Chargers wide receiver Brenden Rice was disappointed when he wasn’t drafted until the seventh round, but someone else was even more disappointed: Jerry Rice, Brenden’s father, who is widely regarded as the greatest wide receiver in NFL history American.
Brenden said at the Chargers’ rookie minicamp that he found it “very frustrating” to last until the seventh round but his father was more upset than he was.
“My dad was hot, my dad was hot,” he said. “The first words he said were: ‘It’s time to go to work. I’ll be with you every step of the way. I’ll participate in all your training from now on. We’ve got a lot of people proven wrong.'”
Brenden said that Jerry asked him to make the rest of the league regret passing by.
“He’s like, ‘No, we’re going to take this to a different level.’ “Those guys are going to feel us,” Brenden Rice said.
Brenden said he watches film of his father all the time but believes they are different athletes and he doesn’t necessarily model his game after his father. But he knew that early in Jerry’s career he received some criticism for not being ready for the NFL, and he said he hopes to become a better starter than his father.
“I heard his rookie season in the NFL wasn’t good,” Brenden said of Jerry. “I have to go on top of him.”
“Student. Incurable problem solver. Amateur baconaholic. Introvert. Infuriatingly humble music fanatic.”