose yard leaders (category based on combination of rushing, receiving, kick/punt return yards, and interception/fumble return yards) (he has collected 23,540 all-purpose yards: 22,895 receiving, 645 rushing, and 6 from punt returns).
Another example of Rice's dominance is his performance against Deion Sanders, considered by many as one of the best coverage cornerbacks of all-time. From 1989 to 1996 Rice had good numbers against Sanders's teams. With Rice completing 60 receptions for 1,051 yards and 11 receiving touchdowns against Sanders's teams (this would project to approximately 96 receptions for 1682 yards and 18 touchdowns in 16 games). Rice's teams won six of the ten games. To Sanders's credit, Deion had 4 interceptions for 58 yards and 0 touchdowns in those ten games.And in those early years Sanders was not going one on one with Rice, he was lined up one one side of the field, so he was not always covering Rice. Rice played against Sanders's teams twelve times, but Sanders did not play in two of those games (once in 1992 and once in 1993).[16][17]
Rice is remembered for his work ethic and dedication to the game. In his 20 NFL seasons, Rice missed only 10 regular season games, 7 of them in the 1997 season, and the other 3 in the strike-shortened season of 1987. His 303 games are by far the most ever played by an NFL wide receiver, but are 72 games behind the NFL record for games played by any player. In addition to staying on the field, his work ethic showed in his dedication to conditioning and running precise routes, with coach Dennis Green calling him "the best route runner I've ever seen." One of the best known examples of his dedication and ethics may be "The Hill", a long and steep hill that is "two and a half miles up"; Rice would sprint across the hill literally every day to improve his abilities. "The Hill" has served as an inspiraton for many other players in 49ers organization, among them rookie wide receiver A.J. Jenkins, who has begun training with Rice on "The Hill". Also known as one of the best blockers at his position, there was no aspect of playing wide receiver at which Rice did not excel.
