“Faster Than You Dad”: Legend Jerry Rice Gives Subtle Push to Son Brenden’s NFL Draft

What better shoutout before the NFL Draft than getting words of appraisal from one’s dad, a legend himself? Brenden Rice has been lucky enough to have Hall of Famer dad, Jerry Rice, as his biggest pillar of support. The former NFL wide receiver-turned-on-air analyst Rice gave a bite about his son. To everyone’s surprise, he could not deny that his son was better than he was in the gridiron.

The legend chose to dissect Brenden’s strengths, which will be a push now that his life has taken an important turn. The Jerry vs. Brenden debaters, where are you at?

Jerry holds Brenden in a lofty position

Now that Brenden stands at a crucial juncture in his life, having played well for the USC Trojans last season, he is termed the “solid vertical X receiver in the NFL” by the B/R NFL Scouting Department. However, his father’s kind words beat them all. Brenden posted a video of Jerry with the caption, “A message from Pops,” where the legend starts with, “My name is Jerry Rice. The thing about Brenden now, I think has more confidence, he thinks he can get the job done. Brenden is always trash-talking me (laughs) He says I’m bigger than you Dad i’m faster than you Dad.”

There follows a stamp of approval from Jerry as the Hall of Famer’s statement echoed confidently, “And to be honest with you he is bigger, faster. I think he can do it all”. Considering the father-son’s dash record, Brenden is faster, clocking in 4.5 seconds, while Jerry’s time was 4.6 seconds. Even though the dad seems confident about his son now, the situation was different a month back. 

Father-son’s leg-pulling session

After the star receiver’s impressive feat at the 40-yard dash in the NFL Combine, Brenden ran routes and showed off his hands with a tough shoestring catch on the sideline. Undoubtedly, Jerry found a moment to feel proud of his son. However, he chose to pull Brenden’s leg, which added a touch of criticism to his performance. 

Jerry joined a group of NFL analysts reporting his son’s live action. Alluding to his son’s not getting both his feet down, the critical father commented, “He’s gotta drag that back foot.” Instead of taking offense in his father’s commentary, Brenden too weighed in and came with a jab in reply, saying, “Pops a hater. I got two feet in.” With the Jerry vs. Brenden analysis reigning in fans’ minds, it is important to note that Brenden possesses different abilities.  

Turning down Jerry’s critique about him, Brenden has shown a strong start, having five games with 300-plus passing yards in the last season. However, he does consider his father’s viewpoint and has promised to improve his starting speed to carry the Jerry Rice legacy forward.