This weekend in Santa Clara, Jerry Rice Jr. knows he's not just one of 41 players trying to make their mark on the San Francisco 49ers practice fields.
Rice Jr., the son of the 49ers Hall of Famer of the same name and position, still wants to be just one of the guys.
This is why he's not wearing his dad's jersey number at the team's rookie minicamp, which began Friday afternoon at the SAP Performace Facility.
"I got 83," he told reporters. "They asked me if I wanted the 80. I said, 'Not right now.'"
Rice Jr., who went undrafted and previously made appearances at the 49ers local pro day last month and the Baltimore Ravens rookie minicamp earlier this month, played collegiated at UCLA and UNLV.
"I'm my own person, my own individual," he said. "Obviously, I have his DNA too, so there's some similarities. But in the end I am Rice Jr., not Rice Sr., and it's time to make my own name."
Back to work! Time to grind these next three days #minicamp #49ers pic.twitter.com/4798tqLyjx — Jerry Rice Jr. (@JRtherealgoatJR) May 23, 2014
The young wideout said his famous father, arguably the NFL's greatest pass-catcher ever, told him to work hard this weekend.
Rice Jr. added that he would be happy to participate on special teams this weekend.
When coaches and teammates see him No. 83 running down or returning a punt, for example, maybe they'll forget his last time.
The extra attention hasn't bothered Rice Jr., however.
"Everybody has been respectful," he said. "Everybody is in their own zone and reviewing the playbook.
"This environment's always been good for me."
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