Go Long!: My Journey Beyond the Game and the Fame

Jerry Rice has been called the best pro football player ever. In spite of Rice’s legendary gridiron skills, or even his ability to transform himself into an instant ballroom-dance prodigy on ABC’s hit TV series Dancing with the Stars, the surprising fact is, a guy like Jerry Rice is made and not just born. In Go Long! Rice shares the inspirational lessons and empowering practices that have helped him attain success, both on the football field and off. Through the ups and downs of Rice’s life and incomparable career, we discover how self-motivation, determination, and humility are the keys to achievement and true fulfillment.

It’s been a long journey for Jerry Rice, from his childhood in Starkville, Mississippi, to a certain berth in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. As a kid, he was always working toward something, even if he wasn’t sure what it was. Rice honed his hand-eye coordination by catching airborne bricks tossed by his siblings while on the job with their bricklayer father, and he ran — everywhere. From these humble beginnings, Rice blazed a path to greatness in college and the NFL — a trip that was fueled by tireless effort and belief in a few simple principles, among them that achievement is a voyage, not a destination; that modesty and perseverance, not talent, are what determine how far you will go; and that everyone should strive to be a role model. Rice even demonstrates these rules in action, breaking down the greatest games from his stellar career.

Go Long! is an inspiring book by a living sports legend. More than that, however, it is the story of how Jerry Rice awakened the champion within, illustration how we can unlock the greatness within ourselves.

Jerry Rice attended the Mississippi Valley State University and was selected by the San Francisco 49ers in the first round of the 1985 NFL draft. In his twenty-year football career, he was elected Rookie of the Year (1985), was selected to the Pro Bowl thirteen times, won three Super Bowl rings (and was named the MVP of Super Bowl XXIII), and was chosen for the NFL’s 75th Anniversary and All-Time teams. Now a broadcast personality and commentator, he lives in California with his wife and their three children.

Brian Curtis is the author of Every Week a Season and The Men of March, as well as the co-author with Nick Saban of How Good Do You Want to Be? A former reporter for FOX Sports, he is a host and analyst on College Sports Television. He lives in New York with his wife, Tamara, and daughter, Emily.