All About Jerry Rice’s Son, College Football Star Brenden Rice

Jerry Rice’s son, Brenden Rice, continues his football legacy.

The NFL offensive legend has four children, and his two sons are Brenden and Jerry Rice Jr. they followed in his footsteps, each of them taking up football. While Jerry Jr. played for the University of California, Los Angeles, Brenden became a big star at rival University of Southern California.

The Trojans’ punter, who was born in 2002, has impressive stats, scoring more than 10 touchdowns during his senior season and proving he’s more than just the son of a Hall of Famer, he’s a star in his own right.

Brenden makes sure Jerry knows this too. “He’s always bragging to me about how he’s bigger and faster and all that,” Jerry told Fox News Digital in October 2023. Despite the teasing, Jerry said he loves rooting for his son.

“Just going there, supporting him, being there in the stands and watching him play on the football field is really exciting. It’s one of those things that I knew if he followed in my footsteps, the pressure that would be put on him, and he’s was willing to take it on,” Jerry added. “And I think he’s doing a fantastic job.”

Here’s everything you need to know about Jerry Rice’s son, Brenden Rice.

He was born in 2002

Jerry Rice with his son, USC Trojans’ Brenden Rice, after a spring football game at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on April 15, 2023.

Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty

Jerry and Djakarta Edwards welcomed their son, Brenden, on March 18, 2002. At the time, Brenden’s father was married to his first wife, Jacqueline Bernice Mitchell.

Brenden is the only child of Jerry and Edwards, and Jerry remained married to Mitchell until their divorce in 2009. Ten years later, Jerry married his wife Latisha Pelayo.

Brenden has three siblings from the marriage of Jerry and Mitchell, Jerry Jr., Jacqui Bonet Rice and Jada Symone Rice, and one brother, Qualen, from his mother’s marriage to football coach Rick Cunningham.

Brenden had a strained relationship with Jerry for a while

Jerry Rice with his son, USC Trojans’ Brenden Rice, after a spring football game at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on April 15, 2023.

Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty

Brenden and Jerry’s relationship was strained for a while due to Jerry’s affair with Edwards. “I didn’t have that father figure for a long time and she really took on both roles,” Brenden said of his mother in a 2019 interview with Cronkite News. I am blessed to have her.”

The college football player talked about his first memory with Jerry when he was about 5 years old.

“We were in a hotel room and we were just staring at each other. He said to me: ‘You know why I can open my eyes for so long? Because when that ball is in the air, you have to keep your eyes open,’ said Brenden. ‘So I’d try to hit him with a staring contest all the time. It was so funny.”

Brenden continued that there was a time when they didn’t talk often, but now they talk a lot. “It’s really gone from ‘Yeah, we’re talking, but nothing too close’ to actually ‘Hey, what’s up’ anytime during the day,” Brenden told the outlet.

He started playing football at the age of 6

Jerry Rice’s son Brenden Rice of the USC Trojans celebrates with a teammate during the first half of an NCAA football game at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles on September 2, 2023.

Keith Birmingham/MediaNews Group/Pasadena Star-News/Getty

With his father in the football Hall of Fame, it’s no surprise that Brenden is devoted to the sport. “Football has honestly been my life,” he told Cronkite News in 2019. “I need that football. That football is mine.”

He started playing sports when he was 6 years old, and although his mother feared for his safety due to the risk of head injuries, Brenden’s passion for sports could not be tamed.

Although his famous last name has helped him along the way, Brenden said success isn’t always guaranteed. “Coaches in college thought I was too slow, too stiff,” Brenden told Cronkite News. “Even my best friend doubted me.”

Brenden began his college football career at Colorado

Jerry Rice’s son, Brenden Rice of the Colorado Buffaloes at Folsom Field on December 12, 2020 in Boulder, Colorado.

Matthew Stockman/Getty

When Brenden began his college football career in 2020, he played at the University of Colorado. He came to the team as a highly ranked high school prospect from his Arizona hometown of Chandler. During his time with the team, he played attack and even started in the bowling game.

Brenden left school to transfer to USC in January 2022.

He transferred to USC in 2022

Jerry Rice’s son, Brenden Rice, celebrates during the game between the Utah Utes and the USC Trojans on Oct. 21, 2023, at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

Brian Rothmuller/Icon Sportswire/Getty

Brenden decided to leave Colorado and go to the University of Southern California during his sophomore year. He wasn’t planning on transferring in 2021 — in fact, he was interested in staying in Boulder, but when USC coach Lincoln Riley came to Brenden with an offer, he knew he had to take it.

“I got a few more calls, but as soon as you heard the Lincoln call, you just had to go. Especially with USC and its big name. You have to come. You have to. Man, it was fast. I was shocked,” he told 247 Sports in March 2022.

Brenden followed in his father’s footsteps in a special advertising campaign

Left: Jerry Rice’s son Brenden Rice during the second half at Notre Dame Stadium on Oct. 14, 2023. Right: Seattle Seahawks’ Jerry Rice during a game against the San Francisco 49ers at Monster Park on Nov. 7, 2004.

Michael Reaves/Getty; Jed Jacobsohn/Getty

When Jerry was at the height of his career, he was the face of Breathe Right nasal strips. Decades later, Brenden is now the new face of the brand.

“I’m really happy and blessed to actually be able to come here and start this father-son tradition,” Brenden told PEOPLE in an exclusive interview from the set of the photo shoot, where he recreated his father’s original campaign photos.

“You see the first generation, you see the second generation. So now that his time inside the league is over, it’s like passing the torch,” he continued. “Now it’s my turn and I’m pleased to be able to build this partnership and maintain it within the Rice family.”

Modeling and football aren’t the only skills Jerry has passed on to his son — Brenden noted that he also learned important leadership lessons from his famous father. “There’s a lot that goes into leadership and being that role model and I feel like he’s presented himself as the perfect role model his whole career and his whole life,” Brenden told PEOPLE.

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Source: HIS Education