Among the most prolific wide receivers of all time in the NFL, Jerry Rice spent his 20-year career making some of the most improbable grabs in NFL history. The current holder of the NFL records for receptions, yards, and touchdowns, Jerry Rice also has an impressive 14.8 yards per reception over his career, with a career-long reception of 96 yards from fellow NFL legend Joe Montana in 1988. His career statistical high-water marks go on and on, with some of the greatest individual seasons in the history of the sport.
Rice’s prolific career in the NFL earned him a long series of accolades, including a first-ballot Hall of Fame nod. His enshrinement in Canton in 2010 was considered a “no-brainer” for one of the greatest athletes in the history of his sport.
Jerry Lee Rice, Sr. is widely considered the greatest wide receiver in football history. His electric plays and all-world catches made him a first-ballot Hall of Famer. Rice made $35.2 million dollars in salary during his football career and his net worth as of December 2022 is estimated at $50 million.
Career Salary
Jerry Rice made $35,230,000 in 16 years of football with the San Francisco 49ers, from his 1985 debut to the end of the 2000 regular season. After 2000, he signed a four-year contract with the Oakland Raiders, who traded him 4 games into what would turn out to be his final season with the Seattle Seahawks. He made a total of $7.2 million on his final contract: $6.3 million from the Raiders and the remaining $873,529 of his final year’s deal was paid by the Seahawks.
Rice signed a one-year contract with the Denver Broncos after the 2004 season. He never played for the Broncos, however, so he only made $25,000 of that $790,000 salary, the guaranteed money on the contract. On September 5, 2005, Rice was released by the Denver Broncos and on August 21, 2006, he announced his retirement.
On September 20, 2010, Rice signed a ceremonial $1,985,806.00 contract with the San Francisco 49ers for one day, the day of his jersey retirement. No money was paid on the contract; its value was symbolic: 1985, Rice’s rookie season; 80, the number Rice wore for the 49ers, and 6 (2006), the year he made his retirement official. This symbolic contract allowed Rice to retire as a 49er, the team he was most associated with.
(source: spotrac.com)
Controversies
In 2015, Jerry Rice said that he used Stickum, a sticky substance that made gripping things easier, on his gloves during his early playing days and indicated that many other players did. After several other wide receivers of Rice’s era denied ever using Stickum on their gloves, Rice retracted his statement, claiming he misremembered and never used Stickum.
Stickum was banned from the NFL in 1981, so the admission could potentially have been a confession of breaking the rules. A similar controversy has appeared in professional baseball since 2020, with pitchers openly doctoring their throwing hands with sticky substances before an MLB crackdown during the 2022 season. However, it was never followed up on by the NFL.
Endorsements and Sponsorships
During his football career, Rice was a spokesperson for Gatorade, All Sport, and Visa, appearing in commercials for all three brands during all 16 seasons in which he donned a 49ers uniform. In 2002, he inked a two-year deal to support corporate uniform manufacturer Cintas. He has also appeared for Lay's brand snacks.
Rice worked as a color analyst for ESPN for two years from 2011 to 2013 but did not renew his contract with the sports media giant. He never seemed like a strong fit for the company and was overshadowed by other former players.
In 2022, Rice announced that he would become a brand ambassador for the real estate financing company Easyknock. Easyknock’s mortgage refi and sell-and-stay allow homeowners the flexibility to convert to renting or convert their home equity to cash to finance their next move.
Investment Income
Jerry Rice is a prolific real estate investor, a passion he shares with his son, Jerry Rice, Jr., a real estate broker in the San Francisco Bay Area. Rice Sr. is an avid investor in smart device technology for the home, and his home is a masterpiece of technological integration, being a $9 million “smart house” integrated mansion.
Though he does not have as much invested in cars as many other former NFL players, Rice does have a few supercars in his collection, most notably a classic 1970 Chevrolet Chevelle muscle car and a $690,000 Lamborghini Diablo, the legendary 1990s supercar made famous by its association with racing legend Mario Andretti, that competed side-by-side with the equally legendary Ferrari Testarossa for a place on boys’ bedroom walls.
Charity Work
Jerry Rice was the honorary chairman of the March of Dimes, the famous childhood illness charity begun by President Franklin D. Roosevelt after he was stricken with polio, during much of his football career, starting in 1992. Rice has continued to be associated with the March of Dimes since his career and they are a major beneficiary of his charitable foundation.
Celebrities tend to keep the exact amounts of their charity work private to keep something of a veil between their public and personal lives, but Rice has been a vocal supporter of the March of Dimes since early in his football career. He is also an avid golfer and has participated in many celebrity golf events for a wide variety of charities, both endorsed by the NFL and his own individual work.
As of 2022, Rice works with the American Red Cross as a brand ambassador for their blood donation services. During his playing career, he lent his name frequently to the United Way, an official charity partner of the NFL.
Summary
Jerry Rice is likely the greatest wide receiver in the history of football. His football career earned him a healthy total of $35.2 million dollars in salary. While he was selective in his playing days with his endorsements, he has been a prolific trader in real estate since the end of his playing career. Rice’s net worth as of December 2022 is $50 million, showing significant growth from his playing days as a professional football player. His gold jacket in 2010 was just the start of his next chapter.
