49ERS' RICE GONE FOR '97; TORN LIGAMENTS SHELVE FUTURE HALL OF FAMER.

Byline: Candace Murphy San Jose Mercury News 

The reverse. The facemask. The awkward knee plant.

The end of a season.

San Francisco 49ers star receiver Jerry Rice had surgery Monday to repair torn medial collateral and anterior cruciate ligaments as well as the posterior capsule in his left knee. The wreckage was the result of a five-second play gone wrong, an end-around that Buccaneers defensive tackle Warren Sapp stopped by grabbing a fistful of Rice's facemask and hauling him gracelessly down on the Tampa Bay grass.

Rice, who at the age of 34 had never missed a game, is expected to be sidelined for four to six months.

``His comment to me when we were talking on the plane is that everything happens for a reason,'' said 49ers coach Steve Mariucci, somewhat dazedly recalling his conversation with Rice on the trip back from Tampa Bay, where the 49ers lost their opener 13-6. ``What that reason is, we don't know. But that's Jerry Rice. If anybody can come back from an injury like this, he can. And he will.''

After Mariucci announced the news during a 1 p.m. team meeting, the mood at the 49ers training facility in Santa Clara was understandably somber. Rice had played in 189 straight games.

``It just seems surreal,'' said quarterback Steve Young, who was feeling surreal himself after suffering a mild concussion on the fifth play of Sunday's game. ``You just don't expect to see Jerry hurt.''

Tight end Brent Jones peered over his sunglasses and nervously fidgeted as he searched for words.

``It's most devastating to Steve and myself,'' Jones said. ``We're like the Three Amigos. We're used to everybody's moods, and Jerry, you just took him as a constant.''