Jerry Rice To Retire with Niners

[nashtymavsfan13]

Rice to retire with 49ers

By GREG BEACHAM, AP Sports Writer
August 19, 2006

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Receiver Jerry Rice will retire as a member of the San Francisco 49ers next week.

Rice, who holds most of the significant NFL receiving records, won three Super Bowls during 16 years with the 49ers. He will sign a contract Thursday at the 49ers' training complex before making his retirement official, the club officially announced Saturday. The wideout will be honored again during halftime of the 49ers' game against the Seattle Seahawks on Nov. 19.

The deal for Rice's retirement with the 49ers was informally announced last month.

"This was my home for many years, and this is where so many memories were made," Rice said in a statement. "I thank the entire 49ers organization for the opportunity to stand on the field to say goodbye."

Rice, a 13-time Pro Bowl player, holds NFL records with 1,549 receptions for 22,895 yards and 197 touchdowns. He also leads the league with single-season receiving records of 1,848 yards and 22 touchdowns.

He played four seasons for the Oakland Raiders after San Francisco released him following the 2000 season, reaching the Super Bowl after the 2001 campaign, then suited up for 13 games with Seattle in 2004. He tried out in Denver before retiring from the Broncos last Sept. 3.

"Having Jerry retire as a member of the 49ers is extremely important to Denise and me," owner John York said of his wife, Denise DeBartolo York. "It is equally important to our fans and every former 49ers player that has ever worn the uniform."

Rice, who played at Mississippi Valley State and was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame earlier in the month, stirred a minor controversy in 49ers camp earlier in the summer.

On his Sirius satellite radio show, Rice said No. 1 draft pick Alex Smith is "not the quarterback of the future" for the 49ers, and called for those who drafted Smith to be fired. Rice softened his statements in subsequent broadcasts, and Smith said he didn't take offense.

[nashtymavsfan13]

This is good to hear. The greatest receiver, and maybe player, of all time retiring with the team he should.

[nashtymavsfan13]

Jerry Rice to retire again with 49ers

August 19, 2006

SANTA CLARA, California (Ticker) - One retirement was not good enough for Jerry Rice.

The San Francisco 49ers announced Saturday that Rice, the NFL's all-time leading receiver, will sign a contract with the club on Thursday and retire for good in November as a member of the team with which he spent his first 16 seasons.

Rice originally retired last September 5 with the Denver Broncos. Then 42, he had made the Broncos' 53-man roster but was not projected to be their third receiver, so he elected to call it quits.

"I'm excited to return to San Francisco to retire as a 49er," Rice said. "This was my home for many years and this is where so many memories were made. I thank the entire 49ers organization for the opportunity to stand on the field to say goodbye."

Rice possesses dozens of NFL records, including career receptions (1,549), receiving yards (22,895) and receiving touchdowns (197).

The 49ers said in a statement that Rice officially will retire on November 19, when the team faces the Seattle Seahawks, with whom he played his final NFL games in 2004. San Francisco will honor Rice during a halftime ceremony with a video montage, and the future Hall of Famer subsequently will give a speech.

"While Jerry is going to sign his contract on August 24 to retire as a 49er, it really will not be official until he celebrates in front of the fans on November 19," team owner John York said. "Having Jerry retire as a member of the 49ers is extremely important to (my wife) Denise and me, and it is equally important to our fans and every former 49ers player that has ever worn the uniform."

The 13-time Pro Bowl receiver was a member of three Super Bowl-winning teams with the 49ers. Rice set the NFL record for touchdowns in a season (22) in 1987 and receiving yards (1,848) eight years later. His string of 11 straight 1,000-yard receiving seasons ended in 1997, when he suffered an injury against Tampa Bay in the season's first game.

In Super Bowl XXIII in Miami, Rice captured MVP honors after catching 11 passes for 215 yards in the 49ers' dramatic 20-16 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals.

Rice played with the Oakland Raiders from 2001-04 before spending the final 13 games of the 2004 campaign with the Seahawks.

[Flacolaco]

Good news indeed

My father raised me a 49er fan, in Phoenix (before the cardinals got there).

I will always have a special place in my gay sports heart for Jerry Rice.