Friday, May 14, 2010

Rice DQ-ed

Jerry Rice was disqualified today because his caddie used a rangefinder. http://budurl.com/sevq. I'm disappointed for him and am not surprised at his comments. He took ownership for the error, "a rookie mistake that I made." I'm glad he didn't blame it on his caddie or say his caddie should have known better.

It also sounds like he's no longer going to play on the Nationwide Tour. "Because I can't commit to golf the way I want to, this is probably my last Nationwide Tour event," Rice said. "These guys, they're working their butts off and they deserve to be out here."

I worked with his agent for three months to find time to do our interview. I knew where each of them were by following their Twitter posts. During that time, he was going to the Super Bowl, going to a DeBartolo wedding, getting inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame, doing an event for Gillette, practicing for his first tournament, and I'm sure many other events that I didn't know about. I certainly understand why he doesn't have the time to commit to the game.

And he was well aware that he was taking another pro player's spot in the field. He wanted to do well because of it. As I said yesterday, I have no doubt if he had the time to commit to golf, he'd make the cut on the Nationwide Tour at some point. Remember that this is the guy that dropped so many balls in his rookie year and was seen crying in front of his bench after a game. He works hard and after speaking with him, I can see why he broke so many records on the NFL.

Jerry, I hope you finish this weekend and play as a celebrity.

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