Jerry Rice Angered Watching Son Brenden Fall to Seventh Round in NFL Draft

Tim Capurso | May 11, 2024

Mar 2, 2024; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Southern California wide receiver Brenden Rice (WO25) and his father Jerry / Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Pro Football Hall of Famer and three-time Super Bowl champion Jerry Rice was not pleased watching his son Brenden, a wide receiver for Colorado and USC, fall to the seventh round of the 2024 NFL draft last month, where he was selected by the Los Angeles Chargers.

Brenden Rice, during a press conference following Day 1 of 2024 rookie minicamp, told reporters that his father was "hot" seeing teams pass on his son, who was seen as a mid-round selection by some draft pundits.

"My dad was hot," Rice said. "Yeah. My dad was hot. First words he said was 'Time to go to work.' And he said, 'I will be with you every step of the way.'"

"He said, 'I'm going to be involved within all of your workouts from now on. And we got a lot of people to prove wrong, a lot of teams to go ahead and just-.' Man, it's going to be one hell of a story, that's all I'm going to say."

The fall in the draft only added to an already-emotional day for Rice, who attended the funeral of former Colorado teammate and best friend Keith Miller the day he was selected.

But Rice, who amassed 791 receiving yards and 12 touchdowns in 12 games with the Trojans in 2023, also sees the positives in his fall down the draft board.

"I'm in the best position possible to go ahead and make my mark on and make my own legacy," Rice said. "I went from Caleb Williams to Justin Herbert, and I'm in a room that's going to allow me to compete day in and day out."

Having Jerry Rice, a 13-time Pro Bowler and arguably the greatest receiver of all-time, in your ear certainly doesn't hurt, either.