As a rookie in 1985 he came to the 49ers at a muscular 208 pounds, but now he weighs 196. He is so lean that you wonder if he's sick. He likes to mess with his body fat, wants it to know that he is its master. For Rice, fat is a cornerback in man coverage with no safety in sight, a minor and ultimately irrelevant nuisance. Eschewing dietary fat, he got down to 189 a year or so ago, but the weight loss was too much. His starved body was literally eating up his muscles. His trainer ordered him to start eating things like ice cream. ''Under four percent body fat and I don't feel good,'' Rice says. ''I'm a health-food fanatic, but getting that low hurt my performance. I'm at 4.8 percent now, and I feel good.''
I did meet Rice once, but long before this article came out.
‘’I’m a health-food fanatic,
Definitely not me.......