Jerry Rice on what made Joe Montana so great and his favorite Super Bowl memory
Yahoo Sports' Jason Fitz is joined by the Pro Football Hall of Famer on Radio Row at Super Bowl LVIII to discuss the best QB he’s ever played with, his performance in Super Bowl XXIII and so much more. Jerry Rice and Chanelle Houston joined Yahoo Sports on behalf of the FedEx-HBCU Student Ambassador Program.
Video Transcript
[MUSIC PLAYING]
JASON FITZ: Hanging out with Hall of Famer legend, Jerry Rice. Joining us on behalf of FedEx. Doing some cool things with FedEx and with HBCUs. And by the way, also taking the Lombardi Trophy to the NFL Experience. Something a lot about. Jerry.
JERRY RICE: Yeah.
JASON FITZ: We're going to play a card game.
JERRY RICE: Let's do it.
JASON FITZ: What's in the Cards?
JERRY RICE: All right.
JASON FITZ: So here's what we're going to do. I'm going to flip over the card. 7. We're going to play higher or lower. All you got to decide is the next card higher or lower.
JERRY RICE: Let's go-- let's go lower.
JASON FITZ: OK. He's going lower. If he gets it right, he gets an easy question. If he gets it wrong, it's a hard question. It is higher. Got it wrong. All right. That means I get to ask you a hard question. I'm going to pin you in right out of the gate.
JERRY RICE: Let's go.
JASON FITZ: Best quarterback you ever played with?
JERRY RICE: Joe Montana.
JASON FITZ: Didn't even think about it. No hesitation.
JERRY RICE: No. No, no, no, no.
JASON FITZ: That was an easy question. All right. Higher or lower on the next one?
JERRY RICE: Let's go lower.
JASON FITZ: What made Joe so great?
JERRY RICE: I think Joe was that competitor that came to play every ball game. And he was going to leave everything out there on the football field. Great leader. Great friend. Overall, I think he's the greatest football player ever.
JASON FITZ: What made y'all's chemistry so perfect?
JERRY RICE: Well, I always say this because I feel if Joe was a female, we would have dated back in the day because we had such great chemistry.
JASON FITZ: Favorite Super Bowl memory?
JERRY RICE: Favorite Super Bowl memory. I got so many of those. Probably my last Super Bowl against the San Diego Chargers. '95, I played that Super Bowl with a grade 3 separated shoulder.
JASON FITZ: Oh, my God.
JERRY RICE: And I was able to score. I think I scored three touchdowns in that game.
JASON FITZ: All right. We going higher or lower here?
JERRY RICE: Let's go lower.
JASON FITZ: So 9 is the card. He goes lower. He gets it right again. This one's a 5.
JERRY RICE: I'm just good. Well, I mean, I'm just good.
JASON FITZ: That's why he's Jerry Rice. OK. 11 receptions. 215 yards touchdown. That Super Bowl XXIII versus the Bengals. That was your stat line. Is that the best performance ever in Super Bowl history?
JERRY RICE: I don't-- I don't think so. I'm not sure.
JASON FITZ: Really?
JERRY RICE: Because I never thought about the records or anything like that. I had the opportunity to play the greatest game ever. So I always prepared a certain way. And I just wanted to go out there and entertain. And I never wanted to fail. So that little extra incentive that I needed. I'm not sure because I never keep up with all the stats or anything like that.
JASON FITZ: Did Super Bowls feel different for you?
JERRY RICE: They felt different because they were all important. It's important to win because you don't know if you're going to get the opportunity to get back.
JASON FITZ: So you're doing some incredible stuff obviously with FedEx. But part of that is about HBCUs. We want to bring your friend out. Your friend, Chanelle. Chanelle is coming out. Chanelle Houston. An HBCU.
JERRY RICE: Can I introduce her, please?
JASON FITZ: Yeah, please.
JERRY RICE: OK, Chanelle. OK. So she has her-- well, a degree in engineering technology. And just have the opportunity to meet her and share this moment with her is outstanding. And I thank FedEx for doing that.
CHANELLE HOUSTON: I do thank FedEx as well.
JASON FITZ: And so you're part of the ambassador program. Tell everybody a little bit about what that is.
CHANELLE HOUSTON: So the Ambassador Program just comes for eight students-- eight schools. It's 16 students in total. We all come together partnered by FedEx. And we all-- first, we have four seminars. In different seminars they teach us about leadership skills, personalizing our brand, interviews, or like just our resume building. Just to build our professional and our career skills for later on in life after school.
JASON FITZ: What makes HBCUs so important?
CHANELLE HOUSTON: HBCUs are so important to me I would say because they don't get as highlighted as other schools I would say. Because my school in particular is down in the valley, so not many people really know about where Mississippi Valley State is. I would have to say it's two hours from Jackson, Mississippi or two hours from Memphis. So just being here to highlight HBCUs and the importance of HBCUs is just a blessing.