The NFL offensive legend has four children, and his two sons Brenden and Jerry Rice Jr. followed in his footsteps, each taking to football. Brenden has emerged as a standout wide receiver at the competing University of Southern California, while Jerry Jr. was a player for the University of California Los Angeles. He officially went pro when he was selected by the Los Angeles Chargers in the 2024 NFL Draft.

The emerging NFL player, who was born in 2002, has impressive statistics, scoring more than 10 touchdowns during his senior season and proving that he is more than just the son of a Hall of Fame player, but a star in his own right.

Brenden makes sure Jerry knows it, too. “He’s always bragging to me about being bigger, faster and all of that,” Jerry told Fox News Digital in October 2023. Despite the teasing, Jerry shared that he loves cheering on his son.

“Just going there, supporting him, being there in the stands and watching him perform on the football field is really exciting,” he added.

Here’s everything to know about Brenden Rice.

He was born in 2002

Jerry and Djakarta Edwards welcomed their son Brenden on March 18, 2002. At the time, Brenden’s father was married to his first wife, Jacqueline Bernice Mitchell.

Brenden is the only child of Jerry and Edwards, and Jerry stayed married to Mitchell until their divorce in 2009. Ten years later, Jerry married his wife Latisha Pelayo.

Brenden has three siblings from Jerry and Mitchell’s marriage, Jerry Jr., Jacqui Bonet Rice and Jada Symone Rice, and one brother, Qualen, from his mother’s marriage to football coach Rick Cunningham.

He had a strained relationship with Jerry for some time

Brenden and Jerry’s relationship was strained for a while because of Jerry’s affair with Edwards. “I did not have that father figure for a long period of time and she truly took over both roles,” Brenden said of his mother in a 2019 Cronkite News interview. “That is what I needed to go ahead and become the person I wanted to become in the long term and I am truly blessed to have her.”

The college football player spoke about his first memory with Jerry from when he was about 5 years old.

“We were in a hotel room, and we were just staring at each other. He said to me, ‘You know why I can open my eyes for so long? Because when that ball is in the air, you have to keep your eyes open,’ ” Brenden recounted. “So I would try to hit him with the staring contest all the time. It was so funny.”

Brenden continued that there was a time when they didn’t speak often, but now they talk a lot. “It truly has gone from, ‘Yeah we talk but nothing too close’ to actually being, ‘Hey, what’s up’ anytime throughout the day,” Brenden told the outlet.

He started playing football at 6 years old

With a father in the football Hall of Fame, it’s no surprise that Brenden is committed to the sport.

“Football has honestly been life to me,” he told Cronkite News in 2019. “I need that football. That football is mine.”

He began playing the sport when he was 6 years old, and though his mother feared for his safety because of the risk of head injuries, Brenden’s passion for the sport couldn’t be tamed.

While his famous last name has helped along the way, Brenden said he hasn’t always been guaranteed success. “College coaches thought I was too slow, too stiff,” Brenden told Cronkite News. “Even my best friend doubted me.”

He started his college football career in Colorado