Dwight Chapin, Chronicle Senior Writer

Oakland -- Jerry Rice in Raider silver and black? That just doesn't play well with many of the 49er faithful.

"It sucks," said Dennis Johnston, president of the 49ers booster club in Concord, when informed that the NFL's all-time leading receiver apparently will be moving across the bay this fall. "The only thing worse would be if he were going with the Rams."

"I'm depressed," said Joanie Bassett, who heads the Niner boosters in Santa Clara. "When Jerry played his last game here last season, I cried and cried, and I'm sure a lot of other fans did the same. But this just breaks my heart."

Not every longtime 49er supporter was as down in the dumps over Rice's impending departure, however.

"I'm sick of the whole thing -- all these athletes dragging things out like this," said Gabrielle Harmer of San Francisco, a member of the Santa Clara boosters. "I don't care where he goes. I want to remember Jerry as the best, which he was, but time marches on. I think he should have retired as a player, without a serious injury."

Sue Hoffman, a three-time past president of the team's San Francisco boosters, said, "He was very good for the 49ers and very kind and special to the fans here. But I wish he had retired a 49er. It is going to be hard to see him in silver and black and see him in the first game of this (coming) season playing against the 49ers."

"I have mixed emotions," said Lance Williams, vice president of the Santa Clara boosters. "I'm a football fan at heart but a 49er fan to the bone. I would like to have seen Jerry finish his career here, but I appreciate his burning desire to play."

Reaction to Rice's move seemed mixed among Raider fans, too.

Former Raider offensive tackle John Vella, who now runs the Raider Locker Room, a chain of three sports merchandise and memorabilia stores in the East Bay, offered strong approval.

"I hope he can take us one game further (in the playoffs) this season," Vella said. "He's probably in better shape than most any of the guys in the NFL, so I think he'll help the team. And I believe the fans will accept him. The first time he catches a ball or gets a touchdown, I'm sure that those who are on the fence won't stay there."

But Patrick Cranor of Castro Valley, another Raider fan, isn't so sure.

"I think Jerry Rice joining the Raiders is kind of a bad idea," he said. "To me it's an issue of team loyalty, and Rice doesn't have any. I think the Raiders should keep Andre Rison instead, because Rice seems to be heading out the door. And he's kind of a whiner."

Vella also bemoaned the probability than the Raiders will not be able to keep both Rice and Rison.

"Rison had definitely turned into a fan favorite, too," Vella said.

Some of the 49er fans noted that Rice won't be going very far away, in terms of distance.

"Having him still close is the good part," Bassett said. "I really don't think there was much the 49ers could do to keep him, because of the salary cap.

I just wish the NFL had some sort of exemption, so a player that had been with a team for as many years as Rice had could stay, without counting against the cap."

Despite the mixed feelings, it appears that the majority of the 49er faithful will have trouble following Rice in his new colors.

Johnston, who described himself as "a 49er fan forever," added, "It was great watching Jerry all these years, but I'm disappointed to see him leave and go to a team I hate -- that expansion team from Los Angeles."