Chargers’ Brenden Rice: Dad Jerry Rice wants me to prove teams wrong for passing on me

Chargers rookie wide receiver Brenden Rice was disappointed when he wasn’t drafted until the seventh round, but someone else was even more disappointed: Jerry Rice, Brenden’s father, who is widely considered to be the greatest wide receiver in NFL history.

Brenden said during the Chargers’ rookie minicamp that he found it “very frustrating” to hold out until the seventh round, but that his father was even more upset than he was.

“My dad was hot, my dad was hot,” he said. “The first words he said were: ‘It’s time to go to work, I will be with you every step of the way, I will be involved in all your training from now on, we have plenty of people to prove wrong .’ »

Brenden said Jerry told him to make the rest of the league regret abandoning him.

“He says, ‘Hell no, we’re going to take this to a different level.’ These guys are going to feel us,” Brenden Rice said.

Brenden said he watches film of his father all the time, but he thinks they are different as athletes and that he doesn’t necessarily model his game after his father’s. But he knew that early in Jerry’s career he was criticized for not being ready for the NFL and said he hoped he could be a better recruit than his father.

“I heard his rookie season in the NFL wasn’t good,” Brenden said of Jerry. “I have to surpass him.”