Former San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Jerry Rice is the all-time receiving yards leader by a significant margin with 22,895 yards, all-time reception leader with 1,549 catches, and all-time touchdown reception leader with 197. No player in NFL history has more than his 208 career all-purpose touchdowns or had more seasons of 1,000-or-more receiving yards than his 14.
The record list goes on, and on, and on.
Rice displays no shortage of confidence while discussing his NFL achievements. Yet, despite everything he accomplished in the NFL, there was some concern when in 2010, he awaited word on whether or not he would be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Unbelievable, right?
"I remember that I was sitting there and I was just waiting," Rice said Monday morning on the "Joe, Lo, and Dibs" show on 95.7 The Game. "It was almost like when I got drafted. It was the same thing because I just had that doubt and I didn't know exactly what was going to happen. And seriously, I didn't want to be let down.
"So you never know when you're going to get that call, but I was very fortunate to get that call with Emmitt Smith and some of my other inductees."
Rice was asked what about his game led him to believe he might not be inducted, which in the minds of experts and fans, would have been a shocker.
"I just felt like maybe I hadn't done enough because I felt like there was still more to come from me, and I still loved the game, and I played the game at a very high level," Rice explained. "It was only one direction I knew, and it was all about 100 percent. That was leading my teammates, being a good example during practice and also during the ballgames, and also off the football field. So I just felt like I had more to give.
"I was happy to get the call, and I remember I just burst out into tears because you just never know and you don't want to have that letdown just in case your name is not called."
You can listen to the entire conversation with Rice below.