New Chargers wide receiver Brenden Rice spoke to the media at rookie minicamp on Friday.
First, Rice spoke about his draft status and whether he was “frustrated” with falling as far as the seventh round:
It was very frustrating, the whole draft process. But, at the same time, it was a blessing because everything can be a blessing in disguise. I prayed to go to a team that really wanted me and God felt as though that the Los Angeles Chargers wanted me. It doesn’t matter how long it takes, I just wanted to get my foot in the door, be around a good group of people. I wanted to be in a room that I could go ahead and prove myself, doing the same things that I’ve been doing all my whole life, from Colorado to USC. Now, I’ve been chasing competition and I’ve always wanted to prove myself, time and time again. You can go ahead and be frustrated, but you have to look at it as a blessing.
Rice also talked about the emotions he felt during the Chargers’ draft call, which came as he was leaving a close friend’s funeral in Dallas.
It was very emotional. There was a lot going on — falling, having a whole family there Friday. I knew, no matter what, that I was going to take that flight the next morning. My agents were on me, but the thing is, that was my best friend. Just to be able to go ahead and sit there and be attentive and be into the funeral, as well as get the call later after the funeral, It was just a blessing from God because He allowed me to go ahead and mourn the death of my friend. Then, after that, go ahead and be happy. It was a glorious day.
Jerry Rice was “hot” on draft day regarding his son’s draft status, per Brenden’s account:
My Dad was hot [laughter]. The first words he said was, ‘Time to go to work.’ He said, ‘I will be with you every step of the way.’ He said, ‘Now, I’m going to be involved within all of your workouts from now on, and we have a lot of people to prove wrong, a lot of teams that go ahead.’ It’s going to be one hell of a story, that’s all that I’m going to say [laughter].
Rice also brought up his Hall of Fame father’s career when referencing his transition between quarterbacks. He views transitioning from Caleb Williams to Justin Herbert in the same vein as the “good luck” Jerry also had with quarterbacks in his career.
In contrast with his dad’s smooth route-running game, Rice views himself as a “physical” wide receiver at the top of his routes. He mentioned three names in trying to emulate their respective games: Davante Adams, Calvin Ridley, and Mike Evans.
On whether he can compete for a spot in the Chargers’ wide receiver rotation this year, Rice kept it short: “Without a doubt. Yes.”