Jason
Lowbridge
Professor
McKeever
English
1020
18 July
2013
Word Count:
1595
Everything Happens For a Reason
He certainly wasn’t the worst kid
growing up in the very small town of Crawford, Mississippi. It was almost
impossible to be bad in a town with less than 500 people. Everybody knew each
other’s business, and you could get away with very little. Typically he obeyed
the rules, but he was known to cut a class, or two, at Moor High School. On one
of those days he chose to skip a class, he went to that perfect hiding spot
behind the high school building. Unfortunately for him, it was also the day the
principal decided to case the school grounds. Instead of acknowledging that he
had been caught, the 10th grader took off running. Too bad for him,
the principal knew who he was dealing with. That red blazer that he always wore
surely gave it away. When he returned to school the next day, he was
immediately summoned to the principal’s office. It was there that he was
presented with two options, be whipped by the principal’s belt, or join the
high school football team. Who knew that this one event in this young kid’s
life would prove to be so life changing? The old saying that everything happens
for a reason, would indeed be the case. Had he never been presented with the
option to join the high school football team, the course of this child’s life
might be dramatically different and the impact he would go on to make in
football might have been missed. The child accepted his punishment, developed
his skills and went on to becoming the greatest player ever to play in the NFL.
Despite the options presented to him, really the 10th grader
did not have much of a choice. Principal Wickes had already told the football
coach just how fast the student was (Rice). Although he loved watching his beloved Dallas
Cowboys on television, he had never played anything more than pick up football
games with his brothers and friends. He really had no interest in playing at
school, and his mother definitely did not want him playing. He had great energy
and was always running and working out, but she worried about him being
injured. After all, he was very skinny. But, the young 10th grader
decided to accept his punishment and play for the Moor High School football
team. “The football team, which played at a stadium that seated only 100 people
and had light poles on just one side of the field, served as a forum to display
his tremendous work habits. As much of his childhood was filled with play, he
always had a keen sense of the value of hard work” (Rice 23). Not only did he
accept his punishment, but he went on to excel in football. He played receiver,
defensive back, and even quarterback. Basically,
he played wherever the coach needed him. By the end of his high school career,
he was honored as an All-State end and defensive back (Rice).
The young man and his brother often
dreamed of becoming professional athletes so they could but their parents a
brand new house. Getting there would prove difficult. His brother’s career
fizzled out right after college when he was unable to make it in the NFL.
Although the high school senior had interest from about 40 colleges, “nobody
was really pounding on his door” (Rice 27). Archie Cooley, head coach at
Mississippi Valley State was one of the few coaches that showed any real
interest in him. “Coach Cooley had heard about him through an extensive network
of black high school coaches, and when he showed up to scout the lanky
teenager, the kid was so impressed that he immediately accepted a scholarship to
the little known Division 1-AA school” (Rice 27). An added benefit was that the
kid was very interested in the pass-heavy offense that Coach Cooley ran.
Within the first week of his college
football practice, the young man made an immediate impact on his coaches. Coach
Cooley is quoted as saying “I knew he was a special athlete because his work
ethic was so great” (Rice 27). The young player attributes his work ethic and
pass catching skills to his father, His father was a brick layer who often took
his young soon to work with him. His father was determined to teach him the
value of hard work. The added benefit was catching the bricks his father would
throw up to him strengthened his hands, which made him a much better receiver
and taught him hand/eye coordination. Ironically, during his freshman year of
college, his teammates nicknamed him “world” because “they reasoned that he
could catch anything in the world” (Rice 29).
“Coach Cooley ran a no-huddle, four
receiver set offense and threw the ball almost 90% of the time” (Rice 27). During his freshman season, the young receiver
made an immediate connection with his quarterback, Willie Totter. “The two
developed a connection that was downright scary” (Rice 29). By his sophomore
season he caught 66 passes for 1,133 yards and seven touchdowns (Rice). Hardly
pro-prospect numbers though. With those numbers it was more likely that he
would find a career within his chosen major of electronics, not the NFL. His
junior season was really a breakout year for him. By the time he finished his
senior year, and college career, he would set 18 Division 1-AA records with a
total of 4,693 receiving yards (Rice). In addition, he was named the MVP after
playing in the Blue-Gray game. Now his NFL prospects seemed a little more
likely. During his senior season, a number of NFL scouts came to watch him play
and practice. While they were impressed with his pass catching abilities, they
timed his speed at a relatively slow and unimpressive 4.6. Lucky for him, the
head coach of the world champion San Francisco 49ers saw things differently.
Head coach Bill Walsh was obsessed
with the kid, but knew there was no chance they would be able to draft him.
After all, the 49ers were coming off of a Super Bowl win and were picking 28th
in the NFL draft. “But come draft time, Bill Walsh was known to engage in more
high-stakes trading than Wall Street, and 1985 would be no exception” (Rice 36).
Two days before the draft the San Francisco 49ers had a tentative deal in place
to trade with the New England Patriots. This would give the 49ers the 16th
pick in the first round. When the Buffalo Bills selected a cornerback with the
14th pick, the 49ers finalized the deal. Shocking almost everybody
who is involved with, or follows the NFL, Bill Walsh got the kid he was fixated
on.
The person I am referring to was
born October 13, 1962 and is a retired wide receiver that played twenty
seasons in the National Football League. Many consider him to be the greatest wide
receiver ever in the National Football League and some even consider him to be the
greatest player, of all time, at any position. In fact, he was chosen by the NFL
Network as the greatest player in NFL history. He was a member of the all
decade teams of the 80’s and 90’s. He is the all-time NFL leader in receptions,
touchdown receptions, and yards. He retired with 38 NFL records to his name. He
was selected to the Pro Bowl 13 times and named an All-Pro 12 times. He won
three Super Bowls playing for the San Francisco 49ers and was once voted Super
Bowl MVP. In addition to the San Francisco 49ers, he also played for the
Oakland Raiders and the Seattle Seahawks. At the of the 2004 season, his 20th in the NFL, he
joined the Denver Broncos, signing a one year contract, but ultimately decided to
retire. On August 19, 2006, the San Francisco 49ers announced that he had signed
a one day contract with them, allowing him to retire as a member of the team
where his career began. On August 24, he officially retired as a San Francisco
49er, signing a one day contract for $1,985,806.49. The number was merely symbolic and was never
actually paid. It represented the year he was drafted (1985), his number (80),
the year he retired (2006), and the 49ers (49). (Rice) Over the course of his
career, he played in 303 games overall. Honoring his storied career, he was
selected for induction in the Pro Football class of 2010 in his first year of
eligibility. He was inducted in Canton, Ohio
on August 7, 2010 along with Emmitt Smith, Floyd Little, Russ Grimm, Rickey
Jackson, Dick LeBeau, and John Randle. Two months later, on September 20, 2010,
during halftime at the 49ers-Saints game, his #80 jersey number was retired.
He really had nothing short of a
pretty amazing career. And in this case, everything really did happen for a
reason. Had he never been caught skipping classes by his high school principal
and forced to join the high school football team, had he never worked hard and
made a name for himself on a virtually unknown, small college football team and
had he not caught the eye of the head coach of the world champion San Francisco
49ers, football fans everywhere might have never enjoyed the pure talent and
grace that was Jerry Lee Rice on the football field.
Works
Cited
Rice,
Jerry and Silver, Michael. Rice. New
York: St. Martin’s Griffin, 1996.
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