49ers legend Jerry Rice had a hilarious response to Travis Kelce breaking his record

Former San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Jerry Rice walks on the field before the San Francisco 49ers NFL game against the Baltimore Ravens at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif., on Monday, Dec. 25, 2023.Former San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Jerry Rice walks on the field before the San Francisco 49ers NFL game against the Baltimore Ravens at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif., on Monday, Dec. 25, 2023.

MediaNews Group/East Bay Times v/MediaNews Group via Getty Images

As the San Francisco 49ers were warming up to face the Detroit Lions in the NFC title game, Niners legend Jerry Rice had one of his records broken in the AFC title game — and when asked about the potential record-breaker earlier this week, Rice seemed perfectly fine with losing his top spot.

Kansas City Chiefs star Travis Kelce passed Rice for the most receptions in the postseason in NFL history on Sunday. Rice caught 151 passes in 29 playoff games in his career, while Kelce’s nine-catch first half against the Ravens brought his playoff career total up to 154 (in 21 games).

Rice made an appearance on Bay Area sports radio station 95.7 The Game (KGMZ-FM) earlier this week and was asked about Kelce nearing his record, as well as Christian McCaffrey nearly topping his record for most touchdowns by a Niner in a single season — McCaffrey ended up with 21 touchdowns this season, falling just short of Rice’s 23-touchdown season in 1987.

Article continues below this ad

Rice told “Morning Roast” host Bonta Hill he “was going to be the first to congratulate” McCaffrey and said he would do the same with Kelce. Then, Rice responded to some apparent social media scorn.

“I go on social media and saw, ‘Jerry Rice is going to go complain about 17 football games or whatever and having so many opportunities in the playoffs on just little short routes and all that stuff,’” Rice said on Wednesday. “It doesn’t matter to me, baby. It’s OK. I’ve got plenty of records. You can’t break them all. You can’t break them all, baby. I’ll throw you a bone, I’ll throw you one or two. I’ll throw you a couple.”

While it isn’t clear who, exactly, was giving Rice the supposed grief, No. 80 really does have so many records that he may not have to worry about a few getting toppled. He’s still the career leader in receptions, receiving yards, receiving touchdowns, overall touchdowns and yards from scrimmage, just to name a few. He also still holds the playoff touchdown record (22), though Kelce caught his 19th on Sunday and may eventually catch or pass Rice.

Article continues below this ad

Rice had one final quip in the segment about the record, too: “I retired in 2005. Guess who they still talking about?”

Rice was at Levi’s Stadium on Sunday for the 49ers-Lions game, which is set to kickoff at 3:30 p.m. Pacific time.