Guarding the greatest wide receiver in NFL history on a Sunday would be hard enough.
Imagine doing it in practice every day.
That's what Jerry Rice's 49ers teammates experienced for 16 seasons, and his luckier Raiders teammates for just parts of four. Army West Point tights end coach Matt Drinkall tweeted footage Saturday night of Rice in 1-on-1 drills against 49ers defensive backs.
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If you needed a 37-second clip to encapsulate how demoralizing it would've been to face Rice in practice, this is it.
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Rice set NFL records for receptions, receiving yards and combined TDs in 303 career games over 20 seasons. Whereas Rice's opponents had to play against him once a week, his teammates had the misfortune of lining up across from him multiple times per week.
San Francisco 49ers
The greatest receiver of all-time tormented teammates in practice from the very start of his career.
"We would have [1-on-1] drills in training camp (in '85), and it was amazing how dominant Jerry was in those practices," former 49ers coach George Seifert said of Rice's first training camp to the San Francisco Chronicle's Ron Kroichick in 2010, prior to the receiver's Pro Football Hall of Fame induction. "Our DBs all had great success as young players, but it almost put doubt in their minds. They'd probably be mad at me for telling this story, but that's the way it was. It took us a while to regroup. He was a force right off the bat."
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Rice, 57, ran routes at a 49ers practice three years ago. He might not have struck the same fear into defensive backs then as he did in the 80s, 90s and early 2000s, but Rice still looked plenty spry.
Even at his current age, I'm still not sure any DB would sign up to guard Rice 1-on-1 after watching practice footage from his heyday.