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Joe Perry: The Game I’ll Never Forget
Football Digest – March 2003

Whenever I’m asked about the most memorable game of my career, I think back to October 27, 1957.Our team, the San Francisco 49ers, was playing the Chicago Bears at home at Kezar Stadium, and all of the sudden we heard this big commotion in the stands where the owners sat. All of the players from the Bears and the 49ers heard it out on the field—you could hear people crying in the stands.

We suspected that something had happened to our owner, Tony Morabito. He had been in bad health in the years leading up to that day. Doctors had tried to convince him to get out of football because the stress and emotion weren’t good for his health. Then someone—I don’t recall if it was our coach, Frankie Albert, or who it was—came down at halftime and confirmed our greatest fears: We were told that Mr. Morabito had suffered a heart attack and died.

Obviously, it was a huge shock to the team. We didn’t know how to react. It was just shocking to get this news in the middle of a football game.

Everyone liked Mr. Morabito. He was a fair man. I can remember that I never signed a contract until the year he had his heart attack. He always just signed it and sent it in to the league; we would shake hands on it, He was the type of owner you would see all the time. He was upbeat, in his own manner. He would put his head on the block for you—an honest guy from the day he bought the team in 1946.

He was always a hands-on type of owner. He would kill you if you said something bad about one of his players. If he heard you talking about one of his players, you had better have been ready to fight. I think that’s why his players liked him so much.

He was also pretty smart from a football perspective, helping to put together a good team. In those years, the 49ers were always bridesmaids. We never won the title, but we won a lot of games and got close to a championship a few times. We would always miss out by a game here or there.

The strength of our team was the backfield, with Y.A. Tittle at quarterback and John Henry Johnson, Hugh McElhenny, and I running the ball. They called us "the Million Dollar Backfield."

Every one of us ended up in the Hall of Fame, but when we were playing, the egos were never part of it. We got along great—we were the greatest of friends. McElhenny, John Henry, and I would switch around all the time. There were never any ill feelings—there wasn’t a sense of competition among us.

I remember this one game in Detroit. The Lions were physically kicking the hell out of us. John Henry was the only guy making any yards. Tittle was calling the plays—back then, quarterbacks called their own plays—and he came into the huddle and said, "I don’t know what to call. What do you want to call?" McElhenny spoke up, saying, "Why don’t you give the ball to John Henry? He’s the only one who’s doing anything." That shows you the kind of unselfishness we had on that team.

And although John Henry had gone to Detroit by 1957, the backfield was still our strength, which isn’t to say we didn’t have some other great players on the team. Bob St. Clair was a great, hard-nosed tackle, and Leo Nomellini was a Hall of Fame defensive tackle. In addition, receivers Billy Wilson and R.C. Owens were important parts of the team because they balanced out the offense. Billy led the league in receptions that year, and R.C., a former basketball player, would outjump the defensive backs for the ball. It was sort of like he was going up for an alley-oop in basketball. Teams couldn’t figure out how to defend him.

So at halftime of that fateful game against the Bears, we were all kind of stunned. The Bears were leading by 10 points. They were kicking the hell out of us—not so much scorewise, but physically on the field. They were mauling us.

I don’t remember if anything was said about Mr. Morabito, but I’m sure there was a feeling in the locker room that we wanted to go out there in the second half of the game and win it for him. That was the least we could do.

Well, we did it. It was like a Hollywood scriptwriter had drawn it up. We came back and won the game, 21-17. I don’t remember anything about who scored or who did what or how many yards anyone had or how the game ended. What I do remember is having this bittersweet feeling. We had won the game—staged that big rally—for Mr. Morabito, but then it really began to sink in that we had lost him. We all began to feel terrible, just terrible. Heartbroken, really.

Later in the season, it turned out that the Chicago game was one we had needed to win. Even though we had gone through a slump right in the middle of the season in which we had lost three straight games, we ended up tied with the Lions for the Western Conference regular-season title.

We had to play a one-game playoff to see who would go to the title game. It was kind of weird because we had a big lead, but Detroit rallied to win—sort of like how we had come back to beat the Bears earlier in the season.

Never Say Die: Garrison Hearst’s comeback
Football Digest – Dec, 2001
by Dennis Georgatos

With every play, every run, and every hit, San Francisco 49ers running back Garrison Hearst closed in on a goal that at times had seemed out of reach.

Finally, with the game hanging in the balance in overtime, Hearst burst through a hole opened by 49ers tackle Scott Gragg and rookie tight Eric Johnson, and cut upfield for an 11-yard gain, his longest of the day. The run set up the chip-shot field goal the 49ers used to finish a come-from-behind, season-opening win over the Atlanta Falcons. More importantly, it signified the completion of a remarkable journey by the 30-year-old Hearst. He had persevered through four operations and two and a half years of rehabilitation to come back from a devastating ankle injury.

"Seeing him shoot through there like that—I’m going to remember that block for the rest of my life," Gragg says. "It was an emotional time for us because we were coming back and he was coming back and you always remember those comeback games. It’s inspiring. It makes you appreciate what you have, and know that anything is possible. Garrison definitely deserves everything he’s done. He’s earned it."

Back in 1998, Hearst was widely regarded as one of the premier backs in the league. He was at the top of his game for the 49ers, rushing for a team-record and career-high 1,570 yards and earning his first Pro Bowl selection.

But at the end of a seven-yard run on the first play from scrimmage in a January 9, 1999, divisional playoffs game at Atlanta, Hearst’s left foot caught on the Georgia Dome turf as he tried to spin away from Chuckie Smith’s tackle. His ankle was fractured in the gruesome twisting action, but even as he lay on the turf, Hearst never envisioned the struggle that was hi store for him before he could walk, run, and play again.

"I said to myself, `OK, a bone heals in six or seven weeks. Let it play out, start rehabbing, and play next season,’" Hearst says. "The hardest part at the time was that we had come so far to lose to Atlanta. We felt we had the game plan to win. But we didn’t win, and other complications came up. That’s where the story starts."

Hearst underwent an initial operation to set the fracture and repair ligament and other soft tissue damage, but complications arose that stalled his recovery. As he was trying to ready himself for the subsequent training camp, team physician Dr. Michael Dillingham discovered that circulatory problems were choking off file blood supply to his foot, leading to avascular necrosis. The degenerative bone condition caused Hearst’s talus, the principal source of support in the ankle, to decay and die.

Bo Jackson’s football career with the Raiders ended after a hip injury also resulted in avascular necrosis. Jackson, who had to have hip-replacement surgery, did come back to play baseball, but Hearst is believed to be the first person to resume a career in pro football after a bout of avascular necrosis.

It was a tedious, painstaking, and risky path, both for Hearst and the 49ers, who kept him on the payroll despite salary cap problems over the past two seasons. Both sides agreed to one final restructure on the eve of this season’s opener to make Hearst’s contract more cap-friendly, leaving them in position to reap the rewards of their determination.

"I would say some other teams may have cut him because of the slim chance he had," Niners coach Steve Mariucci says. "But it’s been a two-way street. He was as good as anybody when he got hurt. So if he was willing to try to come back, we were willing to give him that chance. We owed it to him. The injury might have been screaming out, `Retire, Garrison!’ But you’ve got to love his determination to be back. He’ll never say die."Hearst says he never doubted that he would return, and he based his faith in part on past experience. He suffered torn left knee ligaments near the end of his rookie season in 1993 with the Arizona Cardinals. He fought through more problems the next year, but he rushed for 1,070 yards in 1995 and earned NFL Comeback Player of the Year honors. He also missed four games with the 49ers in 1997 after breaking his left clavicle at the end of a run that gave him his second career 1,000-yard rushing season.

"You never want a serious injury of course, but it did help me realize that I could come back," Hearst says. "The thing is, I knew I had already come back from something like that, and I played well. I knew it could happen because I had done it. Through the good times and bad, I’ve never thought I wouldn’t play."

The fact that he was at the peak of his career also fueled his determination to get back on the field, no matter how slim the odds, no matter how long or tortuous the rehabilitation. "The thing that has kept me going is that I feel that when I got hurt, I got hurt at my best," Hearst says. "Football has been my life. Most players want to leave on their own terms or where they feel they are still contributing to the team. I’m not done yet."

Fullback Fred Beasley, who is Hearst’s friend and lead blocker, says that while many see his comeback as remarkable, those closest to the former Georgia Bulldog knew he had the mental toughness and makeup to persevere. "Ultimately, this is about Garrison’s character and his willpower," Beasley says. "What he went through—wow—if that doesn’t say something about his character, nothing will. It tells you everything you need to know about Garrison as a person."

Seattle orthopedic specialist Pierce Scranton and Dillingham performed the surgery in May 2000 that put Hearst’s comeback on course. They removed dead bone and cartilage and re-did a bone graft that didn’t take, basically dismantling the ankle and putting it back together in a radical procedure that amounted to Hearst’s last chance to keep his career alive.

Scranton says he’s done about 25 such bone-graft operations but none as extensive as the surgery performed on Hearst. "I think it’s unprecedented," says Scranton. "But, really, it’s a tribute to Garrison. I’d like to take credit for some of it, but it’s a tribute to Garrison—for his determination, for working his way back, and even for overcoming the 49ers’ salary cap problems to play again."

In late November of last season, Hearst was at, rated from the physically unable to perform list and rejoined his teammates for light workouts, playing mostly on the scout team, sometimes running around as a safety or cornerback. He was among the 49ers’ inactive players over the final month of last season and then in January underwent a fourth operation to remove some bone chips and clean out other debris in the ankle.

Last spring, Hearst finally was cleared by doctors to begin practicing, and he passed the last major hurdle when he held up through weeks of training camp contact drills and appearances in three of the 49ers’ four preseason games.

Then came the big day. He was greeted by a warm ovation from the crowd at 3Com Park when he was introduced as the 49ers’ starting running back against the Falcons. And like his rehabilitation, he endured ups and downs in his first meaningful game in more than two years before he finally recaptured an image of his old self with the off-tackle burst preceding the game-winning field goal.

"I about cried," says 49ers defensive tackle Bryant Young, who plays with a metal rod in his leg, the legacy of a broken right leg he suffered in late 1998. "It was amazing to see a guy come back from an injury like that after having setback after setback. He was just so persistent He didn’t give up."

In the 49ers’ 1998 season opener, Hearst won the game against the New York Jets with a heart-stopping 96-yard touchdown run in overtime. It endures as one of the most dramatic plays in NFL history, but Hearst says his much shorter run in the season opener against the Falcons was just as special to him.

"It helped us win," he says simply. "It was great for everyone, for the whole team. It was what we needed. But this is just the beginning for me."

Courtesy of San Francisco 49ers public relations

SANTA CLARA, Calif. (July 10, 2000) Tim McDonald, a 13-year veteran of the NFL, has
announced his retirement from professional football.

McDonald joined the 49ers as a free agent in 1993 after spending his first six years as a member of the Phoenix Cardinals. While with the Cardinals, McDonald earned three Pro Bowl selections and recorded a career-high 155 tackles in 1989.

"Tim was one of the greatest performers in contemporary football and there are those who would state flatly that he was the best strong safety to ever play the game," said 49ers general manager Bill Walsh. "He was a great leader, an outstanding performer, a marvelous athlete and a championship athlete. He is a man who commanded the respect of everyone and who people responded to."

Bringing his aggressive style to the 49ers, McDonald enhanced an already solid defensive unit. In 1993, he earned the first of three consecutive Pro Bowl appearances with San Francisco. That season he totaled 91 tackles, 10 passes defensed and three interceptions.

In 1994 he again earned Pro Bowl honors after posting 76 tackles, nine passes defensed, two interceptions and one fumble return for touchdown. In the 49ers Super Bowl XXIX victory over the San Diego Chargers, McDonald drew praise for his team-high nine-tackle performance.

McDonald earned his fifth consecutive trip to the Pro Bowl after finishing with 90 tackles, four interceptions and 17 passes defensed in 1995.

"Over the course of my career, I have had the privilege of playing with many great players," offers Panthers cornerback Eric Davis. "None, however, more influential than Tim McDonald. Tim McDonald played with a desire unmatched by many. Never unwilling to aid a teammate, always thinking of the best way to get the job done, even if that meant no glory for himself.

"He played hurt, he played tired, yet he always played well. Tim was one of the great ones who understood that you must have a true passion for football to be a champion and he walks away from the game having earned the highest of accolades for his efforts. Tim earned trips to the Pro Bowl and All-Pro honors, but most importantly, the respect of each and every player and coach that shared the field with him."

In addition to being one of the game’s fiercest competitors, McDonald also is one of its most durable. He missed just four games throughout his career and started in 111 of 112 possible games as a member of the 49ers.

"Aside from being a great football player, Tim was an even better person," said George Seifert. "He presented and passed on to others a unique inner strength to the teams he played for, and provided a role model of excellence for young players and veterans alike. For how well he played and for the manner in which he carried himself, I expect to see him in the Hall of Fame very soon."

Tim, and his wife, Alycia, are the parents of three children: sons Timothy Jr. and Tevin, and a daughter, Taryn. The family lives in Fresno where Tim is active in several charitable causes, including the Boys and Girls Club of the Bay Area for which he has donated $2,000 for every 49ers victory during the past four years. During the 1998 season he opened his first restaurant, World Sports Café, located in Fresno.

SANTA CLARA, Calif. (June 12, 2000)

Steve Young was put in the unenviable position of succeeding the legendary Joe Montana and stamped his own Hall of Fame credentials.

Today, Young passed the baton to a quarterback who will be forced to sustain his excellence with the San Francisco 49ers.

Plagued by a series of concussions in recent years, the 38-year-old Young announced his retirement in a news conference which took place in the locker room of the team’s training facility.

"It was a tough decision but I know that I’ve made the right one and I really felt it was right in my heart," Young said. "I go forward and feel thrilled for what lies ahead of me. But at the same time it is sad to end an era that meant so much to me. I loved playing for the San Francisco 49ers."

A two-time NFL Most Valuable Player and seven-time Pro Bowler, the left-handed Young is the highest-rated passer in NFL history with a rating of 96.8 and the most accurate with a completion percentage of 64.2.

Today’s event was in stark contrast to Montana’s elaborate retirement ceremony at Candlestick Park in 1995, but it suited Young just fine.

"What better place than the locker room," Young said. "It’s the most intimate place for a player. This is where the relationships are forged, this is where football happens away from the crowd."

Niners star receiver Jerry Rice, coach Steve Mariucci, owner Denise DeBartolo-York and former Niners tight end Brent Jones spoke at today’s news conference and coaches Mike Shanahan of the Denver Broncos and Mike Holmgren of the Seattle Seahawks, both former 49er offensive coordinators, and Lavell Edwards of Brigham Young, Young’s college coach, were among those in attendance.

"Mike Shanahan said Steve was one of the top five quarterbacks of all time and I definitely agree, but none of those other four followed a Hall of Famer and that to me is the single greatest accomplishment I have seen in sports," said Jones, Young’s former roommate.

Niners general manager Bill Walsh spoke at a memorial service for former football executive Don Klosterman, who died last week, and was unable to attend.

Called by Walsh "the greatest athlete to play the quarterback position," Young directed the high-powered 49ers offense with precision and played with reckless abandon, often taking tacklers head on when running for first downs.

However, as the offensive line of the Niners deteriorated, Young paid the price and suffered four concussions over the last three years. His latest one occurred when he was hit by blitzing cornerback Aeneas Williams in a Sept. 27 game against Arizona, ending his season.

Fearing for his health, Walsh said last Monday that Young should retire unless he received clearance from a series of medical specialists.

Young confirmed today that he was given clearance to return, and Shanahan courted him for the Broncos. In 1994, Young won his second MVP award and passed for a record six touchdowns in the Niners’ 49-26 rout of San Diego in Super Bowl XXIX with Shanahan as his offensive coordinator.

However, Young opted to retire and informed the Niners of his decision on Friday, one day before he would receive a $1 million roster if he remained on the roster. As a retirement gift, Walsh paid Young the bonus.

Recently married with a baby on the way, Young has a law degree from Brigham Young and organizes and managed numerous youth-oriented foundations.

Young was rumored to be a candidate for the Monday Night Football broadcast booth, but that does not appear to be likely.

"I’m just going to stay at home for now," Young said. "We’re expecting a child at the end of the year and I don’t think my wife wants me to travel."

Young played 15 years in the NFL, the last 13 with the 49ers after starting in the United States Football League and playing two years with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Jeff Garcia, a former star of the CFL, will go into minicamp as Young’s successor. He took over after Young was injured last season and completed 225 of 375 passes for 2,544 yards and 11 touchdowns with 11 interceptions as the Niners faltered to a 4-12 record, their worst since 1979.

After sacrificing four years in his prime backing up Montana, Young became the Niners full-time starter in 1991 and carried on the winning tradition of the 49ers, compiling a 91-33 record. Young finally emerged from Montana’s prodigious shadow when he led San Francisco to its fifth Super Bowl title in 1994.

When he served as a backup, Young admitted he did not have a close relationship with Montana, who resented Walsh for benching him in a 1987 playoff game in favor of Young.

Young is the only player to record a quarterback rating of more than 100 six times. He matched Sammy Baugh’s NFL record with his sixth passing title with a rating of 104.7 in 1997 and ranks 16th all-time with 33,124 passing yards.

"I attained all the goals I could ever have dreamed of," Young said. "Every player needs a framework and system to perform and I’ve had the best here in San Francisco."

Young is second all-time with 4,239 rushing yards for a quarterback, trailing only Randall Cunningham (4,799), and tops all quarterbacks with 43 rushing touchdowns.

Young’s seven straight selections to the Pro Bowl is the second longest streak in team history behind Rice (11).

A college star at Brigham Young, Young signed a contract with the Los Angeles Express of the USFL in 1984. When the league folded, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers selected him in the first round of the supplemental draft.

After starting 19 games in two seasons with Tampa Bay, Young was traded to San Francisco for a pair of draft picks and the Bucs selected quarterback Vinny Testaverde with the first pick in the 1987 draft.

By Andrew Everett
NFL.com

SAN FRANCISCO (Jan. 3, 1999) Dwight Clark didn’t get to name "The Catch." Given the
opportunity, Terrell Owens was happy to christen the San Francisco 49ers’ latest
remarkable reception "The Redemption Catch."

Owens’ self-proclaimed moniker sums up perfectly the play that won the latest in the
best series of grudge matches the NFL has seen this decade in a 30-27 NFC Wild Card win over the Green Bay Packers.

"It was one of the big catches in this organization’s history," 49ers head coach Steve Mariucci said.

More importantly for Owens, the grab was redemption for his poor play earlier a fumble on the opening drive and dropped passes on what looked like a sure touchdown in the second quarter as well as a drive-ending third-down play that set up the Packers’ potential game-winning touchdown with 1:56 remaining.

"I knew that I was going to have to make a big play," Owens said. "I had had a rough day up to that point. I had fumbled earlier and missed some catches I should have had. I just knew that I had to make a play for this team."

No one was more thrilled than Mariucci. "I was so happy for him because he had a couple of plays he’d like to have back," Mariucci said. "And he made the play to win the game for us."

Steve Young thought that Owens’ catch meant much more than just a victory it meant the avoidance of mental anguish over a long offseason.

"Terrell is a serious guy," Young said. "He makes a mistake, he carries it with him, maybe even inordinately so. So that’s a big play for him."

All the guilt and frustration that Owens carried on his broad shoulders heading into the final drive came cascading off with his dramatic, game-winning grab with three seconds remaining.

After slicing up the middle and hauling in a bullet from Young, Owens took a sharp blow from Packers safety Darren Sharper before landing in the end zone. Before he could move, he was buried under a pile of teammates and drowned in a sea of cheers from the sellout crowd.

When Owens emerged from the celebration, he had tears streaming down his face and a look that combined pain and joy.

"Terrell Owens was beside himself," Mariucci said."Geez, I couldn’t tell if he was hurt or crying."

It first appeared that Owens had been injured on the play, as he clutched his arms to his chest. But the clenched shoulders merely signified how tightly he was hugging the football while baring his soul.

"All year I had been making plays and did not want to get in a big game and choke up," Owens said.

It took Owens a while to acknowledge the crowd that he had thrown into a frenzy. He seemed too focused on his own joy and relief and on receiving the ecstatic hugs of his teammates. It was clear their affection meant the world to the young wide receiver. Then, as if snapping out of a funk, Owens whirled towards the crowd, took their adulation into his outstretched arms and, in a burst of energy, hurled the game-winning ball 40 rows deep.

As if atoning for their own sins for booing and doubting Owens after his second-quarter drop, the five to 10 fans who reached for the pass all dropped it. All was forgiven, the redemption complete.

"All my teammates were encouraging me to keep my head up. The guys were telling me on the sideline during the game to stick with it and you will get another opportunity," Owens said. "I’m glad I got the chance at the end to redeem myself for my team."

By Joe Lago
NFL.com

SAN FRANCISCO (Sept. 6, 1998) Why fly when you can drive?

Despite striking through the air seemingly at will against the New York Jets, the San Francisco 49ers rode running back Garrison Hearst to victory on a 96-yard touchdown run that capped a dramatic 36-30 overtime win over the New York Jets.

Of course, the longest run in team history is the last thing head coach Steve Mariucci expected when he called "Ninety-Oh," a simple trap play designed to create some breathing room deep in 49ers territory. Instead, Hearst’s wild ride created havoc in the south end zone of 3Com Park.

"Jerry (Rice) told everyone, ‘Get off him! Let him breathe!’ " Hearst recalled of the dogpile that was the 49ers end-zone celebration. "He said, ‘I know! I’ve been there before!’ "

"This play will go down in history as one of the great runs," Mariucci said. "It had downfield blocking, broken tackles, and what a great time to have that run to win the game. I couldn’t tell if he scored. The players flew onto the field and everyone went crazy."

San Francisco hadn’t witnessed a chase scene like that since Nicholas Cage and action-flick producer Jerry Bruckheimer were in town for "The Rock." Crashed cars weren’t strewn on Potrero Hill and along Market Street. The damage was done to a Jets team hoping to pull out an upset win on the road.

"That was a tough way to lose," New York coach Bill Parcells said. "It’s very disappointing to fight that hard and lose."

"That’s exactly what I was hoping I could do," Jets running back Curtis Martin said. "I wanted to break one 80 yards to win the game."

The first play after Nick Gallery’s 49-yard punt pinned the 49ers on their own 4, Hearst took the handoff from Steve Young and burst up the middle breaking two tackles. He then swerved to the right sideline and gave free safety Kevin Williams a stiff arm Marcus Allen would be proud of.

"Someone took out the D-linemen and I thought, ‘I’ve got a chance,’ " Hearst recalled.

The path wasn’t clear just yet for Hearst. First, tackle Dave Fiore had to rumble downfield to move some Jets defenders out of the way. Terrell Owens took care of the final roadblock inside the 10-yard line as Hearst barely outran an oncoming Mo Lewis.

"The last 10 yards, I was pulling everything I had," Hearst said. "I can’t say what I said, but it was coming out of my ‘booty.’ "

"I was just hoping to end it some sort of way," Hearst added.

Hearst’s last-play heroics gave him 187 yards the fourth-highest single-game total in team history and 2 touchdowns on just 20 carries. The 96-yard run not only broke Hugh McElhenny’s old team mark of 89 yards set in 1952 but it erased some concern about a one-dimensional San Francisco offense.

"You know what, there was a lot of talk early about our running game," Hearst said. "I think we answered some questions today. We ran the ball well today."

The final 96 yards is what Niner fans will remember.

49ers count on McKittrick to work his magic
Sporting News – August 31, 1998
by Dan Pompei

Understand this. This is not the offensive line the 49ers wanted, The team thought it was set with Kirk Scrafford at one tackle, but a neck injury ended his career prematurely.

There were intentions to make a hard run at left tackle Todd Steussie, but the Vikings signed him right before he became a free agent. So the 49ers offered free-agent tackle/guard Joe Patton $400,000 a year more than the Redskins did, but Patton chose to remain with his old team.

Then, the 49ers traded a second-round pick to the Broncos for tackle Jamie Brown, and later found out why the Broncos were so willing to part with a player at a position where they were thin. The team has been disappointed in Brown, who has missed most of preseason with a groin injury (even though the team’s medical personnel cleared him to practice) and then was AWOL for the first exhibition game.

The 49ers intended to draft offensive tackle Mo Collins in the first round, but the Raiders traded ahead of the 49ers to steal Collins. The 49ers then used their second-round pick on center/guard Jeremy Newberry, but he blew out his knee and is lost for the season.

So this is what the 49ers are left with: Dave Fiore, a former undrafted free agent who never has played in a game at the NFL level—or even at the NCAA Division I level—starting at left tackle, and Derrick Deese, who was supposed to be a backup guard, starting at right tackle. In between are a pair of above-average veteran guards in Kevin Gogan and Ray Brown, and a journeyman center in Chris Dalman.

"If I were in their position, I’d be very concerned," one general manager says. "That’s the worst pair of tackles in the league."

Offensive lines usually stand in between pass rushers and quarterbacks. This one threatens to stand between the 49ers and the Super Bowl.

Then again, the offensive line always has been an afterthought for this team. Before this year, it hadn’t drafted an offensive lineman in the top two rounds since 1987, and had drafted only one offensive lineman in any round (Tim Hanshaw, fourth round, 1995) since 1993.

Why? In addition to having a quarterback, Steve Young, whose mobility, awareness and knowledge cover up blocking problems, the 49ers have an offensive line coach, Bobb McKittrick, who probably has gotten more production out of more bad players than any coach in the league. And that’s what the 49ers are counting on.

"There are more important positions to fill," 49ers director of football operations Dwight Clark says. "We were prepared to sign an offensive tackle this year. But if it didn’t happen, we knew we could go to Plan B and let Bobb work his magic. He’s good at taking an inexperienced player and getting him ready to play."

Already, Fiore has acquitted himself well against some decent pass rushers in the preseason, and McKittrick is predicting Deese will be the most improved player on the team. Raiders coach Jon Gruden, who worked with McKittrick when he was a 49ers assistant in 1990, thinks McKittrick is the best position coach in football.

"He’s a great schemer, the best I’ve ever been around as far as how to run the ball, how to protect the passer," Gruden says. "He’s so creative."

In an era where most offensive linemen look like they should be floating above a parade, McKittrick likes "little" guys. He helped the 49ers to a Super Bowl victory after the 1981 season with 260-pound Dan Audick starting at tackle. Neither Deese nor Fiore is expected to weigh more than 280 once the season gets rolling.

"The things that are important to me are intelligence, movement, quickness, knee bend, explosion and center of gravity," McKittrick says. "Nowhere did I mention size. If you have all of those assets and you have size, that’s a plus. But not many big ones can do all the things I like them to do."

Gogan came to the 49ers as a 330-pounder who had played in two Super Bowls (with the Cowboys) and one Pro Bowl (with the Raiders). But the front office had to force Gogan on McKittrick the way you have to force a pill on a dog. Though most of the league thinks zone blocking with behemoths is the way to go, McKittrick asks his linemen to play a different game.

McKittrick uses "all 14 clubs," to quote Gruden. His blockers use more techniques than almost any other blockers, and the 49ers use more runblocking and pass-blocking schemes than most teams. In fact, 49ers coach Steve Mariucci has, at times, been concerned that McKittrick was trying to do too much with his linemen. Former 49ers coach George Seifert had the same reaction on occasion.

"He doesn’t have a set style," says Harris Barton, who is being used as a backup for the team’s interior line this year. "If he sees the New York Jets run a play on film that looks good, he has no problem stealing it. Other coaches may say, `We’re going to pass-block this way, run-block that way.’ He’s always changing and adapting."

These are the methods McKittrick deploys to compensate for lack of size and skill in his offensive line:

The cut block. By-the-book traditionalists teach their offensive linemen never to leave their feet. But in his 20 years with the Niners, McKittrick has been a pioneer of sorts with the cut block. Now, close to half the teams in the league do it at least occasionally.

"He teaches the perception of the cut," Ray Brown says. "If you cut a guy once, he’ll think about it. It creates an advantage for us. Linebackers have to put their hands down to defend themselves, instead of having their hands up in position to make a tackle. Don’t worry if you don’t get the guy. He’ll be worried if you’re around his feet, and it will slow him up."

The reverse shoulder block. This is another technique that flies in the facemask of convention because it involves a blocker turning his hips away from the direction the ballcarrier is moving. On running plays and play action, the 49ers will pull a blocker. That blocker will turn sideways to hit a defender with his "reverse" or far shoulder. No matter which way the defender tries to go, he’s pushed toward the sideline.

McKittrick, a former artillery officer in the Marines, learned the technique when he was playing single-wing football in the 1950s. Few other teams use the reverse shoulder block with frequency, although the Chiefs have gotten pretty good at it.

Misdirection. Typically, the 49ers will pull a guard one direction, inducing a defender to follow him. Then, the 49ers will promptly run through the hole that was vacated by the guard and the defender. It’s disheartening because the defensive player can follow his assignment correctly yet leave a gaping hole for a back to run through. Such key breakers, as they are known, are particularly effective against big, physical, dominant defenders.

Help from the uncovered linemen. McKittrick encourages his blockers to help out when they are uncovered in pass protection, even if it means moving to the other side of the line. Brown, who played for 10 years under the direction of esteemed line coaches Tom Bresnahan, Joe Bugel and Jim Hanifan, says he never had played under that philosophy, and he never thought it would work as well as it does.

It all adds up to an offensive line that will function better than anyone has a right to expect.

Seifert deserved better than a DeBartolo punch
Sporting News—01.27.97

George Seifert said all the right things during his stunning news conference announcing his "retirement" from the 49ers after a fabulous eight-year run. He talked about how it was "time for some new blood," about how you can’t be a "head coach for infinity," and about how "there’s a natural process to this thing."

I don’t believe him for one second.

The only thing I’m convinced about is that once Seifert told the 49ers’ front office that he was unhappy about going into 1997 without a contract extension, he was advised to make sure the door didn’t hit him on tire way out of the team’s Santa Clara training complex.

Of course, the press conference spin-doctoring orchestrated by Seifert, team president Carmen Policy and owner Edward DeBartolo Jr. was designed to make us believe that this was one big happy family, that the torch was being passed in an orderly fashion, and that University of California coach Steve Mariucci—he of the one year’s worth of head-coaching experience—was the perfect choice to lead the 49ers into the next millennium.

Nonsense.

Beneath the outward calm of all the principals involved in Seifert’s departure, there is a decided undercurrent that the coach with the best winning percentage in NFL history was thought to have outlived his usefulness by his employers, who don’t seem to realize that failing to win the Super Bowl every single year is not a capital crime.

"My wife first told me when I got this job, `Don’t-screw it up.’ I don’t think I did," says Seiferi, who was 108-35 as successor to Bill Walsh after the 1988 season. "I’m proud of the things we accomplished during my watch."

And well he should be. Seifert not only inherited the legacy of Walsh and conducted himself with poise, dignity and single-minded resolve, he also continued the team’s winning tradition by leading the 49ers to two Super Bowl championships and reaching the playoffs in all but one season under his stewardship.

This season, the team reached the playoffs even though the offense was nearly crippled by quarterback injuries, running-back inefficiency and breakdowns along the offensive line. All three areas conspired against the 49ers in their division-round loss to the Packers.

Yet DeBartolo reacts to these playoff failures with the petulance of a child. After the game, he was charged with punching out a Packers fan. Last week, he punched out the coach who gave him two more Super Bowl rings.

So now it’s time for Mariucci to inherit the understated legacy left behind by Seifert, who never touted himself as a genius like his predecessor but nevertheless contributed mightily to the five-time Super Bowl run and was regarded as one of the league’s premier coaches. Mariucci seems to have all the credentials to be a fine head coach in the NFL, but let’s not be deceived into thinking he will be an instant success.

After all, one season at Cal and a nice run as Brett Favre’s quarterbacks coach in Green Bay hardly constitutes the perfect resume. Mariucci, 41, has-been coaching for 18 years. His Cal team began the ‘96 season with a 5-0 record but lost six of its last seven games, capped by a loss to Navy in the Aloha Bowl. Under Mariucci, Favre developed into a Pro Bowl quarterback and the league’s most valuable player the last two seasons.

"There’s no doubt the bulk of my success in the NFL has been due to Steve Mariucci," Favre once-said. "I wouldn’t be where I am today without his coaching."

But can the 49ers expect to be anywhere near the Super Bowl in the immediate future under Mariucci? It’s a chance the 49ers were willing to take, even if it meant the departure of a coach who might one day join Walsh in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.