Before he ever caught a pass in a Seahawks uniform, Jerry Rice did something his teammates had never seen before.
Every day in 2004, as Seattle receivers stretched and joked around, Rice would quietly lay his entire uniform on the ground — socks, tights, pads, jersey — and stare at it.
“Essentially, he’d say: I’ve got all my pieces,” recalled Jerheme Urban, Rice’s former teammate who shared the memory in The Athletic. “I’m going to go out and I’m going to look good, I’m going to feel good, and I’m going to have a great practice.”
It might have looked strange, but it summed up Rice’s genius: reverence for preparation and a professionalism that carried over to every endeavor.
The Ritual That Defined Jerry Rice
By the time Rice arrived in Seattle midway through the 2004 season, he was 42 years old, had played more than 20 NFL seasons, and owned nearly every receiving record imaginable. Yet he was still the first to meetings, still took notes, and still found ways to get better.
Urban said Rice treated every drill with purpose. He warmed up on the treadmill for 15 minutes before practice, then hit the ladder drills like a rookie trying to make the team.
“No one else laid their uniform out before practice,” Urban told The Athletic. “But it worked for him, and he stayed true to it.”
At a time when some younger Seahawks receivers quietly wondered why the team had added another veteran, Rice’s attitude quickly won them over.
“He had all the accolades, all the name recognition,” Urban told The Athletic. “but he was never above doing the little things to make him great.”
Lessons That Last
Rice’s stay in Seattle was brief — 11 games, 25 catches, 362 yards, and 3 touchdowns — before he retired at season’s end. But his impact on teammates lasted far longer.
Urban, who now coaches at Trinity University in Texas, still teaches his players the “reverence of preparation” he learned from Rice and shared with The Athletic. “If the consistency and preparation worked for Jerry Rice,” Urban said, “it should work for me.”
Rice’s method was about more than superstition. It was about control – knowing that excellence starts before the whistle blows. Whether it was folding his gear, checking his socks, or running extra routes, every motion was a promise to himself that he would be ready.
By season’s end, even the skeptical Seahawks had come around. When Rice offered to sign autographs for the locker room, everyone lined up — a final show of respect for a legend who never stopped acting like a pro.
A Lasting Standard in Seattle
For Seattle fans, Rice’s few months in 2004 were a blink, but they left a mark. His preparation routine, as simple as laying out a uniform, became a reminder of what greatness really looks like — details, discipline, and daily devotion to the craft.
And while new legacies are being carved out in Seattle, specifically wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba’s blazing fast start this season, the Seahawks might have a new legend being formed right in front of their eyes.
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This article was originally published on Heavy Sports
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