<\/p>\n
BOULDER \u2013 Like any other college freshman, Brenden Rice is determined to carve his own path and make a name for himself.<\/p>\n
What makes his quest so different is he\u2019s the son of Hall of Famer Jerry Rice.<\/p>\n
No matter how many catches he makes, the Colorado receiver realizes comparisons to his dad will inevitably trail him.<\/p>\n
To make his own name, he has to step out from the shadow of his powerful last name.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have my first name Brenden,\u201d he said, \u201cand that\u2019s what it starts with every day.\u201d<\/p>\n
Brenden Rice, freshman receiver \u2013 that\u2019s how the coaching staff treats him. He\u2019s not Jerry Rice\u2019s kid. He\u2019s just another wideout who has the size ( 6-foot-3, 205 pounds ) and skills to be molded into something special.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want him to be him,\u201d said Colorado coach Karl Dorrell, whose 2-0 team is slated to be off this weekend after the Pac-12 canceled its game with Arizona State due to a number of positive COVID-19 cases with the Sun Devils. \u201cBrenden Rice is a really good player and he\u2019s got a chance to have his own great career and he\u2019s going to do it on his own merit.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s a very determined kid, a very competitive kid. So I\u2019m a Brenden Rice fan.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rice certainly had a memorable day at Stanford last weekend with two receptions for 38 yards, including a 34-yard touchdown catch on the most open play he could recall.<\/p>\n
This was how it unfolded: He and QB Sam Noyer sensed the cornerback was going to blitz off the edge. Noyer pointed down and Rice instantly understood.<\/p>\n
Then, Rice broke free \u2013 with no safety help over the top. Noyer lofted a pass, Rice easily grabbed it and glided into the end zone as the Buffaloes beat Stanford 35-32.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a good first touchdown,\u201d Rice said.<\/p>\n
One of the first to send him a congratulatory text was his father.<\/p>\n
It meant a lot.<\/p>\n
Growing up, he lived with his mom. He said his relationship with his father really began to bloom in high school.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s amazing, how we developed and how we got to know each other a little bit better,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n
Sorry dad. Ask him whom his game most resembles and he says Arizona Cardinals receiver DeAndre Hopkins. The younger Rice\u2019s regard for Hopkins was only enhanced last weekend with Hopkins\u2019 43-yard winning catch \u2013 in heavy traffic \u2013 from Kyler Murray against Buffalo on a play now dubbed \u201cHail Murray.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBig, physical dude that\u2019s able to run routes but at the same time you throw a jump ball up and he\u2019s going to go get it,\u201d Brenden Rice explained. \u201cI love that mentality.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s the same sort of mentality as his father, who played for two decades with the 49ers, Raiders, Seahawks and very briefly the Broncos. Jerry Rice holds the NFL records for career receptions (1,549), yards receiving (22,895) and total touchdowns (208).<\/p>\n
The elder Rice is renown for his work ethic and eye-hand coordination, which Brenden Rice got to experience up close. The father and son would frequently engage in staring contests.<\/p>\n
His father always won.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019d be like, \u2018You know why I always beat you? \u2026 I always had to look up in the air for that ball,\u2019\u201d the son recounted with a smile.<\/p>\n
The younger Rice wasn\u2019t always a receiver. He dabbled with running back and some defense as a kid. But he developed a fondness for being a wideout. He was a highly touted recruit out of Hamilton High School in Chandler, Arizona, where he had 123 receptions for 2,139 yards and 27 TDs.<\/p>\n
He even envisioned eclipsing his dad.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wanted to break those records,\u201d said Brenden Rice, whose father was a first-round pick by San Francisco in 1985 after a stellar career at Mississippi Valley State. \u201cI wanted to be the next legendary Rice.\u201d<\/p>\n
He\u2019s part of a talented receiving group at Colorado that includes Dimitri Stanley, K.D. Nixon, Maurice Bell, Daniel Arias and La\u2019Vontae Shenault, the brother of Jacksonville Jaguars receiver and former Buffs standout Laviska Shenault Jr.<\/p>\n
Rice is one of the few true freshman receivers that offensive coordinator Darrin Chiaverini has put his faith in to play a big role right away.<\/p>\n
\u201cBrenden really picked it up,\u201d said Chiaverini, who was instrumental in recruiting Rice to Boulder. \u201cHe has a bright future at CU.\u201d<\/p>\n
Partly because he has Dorrell and Chiaverini constantly watching his routes. Both were college receivers and then wideout coaches.<\/p>\n
Of course, there\u2019s always dad to lean on, too.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe talk about it all the time, about having his own legacy. He\u2019s doing that,\u201d Chiaverini said. \u201cBrenden is making a name for himself.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Freshman receiver coming off his first NCAA touchdown<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":50287,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[992,926,346],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-50286","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-college-sports","tag-football","tag-sports"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50286","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=50286"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50286\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/50287"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50286"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50286"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50286"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=50286"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}