At one time there was serious debate over who was
a better NFL receiver – Jerry Rice or Andre Rison.
Rice now is widely considered to be the greatest
wideout to ever play football, but Rison was that good
early in his career.
In his first five seasons, Rison led the league in
receptions four times.
The charismatic Flint native was featured in Sports
Illustrated, he caught a touchdown pass from Brett
Favre in Super Bowl XXXI, was named Pro Bowl MVP in
1994 and left Michigan State University as the school’s
all-time leader in pass receptions, touchdowns and
receiving yardage in 1989.
Rison’s list of accomplishments and awards could fill
a book, but he said his latest recognition is the most
fulfilling.
He will enter the Greater Flint Area Sports Hall of
Fame.
The official ceremony begins at 5:30 p.m. Dec. 3 in
the Genesys Conference and Banquet Center. Doors
open at 4:15 p.m.
“I’ve been All-Big Ten, All-American, All-Pro, All-NFL,
but this is better than all of them,” Rison said of entering
the Hall of Fame. “Because it’s where I’m from, it’s where
I dreamt about playing sports. It’s where I watched Eric
Turner, Rick Leach, and wanted to be like them. It’s
where I watched Charles Jones, Carl Banks, and Lonnie
Young. I wanted to be like those guys.”
Rison is well aware of the history in Flint area sports.
It floors him that he’s now within that circle of great
athletes who have hailed from his hometown.
“Just to have my name affiliated with the past great
Flint athletes makes me proud of all the hard work
and dedication that I applied as a youth,” Rison said.
“There’s nothing better than Flint-area sports. When I
was coming up, you could go across the country and
you couldn’t find a greater elementary, middle school or
high school athletic organization in the country.”
Rison graduated from Northwestern High School in
1985.
Not only did he play football, he was a star point
guard on the hardwood for the Wildcats.
He helped lead them to a 55-1 record and back-toback
Class A state titles in 1984 and 1985 on one of
Michigan’s toughest high school teams ever.
Longtime NBA players Glen Rice and Jeff Grayer
were Rison’s teammates.
After high school, Rison was a star in East Lansing,
where he broke numerous records at MSU. He helped
the Spartans win the Rose Bowl in 1988.
In 1989, Rison was drafted by the Indianapolis Colts with the 22nd overall pick in the NFL Draft.
He enjoyed a 12-year NFL career with the Colts,
Atlanta Falcons, Cleveland Browns, Jacksonville
Jaguars, Green Bay Packers, Kansas City Chiefs, and
the Oakland Raiders.
Rison scored 84 touchdowns and averaged 13.7
yards per catch throughout his stint in the NFL.
He also gathered 10,205 total yards from 743
receptions.
“What a fabulous career he had,” said Bob Burek, the
Greater Flint Area Sports Hall of Fame’s former president
and current board member. “I even had the opportunity
as an official to referee several of his basketball games,
and obviously football was the prime sport, but he wasn’t
a bad basketball player, and he certainly wasn’t bad in
track and field.
