Rice retires, NFL numbers dwindle
LUT WILLIAMS
BCSP Editor
NFL Numbers | Opening Day Rosters | Black College Players by School
The total number of black college players who will begin play this weekend on National Football League rosters will drop by five from last year but there's one glaring absentee.
There will be no Jerry Rice.
Rice, 42, who entered the league in 1985 out
of Mississippi Valley State and has redefined the wide receiver
position and rewritten nearly every offensive record he could, chose to hang up
his cleats this weekend rather than accept a role at the end of the Denver
Broncos' bench.
Rice's retirement brings a close to a career in the NFL that can only be compared to the likes of the great ones in annals of American sports Gretzky in the NHL, Jordan or Jabbar in the NBA. His productivity and longevity perhaps puts him in a class by himself.
During his 20 years in the league, including 16 glorious years with the San Francisco 49ers, he produced three Super Bowl championships, 14 1,000-yard receiving seasons, 207 touchdowns, 1,549 receptions including 17 seasons of 50 or more receptions. All told, Rice holds 38 NFL records, many of which have been doubled by him since he entered the league.
He follows in the footsteps of a host of other black college legends who defied the odds and rose from relative obscurity to give new meaning and flair to worn-out job descriptions. Rice became the standard by which all other receivers are judged just as the late Walter Payton of Jackson State did at running back or David "Deacon" Jones who played at South Carolina State and MVSU (then Mississippi Vocational) did for defensive ends. His place in NFL history and its Hall of Fame is secure.
But Rice is not the only veteran name missing from 2005 rosters. Fourteen-year defensive back Aeneas Williams out of Southern, who injured his knee and was out for the year last season while playing for St. Louis, did not enter camp and will likely retire. Williams, with 55 career interceptions, is considered one of the league's premier cornerbacks and will get Hall of Fame consideration. Thirteen-year veteran DB Ashley Ambrose (Mississippi Valley State) was cut by Kansas City this weekend as was 1995 first round pick, defensive end Hugh Douglas, by Philadelphia. With the departure of these stalwarts, former Texas Southern and now New York Giant DE Michael Strahan becomes the most experienced player with black college roots. Strahan is entering his 13th year with the Giants.
Among the new faces making opening day rosters was Fort Valley State rookie free agent RB Derrick Wimbush, who was impressive in the preseason with the Jacksonville Jaguars. Not making it past finals cutdowns Sunday were two players taken in this year's draft in the seventh round, Tuskegee WR Harry Williams let go by the New York Jets, and Grambling LB Kenneth Pettway released by Houston.
Former Howard LB Tracy White was let go by Seattle but picked Monday up by Jacksonville.
A total of 49 black college players will be on the rosters with the seven on the Jaguars topping the league. A league-high six hail from North Carolina A&T. The Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference has finally caught up with the Southwestern Athletic Conference in terms of the number of players in the league. Both now have 18.
© 2005 Azeez Communications, Inc.