The San Francisco 49ers have won just 10 games over the past two seasons, but Hall of Fame wide receiver Jerry Rice urged fans during a KNBR interview on Friday to remain patient. Rice is taking part in the American Century Championship celebrity golf tournament this week at Edgewood Tahoe.
Rice, like the 49ers, knows the upcoming season hinges on the success of quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, who is returning from the torn ACL suffered in September.
"Be patient," Rice said on the "Murph and Mac" show. "Jimmy G is back, and we've just got to keep him upright, keep him healthy and stuff like that. I think Kyle Shanahan, John Lynch, they have brought back that tradition, that work ethic, that standard. But now these players have got to take that to the football field."
The 49ers won just four games last year after losing Garoppolo during a Week 3 game in Kansas City. The team hopes to finally turn the corner this year and bring the tradition of winning back to the organization.
"You've got to remember this: We lost the most important part of the puzzle last year, Jimmy G," Rice said. "And the Niners still had some fight in them. But once you get this guy back on the field, and I'm sure everybody is going to rally around him, and hopefully it's a great season. But you've got to be patient. Let's take one game at a time, not say we're going to go 8-and-8 or something like that. Let's just take one game at a time."
Rice believes one of the positions that needs to rally around Garoppolo and come up big for the offense is the wide receivers group. The team has significant potential at the position but lacks a great deal of experience. Only two wideouts on the roster have more than two years of NFL experience.
The 49ers bolstered the position by using two draft picks to select Deebo Samuel and Jalen Hurd. They will join players like veteran Marquise Goodwin and second-year receiver Dante Pettis. Many feel the team lacks a true No. 1 receiver but Rice believes head coach Kyle Shanahan can still get the group to produce.
"I think it's just going to be a combination of guys," Rice explained. "They're all going to have to rally together and they're going to have to push each other. I always wanted that one guy; that Randy Moss, that Terrell Owens, Larry Fitzgerald, something like that. But it's just going to be that combination of guys, and they're going to have to get the job done."
You can listen to the entire conversation with Rice below.