Back in 1985, Jerry Rice had no idea that to become a football superstar, he’d also be required to hone physics. Joining the San Francisco 49ers during that year’s NFL Draft, Rice’s talent had far exceeded his rookiness—a sign that definitely put his front office at ease. By the time 1991 rolled by, the wide receiver already racked up numbers that put him in a future Hall of Fame conversation, unbeknownst to the fact that a fumble was closer than expected.

It all started with quarterback Joe Montana’s 1991 pre-season elbow injury, which forced him to miss almost two consecutive seasons. Backup Steve Young, who saw limited action in his first few seasons with the team, was promptly elevated to a starter role. On paper, Young seemed like a good choice. However, for Rice, something always felt a little off. While the WR topped the league in receiving yards in 1989 and 1990, his performance dropped in the next two years. The league majorly theorized Rice’s success might have been because of his former QB. The truth?

Well, during a May 31 video on Veritasium titled ‘What Everyone Gets Wrong About Football (ft. Tom Brady)’, creator Derek Muller explained, “In the fall of 1991, Jerry Rice, generally considered the greatest wide receiver of all time, changed quarterbacks. In place of the right-handed Joe Montana, he was now catching passes from the left-handed Steve Young. And for Rice, something felt off. He wasn’t sure exactly why, but he said the throws were coming up short.”

“Of course, what was actually happening was that the ball was drifting away from where he expected it to be. Joe Montana’s right-handed throws drifted to the right, whereas Steve Young’s drifted left. It’s a subtle effect, but it’s all part of the procession that minimizes drag on the ball and lets it fly farther, faster and more accurately.”

The video also dived more into it by demonstrating a live example with seven-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady’s throw. “From ground level, his passes looked amazingly straight. But from the drone, if you watch closely, just at the end of the pass, the ball does drift off to the right. This is because, up until now we’ve been ignoring a very important aerodynamic effect, which is lift. When the ball is tilted to the right, it generates lifts out in that direction. The more it’s tilted, the larger this force is. The rightward tilt is required to get the ball to turn over during its parabolic path. But it does mean that right-handed throws tend to drift right. The effect is subtle, but some players notice it intuitively.”

As for Jerry Rice, it didn’t take much time for him to master the game with his new quarterback. For 3 seasons from 1993 to 1995, he topped the league in receiving yards, ending 1995 with a career-high 1,848 yards.

Today, Jerry Rice sits atop the Mount Rushmore of wide receivers. Yet, at one point even Brady was convinced Rice’s dip had got more to do than physics.

Tom Brady refutes the physics theory behind Jerry Rice’s dip

Tom Brady refused to believe in the theory that the ball angled right to left would have a change on Jerry Rice’s performance outcome. While the retired veteran didn’t address the situation directly, when the host asked him, “Something we’ve heard is that for right-handed throwers, the ball will drift right, and for left-handed throwers, the ball will drift left. Do you think that’s true or is that something you notice?”, he said, “So I wouldn’t necessarily agree with that.”Now that’s interesting.

Funnily, his theory was soon debunked as a drone shot clearly showed Brady’s right-handed pass drift slightly toward the right as it reached completion. Looks like Rice’s output was not reliant on his former teammate Joe Montana. After all, one doesn’t become a Hall of Famer just like that.