San Francisco 49ers all-time Mount Rushmore

San Francisco 49ers Mount Rushmore: WR Jerry Rice (1985-2000)

It takes a lot to top one of the best quarterbacks who ever lived on the San Francisco 49ers’ all-time Mount Rushmore, but Jerry Rice did it. The unquestioned best wide receiver ever, Rice went on to set NFL records that have stood the test of time.

The 49ers took Rice in the first round of the 1985 Draft, trading ahead of the Dallas Cowboys to get him 16th overall. There is no telling how much history could have changed if Rice was a Cowboy, but the 49ers struck gold with the pick of Rice.

Rice’s coming out party came in 1986 when he caught 86 passes for 1,570 yards and 15 touchdowns, leading the league in the latter two categories. That would be a frequent occurrence for Rice, who was one of the NFL’s most successful wide receivers for the better part of two decades.

Rice retired as the NFL’s all-time leader in receptions (1,549), receiving yards (22,895) and touchdowns (197), marks that will be very difficult to beat even in today’s passing-rich game. The 49ers reaped most of the rewards of that work as Rice was a key cog on the team’s last three Super Bowl champions, ensuring his spot on the franchise’s all-time Mount Rushmore.