NASHVILLE, Tenn. – After a record-breaking career for the Castleton University football team, standout defensive lineman Chris Rice has earned an invitation later this month to rookie mini camp by the National Football League's Tennessee Titans.
 
The Bethel, Connecticut, native was a nightmare for opposing backfields during his four years with the Spartans, holding the program's all-time records with 69 tackles for a loss and 26.5 sacks. He is also the all-time leader with eight forced fumbles, and ranks No. 2 with four blocked kicks and 13 quarterback hurries. His 228 career tackles rank seventh all-time in program history.
 
Rice has each of the three highest single-season totals in tackles for a loss, racking up 23.0 in 2021, 22.5 in 2018 and 18.0 in 2019. He holds the same honor for single-season sacks, with 11.5 in 2021, 7.0 in 2019 and 6.0 in 2018. He forced two fumbles per year in each of his four seasons, and has the longest interception return in program history when he returned a pick 80 yards for a score against Fitchburg State in 2018. His three-sack game against Norwich in 2019 is a single-game program record, and he twice notched four tackles for a loss in a single game—one shy of the single-game program mark.
 
The fifth-year lineman had all the accolades to go with his impressive stats, earning Eastern Collegiate Football Conference Defensive Player of the Year honors in 2019 and 2021, and finished second in the nation in tackles for a loss in 2021. He was appointed to the New England Football Writers All-New England Team in 2019 and 2021 and earned All-Region honors from D3football.com in 2021.