As training camp gets underway, those who observe football professionally end up preforming two services. The first is to dutifully note that player X or Y, has gone through an innovative off-season conditioning program and is now “in the best shape of my life.” For the sake of brevity, let’s stipulate that everyone is in great shape. And the second is to identify and analyze potential prospects. This is a…

Although this is a 49ers’  blog, we are going to begin with the Warriors’ Draymond  Green. Hopefully, the reason will become clear as we go. You may have heard that Green — in a total surprise to us all — said something controversial. Talking about Suns’ guard Devin  Booker, Green praised the player on a TNT broadcast, but then added, “They got to get Book out of Phoenix. It’s not…

GM John Lynch and head coach Kyle Shanahan are ready to start the season. Let’s see how it goes. (AP photo Marcio Jose Sanchez.) Monday afternoon John Lynch and Kyle Shanahan met the media for the first time since signing new contract extensions. It was a typical presser in the new normal. Which is to say everyone appeared  on computer screens and reporters could ask questions if they remembered to…

We would be remiss if we didn’t put the final nail in the coffin that is the story of the Jamal Adams trade. In the telling, the 49ers would have acquired Adams, the disgruntled, but gifted, Jets safety. The story seemed to come up weekly, with assorted denials and confirmations. And now that Seattle has traded for Adams, surely it is finally dead, right? Not so fast. ESPN reporter Jeremy…

  Don’t worry, the higher-ups in the NFL say. They are working out a schedule that will have the season starting on time with complete safety for the players. Great. Did anyone tell them rookies report tomorrow? The fact is the NFL is barreling into this cockeyed season with the grace and elegance of a train wreck. Alarmed by the lack of information and progress, some of the biggest names…

Athlete: @JetMckinnon1 Position: Dual-Threat Running Back Team: @49ers All Sticks. pic.twitter.com/nCPJHOxvDt — Footwork_King 🤴🏾 (@footwork_king1) May 19, 2020 Here is some bad news for the Raheem Mostert contract re-negotiating team. Check out the workout Jerick (Jet) McKinnon posted on Twitter. McKinnon, of course, has been battling knee problems since he tore his ACL before the 2018 season. He’s tried several procedures and the team was hopeful he’d be back for…

Are you ready for some football? Great. Unfortunately, that is not the question. Is football ready? And unless they are running a massive misinformation campaign, the answer is “not even close.” Even now, with training camp set to open on July 28, things are in flux. In fact, the NFL may still flux this up. It has now been nearly a month since Baltimore coach John Harbaugh called the league…

  Jimmie Garopollo always seems to be under pressure, on the field and off. (AP photo/Tony Avelar   Whoops. Just got a calendar alert. As you know, we are contractually obligated to write about Jimmie Garoppolo at regular intervals, and this was a reminder that it is time for another check in. Luckily, a great deal of pick and shovel work has already been done. Last week, writing in The…

In December 2017, 49ers players were taking a knee in protest, with or without Colin Kaepernick. (AP photo/Mark J. Terrill   We don’t even know if there is going to be an NFL season this year. And after watching the futile flailing by Major League Baseball and the confusion over the NBA Florida bio-dome, it doesn’t look encouraging. Or maybe you have checked the numbers among college football programs which…

Steph and Alysha Curry have each encountered racial pushback — but not from whom you would expect. (AP photo — Marcio Jose Sanchez) Recently 49ers cornerback Richard Sherman talked about sports how, in these troubled times of racial unrest, they can be an example for the rest of the country. That the locker room is a place where racial divisions are, at the very least, much less prominent. “You kind…

This could be a familiar sight for the football season — empty seats and virtual fans. (photo John Burgess, Press Democrat)  This has never happened in professional sports. In the midst of a deadly pandemic, the Big Three — Major League Baseball, the NBA and the NFL — are attempting to restart their seasons simultaneously. To say it has been a clownshow would be an insult to clowns. First because…

Milwaukee Brewers minor league player Andre Nnebe throws as Canadian geese take the infield during an informal workout. (AP Photo/Ben Margot) We know how NFL teams fill their rosters. Every year at training camp they bring in 100 potential players. They practice with them, evaluate them and by the time the season begins they have chosen the best 53 to start the season. It seems to work just fine. And…

Kyle Shanahan doesn’t do in-person press conferences now. But in a virtual session with reporters last week he made strong statements about racial unrest in the United States. (AP Photo/Josie Lepe) I don’t think we have talked enough about Kyle Shanahan’s press conference. You probably heard about it. Appearing on-screen in a virtual presser with beat reporters last week, Shanahan stepped right into questions about the #Blacklivesmatter protests. And he…

Here’s a thing. Or actually, two things, only one of which is true. One, this might be the kind of observation that not many are making about the 49ers. And it might be something we look back on later and say, “You know, I had a feeling this was going to be a problem.” Or, it might be nothing. And we’d wonder why we spent any time on it at…

We begin with the bad news. The two witty and knowledgeable writers who have been writing these posts — Grant Cohn and Phil Barber — are not available. So I am going to step in on the 49ers opinion beat. Granted, Cohn and Barber had an advantage. They knew what they were talking about. I have experience — 36 years at the Chronicle, 20 in sports — but that may…