Jerry Rice and the San Francisco 49ers drop bars in 1989. Today is Jerry's 64th birthday, so here’s the story behind the video. 🏈🎉🎂 Bay Area native Peter Michael Escovedo, who is the brother of Sheila E. (she’s in the video briefly), wrote and produced the music for the 49ers Rap and also shot the video. Both he and his sister Sheila were raised as 49ers fans in the Bay Area. Here’s a condensed oral history of it. PME: “The year we did that video, they kept winning, and I thought, ‘Man, they’re going to go to the Super Bowl. I would love to direct a music video for them.’ I had a meeting with Roger Craig and told him my idea. He said, ‘Man, that would be great.’ So he ended up calling Jerry Rice and Ronnie Lott.” Most participants have only foggy memories of when and where the 49ers Rap session took place, but some are adamant that it was done at a recording studio in SF, not far from the old Slim’s nightclub. Rice: “I’m not a rapper or an entertainer. It was fun but tough. Sheila E. and them were in there trying to help. The most important thing was: you didn’t want to make yourself look stupid. It just took a while. You just had to go with it.” PME: “I wrote the song, and I’m teaching them line by line. So it’s, ‘Hey, my name is Jerry Rice / Please don’t try to guard me or you’ll pay the price.’ ‘OK, stop right there! Say that same thing!’ Then I’d film it, and then I’d get the next line. So we just pieced it together.” Then there was the matter of getting them to perform for the camera. The 49ers were encouraged to ham it up on set so that Peter had some footage for the video. That meant lots of bold fashion choices and questionable dancing. PME: “I don’t think there was any time for outtakes. We used every single bit of footage we had, even the bad.” It helped that there was a genuine star on set, Sheila E. She didn’t sing on the track, but she joined her brother in coaching during the session. In the quest to liven up the footage, Peter choreographed a scene in which the 49ers players lined up on their knees as Sheila E. emerged from the crowd. But the resulting image lasts only a second, and her face is obscured by graphics. To this day nobody is sure about what happened to the master tapes. source music & footage 🎹🎥: Peter Michael Escovedo