Tony Rice ( American football ) Tony Rice ( born September 5 , 1967 ) is a former professional American football player , playing quarterback in the Canadian Football League and World League of American Football . Rice is perhaps best remembered as the dynamic option quarterback of the University of Notre Dame ' s 1988 National Championship Team under coach Lou Holtz . Rice would play professional football for only three seasons for the Canadian Football League ' s Saskatchewan Roughriders and the Barcelona Dragons of the World League of American Football from 1990 to 1992 . He also played for Munich Thunder in the FLE ( Football League of Europe ) in 1994 . Recruitment and Proposition 48 . While growing up in Woodruff , South Carolina , Rice played high school football for Woodruff High School under Coach Willie Varner . Rice entered Notre Dame in 1986 and was the crown jewel in Holtz ' s first recruiting class . These incoming freshmen were also the first to be bound by the NCAA rules of Proposition 48 , which stated that in order to participate during his ( or her ) freshman year , an athlete must ( 1 ) be a high school graduate ; ( 2 ) have a high school grade point average of 2 . 0 in an 11 - course core curriculum ; and ( 3 ) have scored 700 ( out of a possible 1600 ) on the SAT or 17 ( out of a possible 36 ) on the ACT . If he ( or she ) failed to meet those standards , the athlete would not be allowed to play or practice with a college team his ( or her ) freshman year . Because Rice failed to meet the required 700 on his SAT ( he scored a 690 ) , he was forced to sit out the entire 1986 season . Even with future NFL quarterback Steve Beuerlein leading the offense , the team struggled to a 5 - 6 record . In 1987 , Tony Rice became the starting quarterback for Notre Dame following an injury to Terry Andrysiak . The Irish would finish the season 8 - 4 and earn a berth to the Cotton Bowl Classic , where they would endure a 35 - 10 loss to 13th - ranked Texas A & M in a game where Rice played only sparingly . Despite the loss , the team showed dramatic improvement and would finish the year ranked # 17 — the team ' s first Top - 25 finish since 1980 . The elusive , strong - armed Rice was a perfect fit for Holtz ' s ball control , run - oriented offense . Despite standing only 6 ' 1 " 200 lbs . , he had great speed ( 4 . 48 40 yard dash time ) for a quarterback , and tremendous strength , which made him an incredibly difficult player to contain . For the year he would finish with over 1 , 000 yards of total offense and 8 total TDs ( 663 yards , 1 TD passing and 337 yards , 7 TDs rushing ) . Matchup versus USC ' 87 . Tony Rice ' s first encounter with Southern Cal happened to be only his second start of his young career on October 24 , 1987 as the sophomore quarterback caught the # 18 ranked USC Trojans ( 8 - 4 ) by surprise , 26 - 15 . For Rice , this signature win was a foreshawdowing of events yet to come , as his 26 yard TD run lifted the Irish to a 10 - 7 lead with 2 : 55 left in the first half . He finished the contest rushing 9 times for 56 yards and completing 3 - of - 7 passes for 47 yards . Matchup versus Alabama ' 87 . Notre Dame completely caught No . 10 Alabama off guard , 37 - 6 , on November 14 as Tony Rice directed an option offense that gained 352 yards on the ground which offset the effort of the Crimson Tide ' s star running back Bobby Humphrey — who gained 94 yards on 14 rushes himself . With the score tied at 3 - 3 after the first quarter , Rice answered with a 12 yard touchdown run and a 3 - yard TD pass to tight end Andy Heck in the second quarter . Notre Dame led 20 - 6 at the half . Irish running backs ' Mark Green and Ricky Watters ended the game with 74 and 75 yard TD runs respectively to complete the rout . Rice wound up completing 5 of 8 passes for 117 yards while rushing 9 times for 30 yards during the contest . The 1988 national championship season . 1988 would see Notre Dame claim their first National Championship in 11 years . For the season the team would go a perfect 12 - 0 en route to claiming an NCAA - record eighth AP National Championship since the poll began in 1936 . The season would feature dramatic wins over top ranked opponents including Michigan , USC , and Miami in addition to featuring several future NFL players including Raghib " Rocket " Ismail , Ricky Watters , Chris Zorich , Derek Brown , Todd Lyght , Pat Terrell , Tony Brooks , Anthony Johnson , Andy Heck , Tim Grunhard and Rodney Culver . In all , 21 of the 22 starters on the 1988 National Championship team would go on to play in the NFL , the lone exception being Tony Rice . Matchup versus Miami ' 88 . Miami was No . 1 and Notre Dame No . 4 when they met in South Bend , Ind . on October 15 . The Irish held a 31 - 21 lead in the third quarter , but the Hurricanes rallied to within 31 - 30 on a touchdown with 45 seconds left in the game . The Canes went for the two - point conversion and missed as Notre Dame ' s safety Pat Terrell batted down the ball . The loss snapped a 36 - game , regular season winning streak for the Miami Hurricanes . Rice , who opened up the scoring with a 7 yard touchdown run in the first quarter , completed 8 of 16 passes for 195 yards — which included a 9 yard TD pass to running back Tony Banks in the second quarter . Matchup versus Penn State ' 88 . No . 1 Notre Dame ran its record to a perfect 10 - 0 by defeating Penn State , 21 - 3 , at home on November 19 . In doing so , Tony Rice performed at a high level while completing the longest pass play of his career — a 67 yarder to flanker Raghib " Rocket " Ismail for a touchdown . Rice went 10 - of - 18 passing for 181 yards while rushing 15 times for a game - high 84 yards and a touchdown . The game was never in jeopardy as the Irish had built a 14 - 0 lead in the 2nd quarter . Matchup versus USC ' 88 . A week later , # 1 Notre Dame visited # 2 USC at the L . A . Coliseum . The USC team led by All - American and future Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award winner Rodney Peete was 10 - 0 and a truly formidable team . Entering the game Peete was leading the nation in passing and was a frontrunner for the Heisman Trophy . Notre Dame would additionally be playing without leading pass catcher Ricky Watters , and leading rusher Tony Brooks , both of whom were suspended for arriving late to team meetings . Tony Rice would have a spectacular day , including a breathtaking 65 yard TD run on the Irish ' s first drive . The Irish would win the game handily 27 - 10 and propel them into the National Championship game . Rice finished the contest rushing 13 times for 86 yards and completing 5 of 9 passes for 91 yards against the Trojans . Fiesta Bowl . Coming into the 1989 Fiesta Bowl , Notre Dame coach Lou Holtz insisted that his team couldn ' t pass the ball against West Virginia . Tony Rice simply smiled and agreed . But by the end of the game he had outplayed Mountaineer quarterback Major Harris , who went down with an injury early in the game , by completing 7 of 11 passes for 213 yards and two touchdowns . Rice would finish the year with 1 , 176 yards and 8 TDs passing and 700 yards and 9 TDs rushing . Senior season , 1989 . Tony Rice entered his senior season with high expectations following all the successes from a year ago . Preseason ranked No . 2 Notre Dame faced a brutal schedule that included monster games against five ranked opponents . The Irish met resistance early from the state of Michigan as two Raghib " Rocket " Ismail kickoff returns for scores gave Notre Dame the upper hand in a 24 - 19 win over the Wolverines in Ann Arbor , Mich . on September 16 , 1989 . The next week , Michigan State was fiesty defensively as Notre Dame ' s running backs Ricky Watters and Anthony Johnson managed to find the endzone and lift the Irish past the Spartans , 21 - 13 . Notre Dame ' s next test came when the Irish traveled to face # 17 Air Force on October 14 in what became a shootout . Rice went 9 - of - 13 passing for 123 yards and rushed 14 times for 71 yards against the Falcons ' defense . He also threw a 27 yard TD pass to Johnson as the Irish had to overcome a strong performance from Air Force ' s explosive QB Dee Dowis who passed for 306 yards . Coach Lou Holtz ' s Notre Dame Fighting Irish got to 6 - 0 as they were ranked # 1 in the country . The Irish had to face USC at home on October 21 in what turned into sloppy play by both sides . Notre Dame had to overcome five turnovers as they were able to accomplish this feat , winning , 28 - 24 , thanks to a fine effort from the defense led by linebacker Chris Zorich . The Irish were down 17 - 7 at halftime . Rice scored on touchdown runs of 7 and 15 yards and finished with 99 yards on 18 carries . He also threw for 91 yards off 5 of 16 passing attempts . The season resumed as Rice directed Notre Dame ' s offense to 310 yards rushing in their October 28 matchup with Pittsburgh — a game the Irish easily won , 45 - 7 . He had 12 carries for 69 yards and went 1 - of - 7 passing for 29 yards against the Panthers . On November 18 , Notre Dame extended its record to 11 - 0 by knocking off # 17 Penn State , 34 - 23 , in what was a career day for Rice . The mobile quarterback had a career - high 141 rushing yards and completed 5 of 10 passes for 47 yards as the Irish finished with 425 yards on the ground against the Nittany Lions . At this point , Notre Dame ' s winning streak had run up to a total of 23 games . Matchup with Miami ' 89 . On November 7 , # 1 Notre Dame had to travel to face 7th - ranked Miami ( 10 - 1 ) . The Irish had survived a very tough schedule having gone 11 - 0 along the way , but the next task was daunting . Miami grabbed a 17 - 10 halftime lead and set the tone with its fine defensive play . In the end , Miami ' s defensive tackle Cortez Kennedy , with help from his teammates , shut down Notre Dame ' s running attack as Rice was limited to 50 yards on 20 carries . He didn ' t have much success throwing the ball either as Rice finished 7 - of - 15 for 106 yards passing . It was a tough day for the Irish as they lost the rematch , 27 - 10 . Matchup with # 1 Colorado ( Orange Bowl ) . 4th - ranked Notre Dame had to face # 1 Colorado ( 11 - 0 ) in the Orange Bowl following their loss to Miami in late November . For Tony Rice and Co . , it was their opportunity for redemption — as the Irish took full advantage of it . QB Darian Hagan and Colorado started off with success offensively but experienced breakdowns inside and near the redzone . The Buffaloes missed a chip shot field goal , lost a fumble , and were stopped at the one yard line off a successful goal line stand by Stan Smagala and the rest of the Irish defense . This led to a 0 - 0 score at halftime . The 2nd half opened up with Rice directing a 69 yard drive in seven plays as fullback Anthony Johnson punched it in from the 2 - yard line giving Notre Dame a 7 - 0 lead . Raghib " Rocket " Ismail , filling in at tailback for an injured Ricky Watters , broke away for a 36 yard TD run to push Notre Dame ' s lead to 14 - 0 with 7 : 19 left in the third quarter . The Irish won the game , 21 - 6 . Rice was sharp as he completed 5 of 9 passes for 99 yards and rushed 14 times for 50 yards . He completed a very successful 12 - 1 season as Notre Dame was ranked # 2 by the AP College Football Poll after the win over Colorado . Conclusion to Sr . year and career at Notre Dame . Tony Rice ' s record as a starting quarterback for the University of Notre Dame was an impressive 31 - 4 that included a national championship and almost another . Rice won the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award on December 1 , 1989 and finished fourth in the 1989 Heisman Trophy voting a day later . He also made the 1989 College Football All - America Team as a quarterback . His regular season statistics had him completing 68 - of - 137 passes for 1 , 122 yards and two TDs and rushing 174 times for 884 yards and 7 TDs in 12 games . He had a longest run of 38 yards while his longest pass play of the season covered 52 yards — a deep post to Raghib Ismail . Professional career . Tony Rice was passed up by the NFL Draft on April 22 – 23 , 1990 . He opted for the CFL after NFL teams shied away from him because of his slight , 6 - foot - 1 build and his success as a runner , not a passer . In June 1990 , Rice was working with the Saskatchewan Roughriders during training camp as the third - string quarterback behind starter Kent Austin . The Roughriders finished 9 - 9 in his only season in the CFL as Rice served in mop - up duty while the starting quarterback Austin threw for 4 , 604 yards . After his short stint with the Roughriders of the CFL , Rice began checking other options . In February 1991 , he was drafted in the second round by the Barcelona Dragons of the World League of American Football , which played its football season in the spring beginning in March . Rice ' s first season with Barcelona was very successful as the Dragons finished 9 - 3 and reached the championship game that was known as the " World Bowl ' 91 . " Rice ' s Dragons fell to the London Monarchs , 21 - 0 . He had nearly equal playing time with the team ' s starter , Scott Erney , as Rice went 69 - of - 129 passing for 915 yards with 1 TD and 3 interceptions for the season . He had 33 rushes for 210 yards and 2 TDs in his first year with the new football league . The next season was not as prosperous for Barcelona as the team finished at 5 - 6 . The Sacramento Surge knocked them out of the playoffs , 17 - 15 , on May 31 , 1992 . As the backup quarterback , Rice was 22 - of - 57 passing for 313 yards and had 102 yards rushing and a touchdown for the 1992 season . The World League of American Football ceased its operations following the 1992 season . Rice joined the Munich Thunder of the Football League of Europe in Munich , Germany in 1994 and played quarterback for one season there as this was his last go around with professional football . Personal . Tony Rice and his ex - wife Felicia have five children — Alex , Madeline , Anthony , Michael , and Jasmine . He works at Hub International as a risk manager and works closely with Pop Warner teams making visits and giving speeches and is active in the D . A . R . E . program , fighting to keep kids off drugs .