Kenneth Earl Rice (September 14, 1939 – October 14, 2020) was an American professional football player who was an offensive tackle in the American Football League (AFL) for the Buffalo Bills, Oakland Raiders, and the

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member team of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The team p ...

. Rice played college football for the

Auburn Tigers The Auburn Tigers are the athletic teams representing Auburn University, a public four-year coeducational university located in Auburn, Alabama, United States. The Auburn Tigers compete in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Associat ...

, where he was named a two-time All-American.

Early years

Ken Rice was born in

Attapulgus, Georgia Attapulgus is a city in Decatur County, Georgia, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 454. The town's name is an Indian word meaning "Dogwood"; due to the abundance of attapulgite, which makes up the clay soil throu ...

on September 14, 1939, and moved to Bainbridge before high school. At Bainbridge High School, Rice played football, basketball, baseball, and took part in track and field. In track and field, Rice was a three-time state champion in shot put, a state champion in the

discus throw The discus throw (), also known as disc throw, is a track and field event in which an athlete throws a heavy disc—called a discus—in an attempt to mark a farther distance than their competitors. It is an ancient sport, as demonstrated by th ...

and participated in

relay race A relay race is a racing competition where members of a team take turns completing parts of racecourse or performing a certain action. Relay races take the form of professional races and amateur games. Relay races are common in running, oriente ...

s.Murphy, Mark.
Game of My Life Auburn Tigers: Memorable Stories of Tigers Football
'' Skyhorse Publishing, Inc. 2011. . Chapter 19. Rice received offers from FSU,

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

and

Georgia Tech The Georgia Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Georgia Tech or, in the state of Georgia, as Tech or The Institute, is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1885, it is part of ...

. Eventually, Rice chose to attend Auburn.

College career

Rice attended Auburn University from 1957 to 1960, playing for the

Tigers The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is the largest living cat species and a member of the genus ''Panthera''. It is most recognisable for its dark vertical stripes on orange fur with a white underside. An apex predator, it primarily preys on un ...

on both the offensive and defensive lines. As a sophomore in

1958 Events January * January 1 – The European Economic Community (EEC) comes into being. * January 3 – The West Indies Federation is formed. * January 4 ** Edmund Hillary's Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition completes the third ...

, Rice was named to the SEC's All-Sophomore Team as the Tigers posted a 9–0–1 record. Rice was named an All-American in

1959 Events January * January 1 - Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 - Lunar probe Luna 1 was the first man-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reached the vicinity of E ...

and was voted the best offensive lineman in the SEC. In his senior season, Rice was once again named an All-American and was once again voted the best offensive lineman in the SEC.Auburn Football 2015 Media Almanac
. auburntigers.com. Retrieved 20 August 2016. Rice was also voted the best defensive lineman in the conference that year. In 1992, Rice was elected into Auburn's Team of the Century by fans. Rice also lent his name to the Ken Rice Award, an annual award given to the best offensive lineman at Auburn.

Professional career

Rice was drafted in the first round in both the

1961 NFL Draft The 1961 National Football League draft took place at the Warwick Hotel in Philadelphia on December 27–28, 1960. The league would later hold an expansion draft for the Minnesota Vikings expansion franchise. This draft was also the first reg ...

and the

1961 AFL draft Because another league was in competition for the class of 1961 college stars, the American Football League draft for 1961 graduates was held in 1960, with a six-round telephone draft on November 21 and 22, that saw the Buffalo Bills select Aubu ...

.Boyles, Bob. Guido, Paul. ''The USA Today College Football Encyclopedia.'' Skyhorse Publishing Inc. 2009. pp. 135. Rice played for seven years for the Buffalo Bills, Oakland Raiders, and the

, playing in 79 games total. In

1961 Events January * January 3 ** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and consular relations with Cuba (Cuba–United States relations are restored in 2015). ** Aero Flight 311 (K ...

during his rookie season, he was selected to the 1961 AFL All-Star game. He was also named a second-team All-AFL lineman that season.Ken Rice
pro-football-reference.com. Retrieved 20 August 2016. In 1964, Rice was traded to the Oakland Raiders.Shmelter, Richard. ''The Raiders Encyclopedia: All Players, Coaches, Games and More through 2009-2010.'' McFarland, Incorporated Publishers. 2011. pp. 222. In 1966, the

drafted Rice from the Raiders during the 1966 AFL Expansion Draft."Dolphins Get 8 More in Draft." ''Associated Press.'' 19 January 1966.Nogle, Kevin
Miami Dolphins Historical Perspective Part 1 - 1965 and 1966
18 May 2013. Retrieved 20 August 2016. Rice retired from football after the 1967 season due to a back injury.Former Auburn Player Ken Rice Named Walter Gilbert Award Recipient
. auburntigers.com. 22 October 2010. Retrieved 20 August 2016. He was inducted into the

Georgia Sports Hall of Fame The Georgia Sports Hall of Fame is located in Macon, Georgia. It is the largest state sports hall of fame in the United States at . Exhibitions The Hall of Fame houses over of exhibit space broken down into sections including Hall of Fame Induc ...

in 1989.Ken Rice
Georgia Sports Hall of Fame. Retrieved 20 August 2016.

Personal life

Rice resided in Big Canoe, Georgia, where he had been involved in

real estate development Real estate development, or property development, is a business process, encompassing activities that range from the renovation and re-lease of existing buildings to the purchase of raw land and the sale of developed land or parcels to other ...

since the early 1970s. Accolades not new to Rice
bigcanoenews.com. 26 November 2007. Retrieved 20 August 2016.
prweb.com. 2 April 2014. Retrieved 4 June 2016. Rice met Billie Ann Perrin while attending Auburn and the two married on June 20, 1959. The couple purchased the summit of

Mount Oglethorpe Mount Oglethorpe is a mountain located in Pickens County, Georgia, United States. The southernmost peak in the Blue Ridge Mountains, the mountain has an elevation of , making it the highest point in Pickens County, and the Atlanta Metropolitan A ...

, the original southern terminus of the

Appalachian Trail The Appalachian Trail (also called the A.T.), is a hiking trail in the Eastern United States, extending almost between Springer Mountain in Georgia and Mount Katahdin in Maine, and passing through 14 states.Gailey, Chris (2006)"Appalachian ...

, in 1995, and opened the summit to the public in 2014.Tidwell, Wayne
Eagle’s Rest Park atop Mt. Oglethorpe marks its second year
Big Canoe News. 30 November 2015. Retrieved 4 June 2016. Billie Ann Rice died on June 7, 2014, at age 77.In Memoriam - Billie Ann Perrin Rice
bigcanoenews.com. 8 June 2014. Retrieved 20 August 2016.

References

External links

Ken Rice stats at NFL.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rice, Ken 1939 births 2020 deaths People from Bainbridge, Georgia All-American college football players Players of American football from Georgia (U.S. state) American football offensive tackles American football offensive guards Auburn Tigers football players Buffalo Bills players Oakland Raiders players Miami Dolphins players American Football League All-Star players American Football League players