NFL.com - Interesting story on Jerry Rice, scouting report on him when he got drafted

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/8524519

Rice was special before he was drafted

By Gil Brandt

NFL.com Senior Analyst

(June 1, 2005) -- The 1985 NFL Draft was held on April 30, and on that day I was in my office in Dallas prepared to add a new member to our team. One of the players I was hoping to select was a wide receiver out of little-known Mississippi Valley State by the name of Jerry Rice. We had the 17th pick, and using it on him was certainly a possibility.

The draft began with Buffalo picking first and taking Bruce Smith, followed by Atlanta taking Bill Fralic. There was only one wide receiver taken in the first 10 picks, and it was Al Toon going to the New York Jets. Things were looking good.

Houston, San Diego, Cincinnati, Buffalo and Kansas City all made their picks, and none of them were Rice. I remember getting excited as I hoped to catch the steal of the draft with our selection. New England came up on pick No. 16, and I sure didn't figure them to take a wide receiver since they took Irving Fryar the year before.

And then I heard the words that haunted me for a long, long time: "There has been a trade involving this pick, and San Francisco is now on the clock."

The Patriots got San Francisco's first-, second- and third-round picks for pick No. 16. Moments later, Rice was selected and was on his way to Northern California. Had the 49ers not traded up or taken someone else, Rice would have probably been our choice.

Now Rice, at the young age of 42, has signed on with the Denver Broncos and is still planning on playing 20 years later. I thought I would look back at our notes from when we scouted Rice back when he was in college and see what was accurate and what wasn't.

The first thing you may not have known about Rice is that in college, his nickname was "World," because according to his coaches and teammates he could catch anything in the world.

As is the case today, Rice was in great physical shape. According to the report, he had a "very big, strong pair of hands, long arms, tapered body, a well-developed upper body and arms." It did cite his lower legs for needing some development, but he had plenty of "natural strength."

In the 40-yard dash he ran in the 4.4 range, which is excellent. Even with that good of a number, the report felt that Rice, "Plays better and runs better in game and on practice field than his 40 time. He has pro speed."

Equally impressive was his character. He had a "family that worked hard for everything," read the document. He was labeled as mature, soft spoken and respectful. I'd say that was correct.

So were there any negatives? There seemed to be a focus on his blocking that concerned the scouts. "He will not make an effort to cut or even push block," said the report. It also said Rice prefered to work along the right sideline and would need work on running patterns and reading the coverage. I'm pretty sure he's improved in all of these areas.

Also, he wore leather gloves until our scout asked him why he did. Since then, he didn't wear gloves. Maybe it helped his game.

When rating Rice on a scale of 1 to 9, with 9 being the highest and 3 being average, he scored 6s, 7s and 8s in character, competitiveness, strength and explosion, speed, short-yardage receiving, running ability after the catch, catching in a crowd and of course hands. Why no 9s? Because for some reason, we never gave out any 9s. We probably should have had the scale go from 1 to 8. And as you may expect, his worst grade came in blocking, a 3.

Our summary read as follows: "He could be a starter in this league in his second season for a contender. ... He has consistently been productive and durable in the past two seasons. He can be the type of player to play for a team in the NFL for a long time. The more I talk to him the more I am impressed with his character. He has big-play ability."

Sounds like Rice, doesn't it?

Jerry Rice trivia

As the 16th pick in the 1985 draft, Rice received a $525,000 signing bonus. The 16th overall choice in the 2004 NFL Draft, Shawn Andrews, received $5,500,000 to sign.

From a Cowboys perspective, this was actually the second time we lost out on a Hall of Fame wide receiver by one pick. In 1974, the Steelers took Lynn Swann one pick before we could take him ourselves.

Rice wore No. 88 in college, not the famous No. 80 that he's worn every year he's played in the NFL. In Denver, Rod Smith wears No. 80 and Jeb Putzier wears No. 88, so Rice won't be wearing either of those jerseys. He has been spotted wearing No. 19 in workouts with the team.

As a senior in college, Rice threw five passes, completed all five, and three were for touchdowns. If this were the NFL, he'd have a perfect QB rating.

Rice is an older guy, but George Blanda was the oldest person to play in the NFL. He was 48 years old when he finally called it a career, but not before throwing a touchdown pass as a member of the Raiders in 1974 to beat the Cowboys 27-23. Blanda is also one of 11 NFL players to play the game at age 43, a list that includes quarterbacks Steve DeBerg and Warren Moon, both of whom played into their 44th year of life. Rice will turn 43 during the season.

When Rice and Maurice Clarett go through the "chow" line together when Denver's training camp opens on July 28, Rice will be twice the age of Clarett, who is 21. That means Clarett wasn't even walking when Rice was drafted.

I remember John Madden telling the story of when he cut Blanda. - He cut him in training camp, but Blanda didn't believe that Madden would really cut him, so he kept coming to practices.

I guess it was better to not have to face Rice twice per year in his prime. While Dallas could have had the steal of the draft, they ended up getting a bust at #17 with Kevin Brooks, a DE from Michigan.

Incidently, Jim Lachey went to San Diego with the #12 pick.

Bar none the best receiver ever.

It will be interesting to see if he makes the cut in Denver. I would enjoy seeing him play another season, although many will argue that it's time for him to hang it up. But if he can compete and gain PT, best of luck to him...

...except against us! :logo:

Originally posted by Jimbo

I guess it was better to not have to face Rice twice per year in his prime. While Dallas could have had the steal of the draft, they ended up getting a bust at #17 with Kevin Brooks, a DE from Michigan.

Incidently, Jim Lachey went to San Diego with the #12 pick.

Anybody (quickly) know who the skins drafted the year rice came out?

Originally posted by RaleighSkinsMann

Anybody (quickly) know who the skins drafted the year rice came out?

I'm assuming you mean our first round pick. The answer is we traded that pick away.

Check here:

http://www.extremeskins.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=roster&file=draft_u

What really jumped out at me was that we drafted several starters and/or significant role players in the later rounds that year. Barry Wilburn, Raphel Cherry, Raleigh McKenzie and Dean Hamel....Beathard was the man in the later rounds.