Bro. Jerry Rice | Delta Phi Chapter

Jerry Lee Rice born October 13, 1962, in Starksville, MS to Eddie and Joe Rice and lived in Crawford, MS, the sixth of eight children. Rice's father, Joe, was a brick mason who built houses by hand, while holding other jobs to provide for the family. Joe was described by Rice as "a tough man" and held him and his siblings to a strict lifestyle. Eddie B., Rice's mother, raised Rice while Joe was working, and after Rice left cleaned the houses of wealthy families. Rice and his brothers often worked with their father building houses, catching bricks on top of scaffolds to make sure his father had bricks to lay.

Rice attended B. L. Moor High School in Oktoc, MS. Although he played mock games of basketball and football, Rice initially played no sports in high school. He enjoyed playing sandlot football and watching football on television. His mother didn't allow him to join the school's football team in his freshman year, as she thought that football was "too rough" for Rice. While Rice was a sophomore, the school's assistant principal caught him skipping class with a friend, causing him to panic and sprint away; impressed with his speed, he informed the school's football coach, Charles Davis, who offered Rice a place on the team. Rice played basketball as a forward and was on the track and field team, competing in the high jump. Rice played multiple positions for his high school, including running back, defensive back and tight end. However, the position he was most skilled at was wide receiver.

Rice was a Mississippi All-State selection at wide receiver in his senior year. Due to the small size of Moor, few of his statistics were officially recorded. According to sports journalist Glenn Dickey, Rice caught 50 receptions and 30 touchdowns as a senior, helping to lead the team to a 17–2 record over his final two seasons. Rice initially wanted to go to Mississippi State University, but they were one amongst forty other NCAA Division I-A schools that contacted him, but did not offer a scholarship. He was drawn to Mississippi Valley State, in part because the school's coach, Archie Cooley, who ran a pass-heavy offense—enough that Cooley was nicknamed "The Gunslinger."After Cooley watched him play in person and after Jerry visited the campus, he committed to playing at Mississippi Valley State University.

Under head football coach Archie Cooley at Mississippi Valley State University, Rice played as a wide receiver and was the all-time NCAA leader in receiving touchdowns, including NCAA marks for receptions (102) and receiving yards (1,450). He was named a first-team Division I-AA All-Americanin 1983. Rice was named to the Division I-AA All-American team and finished ninth in Heisman Trophy balloting in 1984. In the Blue–Gray Classic All-Star game he earned MVP honors after four receptions for 101 yards and a 60-yard touchdown. He finished his career with 301 catches for 4,693 yards and 50 touchdowns; his NCAA record for total career touchdown receptions stood until 2006. Rice's All-Division NCAA record for total career receptions stood until 1999. By the end of his college career, he had broken 18 NCAA records. Rice became a member of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc., Delta Phi chapter in his senior year. In 1999, the school renamed its football stadium from Magnolia Stadium to Rice–Totten Stadium. Rice was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2006, and was in the inaugural class of the Black College Football Hall of Fame in 2010.

Jerry was drafted by the San Francisco 49ers as the sixteenth pick overall in 1985 under head coach Bill Walsh. Rice played with the San Francisco 49ers in their wins at Super Bowl XXIII in 1988, where he was voted MVP, Super Bowl XXIV in 1989, and Super Bowl XXIX in 1994. Following the 2000 football season, Rice signed with the Oakland Raiders under head coach Jon Gruden. He then briefly played for the Seattle Seahawks in 2004 and the Denver Broncos in 2005 before retiring as a San Francisco 49er later that year. Over his twenty-season career, Rice had fourteen 1,000-yard seasons, 22,895 receiving yards, 1,549 receptions, 208 touchdowns, and played a total of 303 games.

For his accomplishments and numerous records, Rice is widely regarded as the greatest wide receiver of all time and one of the greatest players in NFL history. His biography on the official Pro Football Hall of Fame website names him "the most prolific wide receiver in NFL history with staggering career totals". In 1999, The Sporting News listed Rice second behind Jim Brown on its list of "Football's 100 Greatest Players". In 2010, he was chosen by NFL Network's NFL Films production The Top 100: NFL's Greatest Players as the greatest player in NFL history.

Rice has co-authored two books about his life: Rice, with Michael Silver, published in 1996, and Go Long: My Journey Beyond the Game and the Fame, with Brian Curtis, published in 2007. In 2019, he co-authored the book America's Game: The NFL at 100 with Randy O. Williams ands co-founded G.O.A.T. Fuel, Inc., an energy drink company where he serves as executive chair.

Just before the 2005 season, on September 5, 2005, Rice announced his retirement after 20 seasons. In August 2006, the 49ers announced that Rice would sign a contract with them, allowing him to retire as a member of the team where his NFL career began. On August 24, he officially retired as a 49er. A halftime ceremony honored him during the 49ers' match-up with the Seattle Seahawks on November 19, 2006.

First Ballot NFL Hall of Famer (2010), Black College Football Hall of Fame (2010), 3X Super Bowl champion (XXIII, XXIV, XXIX), Super Bowl MVP (XXIII), 2X NFL Offensive Player of the Year (1987, 1993), 10× First-team All-Pro (1986–1990, 1992–1996), Second-team All-Pro (2002), 13X Pro Bowl (1986–1996, 1998, 2002), 2X NFL receptions leader (1990, 1996), 6X NFL receiving yards leader (1986, 1989, 1990, 1993–1995), 6X NFL receiving touchdowns leader (1986, 1987, 1989–1991, 1993), NFL scoring leader (1987), NFL 1980s All-Decade Team, NFL 1990s All-Decade Team, NFL 75th Anniversary All-Time Team, NFL 100th Anniversary All-Time Team, Bert Bell Award (1987), PFWA All-Rookie Team (1985), San Francisco 49ers Hall of Fame, San Francisco 49ers No. 80 retired, Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame (2007), Bay Area Sports Hall of Famer (2007),and 2X First-team I-AA All-American (1983, 1984)

Career receptions: 1,549, Career receiving yards: 22,895, Career receiving yards in the playoffs: 2,245, Games with 100+ receiving yards: 76, Games with 100+ receiving yards in the playoffs: 8 (tied with Travis Kelce), Career receiving touchdowns: 197, Career receiving touchdowns in the playoffs: 22, Career total touchdowns: 208, Career total touchdowns in the playoffs: 22, Career all-purpose yards: 23,546, Career all-purpose yards in the playoffs: 2,289, ands Most career Super Bowl receptions: 33.