Hall of Fame wide receiver Jerry Rice is widely regarded as being the best wide receiver that the game has ever seen, but also arguably the greatest player to play in the NFL.

More than a decade following the completion of his illustrious 20-year career, Rice has kept his body in tip-top shape that he revealed during his participation in this year's ESPN The Body issue that he had practiced with the San Francisco 49ers last year, according to Hallie Grossman of ESPN.

I went out and I practiced with the [49ers] football team last year. The young guys could not believe that after playing a game for 20 years, and being out of the game for 15 years or something, my body knew what to do — that I could run routes, that I could catch the ball, that I can beat them off the line of scrimmage and do all those things. I think that really impressed them. But because I never got out of shape, my body just knew what to do the second I put on those football shoes.

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This shouldn't come as much of a surprise given that Rice had earned a strong reputation behind his intense workouts that helped him become a Hall of Famer. The fact that he has continued to stay on that type of physical grind speaks to his dedication to physical fitness.

Rice has voiced over the last couple of years that he could still play if he truly desired to do so despite being in his 50s. There are questions about whether his body can hold up to the physical tolls that come with playing in the NFL, but his skills on the field in terms of route running may not have left him.

All of this simply just further cements that type of work ethic that Rice had during his career that has gone beyond the football field.