On June 4, 2001, after sixteen seasons and three championships, Super Bowls XXIII, XXIV and XXIX, San Francisco released Jerry Rice. The next day he agreed to a four-year contract with the Oakland Raiders.
Topps noted the move as it noted others, with a TRANSACTIONS card in the regular numbering of its 2001 set. Rice's is #48.
The card shows both teams at once. A Raiders shield sits in the upper corner and TRANSACTIONS runs down the side, but the photograph is from San Francisco: Rice in the 49ers' white jersey and gold pants, number 80, running, and a 49ers logo in the lower corner. His name is at the foot, Jerry RICE, inside a silver frame.
A Raiders shield above him, and the 49ers uniform still on.
He played four seasons for the Raiders. In 2004 Oakland traded him to Seattle; in 2005 he signed with Denver but never played a regular-season game there, and he announced his retirement on September 5, 2005. He finished with 1,549 receptions, 22,895 yards and 197 receiving touchdowns, and went into the Hall of Fame in 2010.
The other Raiders transaction cards in the set are Trace Armstrong and Charlie Garner.
