Rice captured three Super Bowl rings as a wideout for the San Francisco 49ers, and also played briefly for the Oakland Raiders and Seattle Seahawks.

At the time of his retirement, he was the holder of 38 NFL records, a record in itself. Rice retired having scored the most touchdowns in NFL history (207), and holding virtually every significant career record for receivers, including receptions (1,549), yards receiving (22,895), all-purpose yards (23,540), touchdown receptions (197) and consecutive games with at least one catch (274). 

Rice attended Mississippi Valley State University, becoming a standout on the football team. He acquired the nickname World, because there wasn't a ball in the world he couldn't catch. In college, he was named an AP All-American. The school later named its football stadium Rice-Totten Stadium in honor of Rice and quarterback Willie Totten who threw Rice his many touchdown passes at Mississippi Valley State.

Rice won the NFL Most Valuable Player Award in 1987 by Pro Football Writers of America and was Super Bowl MVP in Super Bowl XXIII.  He was also selected for the Pro Bowl 13 times. Since retiring from football, Rice has won Dancing With the Stars and worked as a NFL analyst for ESPN.