Small college receiver breaks Rice’s record
Daniel Passafiume was feeling the effects Sunday of the greatest football game he’s ever played. His body ached and the pinkie on his left hand was swollen to about three times its normal size.
Hey, passing Jerry Rice in the NCAA record book is hard work.
Passafiume, a receiver for Division III Hanover College in Indiana, caught 25 passes Saturday to break a record that was shared by Rice, the former San Francisco 49ers star.
“I’m really beat up,” Passafiume said in a phone interview from his dorm room.
And really thrilled.
“Jerry Rice, that’s just crazy,” he said. “I’m still shocked.”
Rice, the NFL’s career leader in touchdowns, receptions and yards receiving, set the previous NCAA all-division record for catches in a game with 24 in 1983 for Mississippi Valley State against Southern University.
Chas Gessner tied it in 2002 for Brown against Rhode Island.
Passafiume knew he had set the school record with his 19th catch in the third quarter because it was announced in the stadium. But not until after the game did Hanover coach Joe Austin let the sophomore from Louisville, Ky., know he had passed an even more momentous mark.
“After the game Coach came up to me and said that it might have been an NCAA record. I said, ‘No way,”‘ he said.
Passafiume grabbed his 25th reception with about a minute and a half left in Hanover’s 42-28 loss to Franklin College in the season finale.
It came on a screen from quarterback C.J. Croft and gained about 8 yards, he said – and it ended his day with 153 yards.
“I got lit up on it,” said the 21-year-old Passafiume (pronounced Passa-fume).
“He could of gotten couple more,” Austin said.
SportingNews.com
11/17/9
