Thinking of 49ers, Edelman has ‘Jerry Rice Hill’ to thank
When Julian Edelman faces his hometown team on Sunday, he’ll have a chance to show off for the old neighborhood. One resident in particular. Hall of Famer Jerry Rice — “Mr. Rice,” to Edelman — lived down the street from the Patriots receiver in Woodside, California, about a half-hour south of the San Francisco 49ers’ Candlestick Park home. Edelman dated Rice’s daughter, Jaqui, in high school and took her to the prom, but that’s not why he was shy around her father.
“He was so busy with football it wasn’t anything like me being able to ask any questions. I was too terrified of him because he was the G.O.A.T. and he was a god in our area,” the 2019 Super Bowl MVP said Friday of the 1989 Super Bowl MV Pas New England prepared to face the 49ers. “He’s definitely been an inspiration, for his work ethic and how seriously he took his craft.”
A 10- time All-Pro selection who is the NFL’s all-time leader in receptions, receiving yards and touchdowns, Rice was known not just for his physical skills but also for his grueling workouts. At 5-foot-10 — 4 inches shorter than Rice— Edelman figured hewould have to make his way in football with the latter.
So if Rice built his leg strength by running up a hill in a neighbor--
hood park, Edelman was going to climb the same route, a 2.5 to 3-mile incline known as “Jerry Rice Hill” that would leave the would-be football star vomiting.
“Anything that was hard or anything was ‘Jerry Rice something,’” Edelman explained. “It was folklore. It was known that Jerry Rice used to go out and run that hill, and everyone knew about his work ethic.”
Whatever Edelman is doing has been working.
The Kent State quarterback turned NFL receiver hooked up with Tom Brady for three 1,000-yard seasons. But it’s in the postseason that Edelman has truly excelled: His 118 playoff receptions for 1,442 yards are the most in NFL history except for oneman