Cardinals quote machine/quarterback Kurt Warner was on the conference call today with reporters who cover the 49ers. Not surprisingly, he spoke at length about Mike Martz.
Warner talked about how demanding Martz is as a coach. Here's what he had to say:
"When I first got there (St. Louis) in my first year with Mike . . . I was the 'whipping boy.' There would be days where I'd go home and I would call my wife and I'd be sitting on the phone telling her that, 'Man, I suck, I'm not any good.' Because that's all that I heard in the meetings. I never lacked confidence before but I remember telling her that 'I'm just not very good.'
"Then there was the time, to just kind of put in perspective, about five weeks into that first year. I think that we were undefeated I was playing pretty well a media group came in and was interviewing myself and four or five of the other guys, Marshall (Faulk), Isaac (Bruce), Torry (Holt) and I think Ricky Proehl. I remember them asking the question to those guys 'Did you have any idea that Kurt could play this well?' And every single one of them looked back at the interviewers and said, 'No, we thought Kurt was terrible because all we remember is in meetings all through training camp he'd get yelled at. So we did think he was very good at all.'
"That's kind of an idea of what it's like in those meetings. Mike pushes you to the limit and wants you to be perfect, wants you to get to your full potential and scrutinizes a lot of things that you do to see if you can handle it - if you can take it in, you can regurgitate all of the stuff that you're trying to learn and you can apply it when you get on the football field.
"(It's) very difficult to go through. Like I said, (there) were times that I lost confidence or didn't feel like I could play any more but at the end of the day, the desire inside of me to want to be great made me take that stuff and take the criticism and the little points that he was trying to teach me within those meetings and apply them to my game and ultimately it helped make me a better quarterback."
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The only two players on the 49ers' injury report: NT Aubrayo Franklin (knee) and LB Parys Haralson (shoulder) went through full practice today.
For the Cardinals: C Al Johnson (knee), DT Gabe Watson (knee) and DT Alan Branch (ankle) did not participate in pratice. TE Ben Patrick (ankle) was limited, and T Mike Gandy (knee) took part in full participation.
* * *
The 49ers announced today they will be wearing throwback uniforms from the 1980's and '90's on Alumni Day against the Seahawks on Oct. 26 and on Fan Appreciation Day against the Redskins on Dec. 28.
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Meanwhile, in the Cohn Zohn . . . Lowell Cohn asked 49ers GM Scot McCloughan some questions about his family's involvement in football.
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Earlier today, GM Scot McCloughan said Mike Martz did not want to be a head coach. But the way McCloughan said it, it seemed as if he misspoke. The 49ers confirm that McCloughan meant to say that Martz DOES want to be a head coach again. Here is the quote the way it should've read:
"He says he does not want to be a head coach," McCloughan said. "I'd be disappointed if he doesn't want to be a head coach again. Then he's striving to be the best he can be at what he does. And that's call plays. And he's been a successful head coach before in the NFL. Again, that would be a great problem to have at the end of the year because it means we've put some stuff up that shows he's worthy of being a head coach."
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Comments | Add Comment
Posted By: stampede (04/09/2008 9:44:53 AM)
Comment: BRING BACK THE '80'S THROWBACKS!
Posted By: jgwindsor (04/09/2008 8:24:21 AM)
Comment: feels like football weather here in germany. my question is with thomas being released and now mention of releasing smith next year has me wondering how much dead money the 9rs will incur next year? those two together gets close to $6M, are there others on the book for next year
Posted By: Chico John (04/09/2008 8:15:53 AM)
Comment: Matt:
I also think that you should only post those comment that you find worthy enough to answer. The endless comments that go unanswered are boring. They are asking questions that don't get your answer. If you only use comments that you answer, it would be more interesting and a lot less boring. We want to hear what you think.
Posted By: oneniner - message to MATT (04/09/2008 8:11:51 AM)
Comment: As a long time reader, I think the focus on rude comments/posters on the comment section is a waste of your/everyone's time. This rude comments are less than 1% of the comments of the blog. What i miss most of all (due to the censorship) are the simple funny comments, this comments might not provide much in terms of knowledge but they do provide a fun to the blog you (MATT) can't provide. I would like to make it clear i am not encouraging rude comments. It's obvious what attracts most readers to your site is the freedom to post any opinions. So big deal someone said something rude, readers do have the option to IGNORE it. Why can't that be the solution?. If i were you i will not "jump the shark" and stick with the first reason you started this blog, which i think was to provide a forum for free opinions on the niners whether you agree or not. It's really sad when you deprive LOYAL readers like me the freedom to "ignore" rude comments. I mean I give you my time, every day i read your blog because i respect your work. Why can't you respect the fact that i have a brain to ignore rude comments.
Posted By: StevenG in Tampa (04/09/2008 8:08:28 AM)
Comment: Danny in NJ,
I know, but I'll check it each week to see when I can see the 49ers. Last year it was only once in the preseason and once in the regular season. :(
Thanks again Matt!
Posted By: PhillyNiner (04/09/2008 7:14:32 AM)
Comment: As a long time reader and occasional commenter, I'd like to comment on the recent comments issues. You've dealt with them in a number of ways and the one I preferred was when you only posted comments you responded to. I go to a 49ers forum when I want to read fan opinions, I come to your blog to your observations/opinions.
Posted By: oneniner (04/09/2008 6:27:02 AM)
Comment: it would be really nice if JTO can win me over....i really want to root for the guy....its just tough cuz i have a strong feeling he would fail.
Posted By: dan in seattle (03/09/2008 10:29:44 PM)
Comment: Matt, during the Lance Briggs investigation, I recall a number of emails that sort of filtered out between McCloughan and Nolan that seemed to indicate a reasonably high level of tension between the two men. In reading McCloughan's comments regarding Martz, "Again, that would be a great problem to have at the end of the year" I'm probably reading more into it than I should, but, to me, I see McCloughan opening the door to keeping Martz over Nolan, if he were forced to choose.
Posted By: wetwet (03/09/2008 8:10:40 PM)
Comment: casey,
you are right, your bro is wrong. nolan said to martz he wasnt going to kick it, so he has to get him in the end zone. reason being he did not want to prolong the last game risking injuries.
Posted By: casey (03/09/2008 7:45:53 PM)
Comment: Hey matt this is completely irrelevant to the article but, I was wondering if you could help me with an argument that I'm having with my brother about the decision to go for a touchdown instead of a field goal in the 4th pre-season game against the chargers. My brother thinks that we should of tie the game with a field goal and try to win it in O.T. I say it doesn't matter because it's pre-season and you don't what to risk injury to your players.
Response: Win or loss has not significance. Get the game over with and move onto the regular season. I'm with you. --Matt M.
Posted By: Danny in NJ (03/09/2008 6:50:03 PM)
Comment: StevenG in Tampa-- you know ur seeing the Cowboys right? Not the 49ers
Posted By: Sarah Palin (03/09/2008 6:42:29 PM)
Comment: I'm also a Raiders fan. And a Rams fan, and a Cardinals fan, and a Seahawks fan. I'm a fan of any team you want me to be. I'll do whatever it takes to steal, er, buy your vote!
Posted By: StevenG in Tampa (03/09/2008 5:46:04 PM)
Comment: Matt, thanks for the TV coverage map! As a 49er fan in Florida, it'll be nice to know when I'll get to see my boys!
Go Niners!
Posted By: Jason (03/09/2008 5:35:48 PM)
Comment: Matt, did anything Warner said lend anything to the Alex Smith situation? Could Martz be tearing Smith down in an effort to start him at a clean slate?
Posted By: John McCain (03/09/2008 5:34:13 PM)
Comment: Vote for me. I want to thank Mike Nolan for his inspirational help in picking the JT O Sullivan candidate for my VP, Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska Thanks 49ers. If you can win the Superbowl, I'm going to be your President!
Posted By: Sarah Palin (03/09/2008 5:25:13 PM)
Comment: I'm a Niner fan. Vote for me!
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