WATCH: Jerry Rice shows up at 49ers practice, decides he's going to participate
When the 49ers invited Jerry Rice to their practice facility on Monday, they probably weren't expecting the Hall of Famer to take the field and actually start practicing with the team, but that's exactly what happened.
For most 54-year-olds, trying to keep up with an NFL player during an NFL practice would probably lead to a heart attack, but that didn't happen to Rice, who made things look easy.
Well, he eventually made things look easy. First, he had to shake off the rust.
Yup, that's a false start for Jerry, but you can't really blame the guy, considering he hasn't played in the NFL since 2004.
After getting the false start out of his system, Rice started to run a few routes and catch some passes.
One more: 54-year old Jerry Rice still has sweet feet, doesn't look out of place at 49ers practice pic.twitter.com/AX3QdJSMtQ — David Lombardi (@LombardiHimself) August 14, 2017
Based on the footwork in that video, I'm pretty sure he could still be a possession receiver for the Jets.
Rice wasn't only catching passes, either. The Hall of Famer also took part in a few other drills.
As you can imagine, 49ers players were pretty pumped to have Rice out on the field with them.
"To have Jerry Rice out there just standing there in cleats -- it had to be cool for the receivers just to see that," safety Eric Reid told the Sacramento Bee. "I mean it was cool for me just watching it. It think it's huge."
Rice attended Monday's practice with fellow 49ers legend Steve Young.
Nice photo by The Chronicle's @Lea_Suzuki of Steve Young and Jerry Rice at this morning's practice. #49ers pic.twitter.com/XbIpBYkSOY — Eric Branch (@Eric_Branch) August 14, 2017
Both players were invited to the team's facility by general manager John Lynch and coach Kyle Shanahan. The two newcomers have been making it a point to bring 49ers legends back into the fold (For more on the positive changes that Lynch and Shanahan have pulled off, be sure to click here and check out Jason La Canfora's deep dive into 49ers training camp).
Rice spent 16 seasons in San Francisco, and by the time his career finished in 2004, he left the NFL as the league's all-time leading receiver in yards (22,895), receptions (1,549) and touchdowns (197), all records that he still holds. To that first record in perspective, no other receiver in NFL history even has 16,000 yards receiving.
Anyway, here's one more look at Rice's day with the 49ers. Seriously, Jets, you should call him.