With four days until South Carolina football kicks off 2025 season, a look back at No. 4, Sidney Rice

South Carolina football will take the field for the first time in the 2025 season on August 31st when the Gamecocks take on the Virginia Tech Hokies in Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. That means kickoff is just four days away.

Several prominent players have worn the No. 4 during their South Carolina days. However, none stand quite as tall as wide receiver Sidney Rice.

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Rice, one of the greatest players in program history, has a remarkable story. Perhaps the most remarkable part of that story is the fact that it almost didn’t happen. The under-recruited Gaffney High School product considered playing basketball at Syracuse but elected to stay in the Palmetto State to play football for the Gamecocks.

The decision paid off, both for Rice and for South Carolina.

Following a redshirt in 2004, Rice burst onto the scene with one of the best receiver seasons ever from a freshman. In 2005, he logged 70 receptions for 1143 yards and 13 touchdowns. The 13 scores are still a program record, and no player in college football the past 20 seasons has caught a touchdown in each of his first eight games like Rice did.

The following year, the redshirt sophomore continued dominating. With 72 catches, 1090 yards, and 10 touchdowns, Rice is the only Gamecock to post at least 70 catches, at least 1000 yards, or at least 10 touchdowns in multiple seasons. He also hauled in five touchdowns against Florida Atlantic that season, a single-game record.

An easy choice as a two-time All-SEC player, Rice finished his career with 142 receptions, 2233 yards, and 23 touchdowns before declaring for the draft.

Despite playing just two years, Rice still owns a share of USC’s receiving touchdowns record (along with Alshon Jeffery). He also logged two of South Carolina’s top six single-season receiving totals. He is 11th in program history in receptions and sixth in yards. Rice trails only Alshon Jeffery in career 100-yard performances.

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Following his time with the Gamecocks, Rice earned second-round selection from the Minnesota Vikings in the 2007 NFL Draft. He spent seven years in the NFL before injuries derailed his career. He made a Pro Bowl in 2009 after posting over 1300 yards for the Vikings’ NFC Championship Game squad.

Brett Favre, his quarterback with the Minnesota Vikings that season, once commented that Rice was one of three former Gamecocks to be among his favorite teammates ever: “Three of the greatest receivers I’ve ever played with are from [South Carolina]…Sterling Sharpe, Robert Brooks, and Sidney Rice.”

Rice also won Super Bowl XLVIII with the Seattle Seahawks. He once posted 143 yards and three touchdowns in a playoff victory over the Dallas Cowboys.

The University of South Carolina Athletics Hall of Fame elected Rice in 2016. The state of South Carolina’s Athletics Hall of Fame also inducted Rice in 2022.

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