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Dave standing proud with the Gold Jerry |
| Last year, 1995, on opening weekend, I won tickets to our local theme park, Paramount's Great America, where they were having a 49ers fanfest with interactive games, displays of the Super Bowl trophies, etc. The 49ers' local training facility is about a mile away from the park and about 10 miles from where I live. Anyhow, the 49ers were having a contest for people who wanted to display their vehicles that were decorated with 49ers paint, decals, ornaments, etc. The guy that made the statues, a local artist named Bill Dufer, decorated his truck up and loaded the Rice and Young statues into it and entered the contest, which is where I saw the statue. After talking to Bill for awhile he indicated that they were for sale and I ended up buying the Rice statue for $1,500. |
This amazing statue is actual Jerry size |
| As a result of him entering the contest he and the others received an invitation to bring the statues and cars to Candlestick for the Buffalo Bills game. At half-time there was a presentation to former players and while this was going on all the cars drove around the inside of the park to display the autos. Since I bought the statue he was able to get me a ticket as well so he, his brother, and I went to the game. The tickets allowed us pregame and half-time on field access which was awesome. |
Look at the attention to detail on the Jersey |
| This is a one of a kind piece, it is designed by Bill from a photo of Rice's record breaking touchdown catch against the Raiders on the opening game of the 1994 season on Monday Night Football against the Raiders. The statue is made of laminated 2x2 redwood blocks. It was then carved down to size and shape. The only items not made of wood are the football, which he took a ball, cut it open and then filled it with wood, and the helmet, shoes, gloves, and wristbands. In total it ways close to 200 pounds with the base, which has a cement block under it with a metal bar that goes up through the leg and supports the statue. The eyelets on the sides are used to hook up cable between the base and the sides when moving it to keep it stable. It is quite difficult to move, takes about 3 people, one to move the dolly and 2 to hold it in place. |
Other autographed items from Dave's collection |
| Unfortunately, I do not think that Jerry has seen it, as we were off the field by the time that the players came back out for the second half. What I really would like is to someday get it autographed, but this could prove difficult due to logistics. The other statue he made was of Steve Young, which he modeled after a photo he saw in the paper when Steve was running around the field, pumping his fist after they beat the Cowboys for the championship game. That statue was donated by Bill to the Forever Young foundation, which in turn donated it to the childrens ward of the San Francisco Hospital. They did a presentation with Steve Young and the artist, Bill Dufer. |
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