Jerry Rice Takes a Nationwide Flop

You just had to know the guy was in trouble when he couldn't beat Lawrence Taylor on something called Donald J. Trump's Pompous World of Golf.

I saw Jerry Rice taking on L.T., whose golf swing might be described as "primitive" on a good day, in a match made for television. L.T. was so bad, he was afraid to hit a driver, and instead resorted to three-iron tee shots.

Still, he found a way to dust Jerry in an episode of Trump's Golf Channel series.

Then Rice decided he'd play as a pro in this week's PGA Tour Nationwide event at the TPC Stonebrae in Hayward, California.

Note to Jerry:  If you can't dust guys on the celebrity tour, your chances are slim-to-none on the Nationwide and slim left the clubhouse.

Well, the one-time, fleet-footed 49er can be glad he made a lot of money playing football.

Rice opened Thursday at Stonebrae with a nifty 83, that's only 12-over for the first round and a mere 20 shots off the leader's pace, a 63 by Dicky Pride.

I also caught a glimpse of his "highlights" on SportsCenter and it was ugly at best.

There was Jerry flubbing bunker shots, missing three-footers, and generally making a mess of things.

Good news is his Riceness avoided the dreaded "shutout." He managed a solo birdie on a par five.

Bad news is his 255-yard driving average wouldn't put him near the top two on the LPGA Tour.

So this foray into professional golf is hopefully something Rice is doing as a lark.

He needs to go back on the celebrity tour to try and compete there.

As the PGA Tour's ad says, "These guys are good."

So are a lot of the guys on the Nationwide.

Yes, Jerry Rice was a great NFL receiver.

But the fact is, he couldn't crack the top six on coach Rick Christie's Division II University of Tampa golf team.

Sorry Jerry.