SANTA CLARA This is what stood out to me during practice Monday morning. THE AMAZING 1. 54-year-old Hall-of-Fame WR Jerry Rice. The 49ers invited Jerry Rice and Steve Young to speak to the players before practice. After they spoke, Young watched practice from the sideline for 15 minutes then left, while Rice joined the players on the field and practiced like he was a member of the team. Rice wore…
SANTA CLARA — This is the transcript of Jim Harbaugh’s Wednesday press conference, courtesy of the 49ers’ P.R. department. Just got the word, of course, that RB Marcus Lattimore has told the team he plans to retire. What are your thoughts on his decision and how much did he seek council from you during that time? “We discussed it last week, over the weekend, et cetera. Respect his decision. I…
This is my Saturday column on Jerry Rice Jr. SANTA CLARA – I feel sorry for Jerry Rice Jr. He’s an undrafted free agent wide receiver trying out for the 49ers. He caught nine passes during two seasons at UCLA. He transferred to UNLV and caught 10. He’s 5-10 and runs a 4.68 40-yard dash. He’s slower and shorter than most receivers in the NFL. Odds are against him making…
Gary Kubiak spoke on a conference call with Bay Area reporters Wednesday morning. Here is a transcript. Q: Can you talk about the challenge that faces your staff and your team after such a disappointing loss on Sunday? KUBIAK: Yeah, that makes it tough. When you go out and play pretty darn well and you don’t finish the product at the end of the day, that’s pretty hard to swallow….
Here is my Monday column. Enjoy. SANTA CLARA – Let’s focus on the good after the 49ers’ Week 1 win over the Packers, a very good team, probably not a great team. THE GOOD After just 11 starts, Colin Kaepernick probably is the best quarterback in the NFL. You could say he singlehandedly beat the Packers. His defense gave up 28 points, he had no rushing attack and still he…
This is my Saturday column on the 49ers’ recent history drafting wide receivers. By now, you’ve seen what I’ve seen from A.J. Jenkins the past two training camps: A wide receiver utterly overmatched by starting NFL cornerbacks. Friday night against the Chiefs, he faced their starting right cornerback Sean Smith and could not shake him. When Smith decided to press Jenkins, Smith swallowed him up. Jenkins couldn’t get past the…
This is my Friday column on the 49ers’ Mt. Rushmore. Let’s play the Mt. Rushmore Game for the 49ers. Who are the four greatest figures in 49ers history? I’m talking players, coaches or owners. You pick. Who would you carve onto the 49ers’ own Mt. Rushmore? We can agree on three people right off the bat – Jerry Rice, Joe Montana and Bill Walsh. Those are gimmes. “Each of them…
Here is my Monday column on Greg Roman. We’re in a football lull right now, but the 49ers are always in season. So, let’s dissect their most recent move, signing their promising offensive coordinator, Greg Roman, to a two-year extension through 2015. Roman is a good offensive coordinator. From 2011 to 2012, the 49ers’ offense ranked third in rushing yards and ninth in points per game. Jim Harbaugh thinks Roman…
Last week I listed the five biggest questions the 49ers must answer this offseason. This morning I’m sitting on my bed thinking about the five biggest storylines of the 49ers’ offseason. Here’s what I came up with. Trent Baalke. He’s been inconsistent. In 2011, he arguably had the best offseason in the NFL, drafting Aldon Smith and Colin Kaepernick and Bruce Miller and signing Carlos Rogers and Jonathan Goodwin and…
Steve Young spoke on KNBR Thursday afternoon. This is what he said. Q: Let’s start off with the first half. What did you see that had the 49ers behind for a second straight week? YOUNG: It was little stuff. It was things that you hadn’t seen before. You got the feeling like, not only the penalties, but the miscues and even the plays getting in. We’ve talked about this for…
Jerry Rice, the 49ers’ Hall of Fame wide receiver, had a few pointed responses when asked what he thought of current 49er receiver Randy Moss calling himself this week the greatest wide receiver in NFL history. “Randy could have been the greatest player in NFL history,” Rice said. “But you gotta have it here in your heart.” Rice pointed to his thumper. “I never ever took a play off,” Rice…
By BOB PADECKY As reported on this blog earlier, 49ers wide receiver Randy Moss said Tuesday during Super Bowl Media Day that he is the greatest wide receiver of all time. Hall of Fame tight end Shannon Sharpe, now an analyst, is working the Super Bowl for CBS. His reaction to Moss’ statement bordered on outrage. “Moss is out of his mind,” Sharpe said. “I mean you can debate every position…
On Tuesday, January 29th, 2013, Randy Moss named himself the greatest receiver of all time. MOSS: “Now that I’m older, I do think I’m the greatest receiver to ever do it. I don’t think numbers stand, because you can talk about this and this. I think that I’ve had…this year has been a down year for me statistically. The year before I retired was a down year and then Oakland…
SANTA CLARA – This is the transcript of Jim Harbaugh’s Monday press conference, courtesy of the 49ers. How did DT Justin Smith make it through the game? “Good. Played well. Came out of the game as clean as possible.” And did you expect him to kind of pick up where he left off? “It looked good in practice and the feedback that we were getting from him was…
There’s been a lot of discussion here the past few days about whether 49ers’ offensive coordinator Greg Roman is doing a good enough job getting the ball to his best player in the passing game – tight end Vernon Davis. When designing a passing game, an offensive coordinator has what are called “people passes,” and then he also has “patterns” that have progressions that can be influenced by coverage. For…
The Niners have signed 265-pound running back Brandon Jacobs, according to an ESPN report. Jacobs is 29 years old and he averaged just 3.8 yards per carry last season as the Giants’ backup RB. During the season Jacobs made it clear he wanted to go to a team in 2012 where he could start. For him to sign with the Niners he must feel he has a good chance to take…
A friend of my dad’s had an inside look at Jim Harbaugh and Alex Smith at the AT&T golf at Pebble Beach last month. The Niners played the Giants on a Tuesday. Duane Kuiper caddied for Mike Krukow, Alex Smith caddied for Jim Harbaugh. Jerry Rice, Matt Cain, and Brent Jones played, too, among others. According to the observer, Harbaugh and Smith acted as if “they would be together for…
This isn’t news, it’s the story of when I was seven-years-old and I met Steve Young. If you feel this is self indulgent, please read something else. If you have a meeting-a-49er story too, please share it in the comment section. It was 1995 and it was towards the beginning of the season after the Niners won the Super Bowl. Steve Young had thrown 6 touchdowns in the first Super…
