Let's Talk Niners

JERRY RICE: Briefly, I’d like to clear up a misconception I saw in print last week, that Walsh let Rice go after the 49ers 2000 season because he thought Jerry was through.

In fact, Walsh realized that Rice could never be happy playing second-fiddle with the Niners after being the go-to guy for so many years. He was already griping that Jeff Garcia could not get the ball to him as Young and Joe Montana had.

So, Walsh called Al Davis and told him Rice still had something left and he could help the Raiders. Without the baggage he’d had with the Niners, Rice had three productive years as a possession receiver with the Raiders.

I know this background because Walsh told me that in confidence at the time.

www.glenndickey.com

49ERS CHANCES: To the surprise of absolutely nobody, first round draft picks Anthony Davis and Mike Iapatu have been officially moved into the starting lineup in training camp, so they’ll be ready for the Sept. 12 opener in Seattle.

The two were drafted to be starters, and Iapatu has been especially impressive in earlier workouts in the spring. He’s the kind of offensive lineman who punishes the defender opposite him.

It was absolutely essential that the 49ers upgrade their offensive line, so they could make quarterback Alex Smith comfortable operating out of the straight T formation. Smith has been most effective operating out of the spread/shotgun because that was the formation used by his college team, but it’s difficult to run out of that, so Frank Gore was largely wasted. The 49ers have to operate out of the T this year to have the consistent offense they need to become a playoff team.

Glenn Dickey has granted the 49er Fan Club permission to share his articles on the 49ers from his private website, www.glenndickey.com (see below on details for gaining access to his articles).

About Glenn Dickey

Glenn Dickey was with the Chronicle until 2005 and is now writing for the SF Examiner. Prior to the Chronicle, he was sports editor of the Watsonville Register-Pajaronian. He is a June, 1958 graduate of UC Berkeley.

He is married to Nancy, a retired real estate agent in Oakland. Their son, Scott Dickey, and Scott’s wife, Sarah, are attorneys.

Glenn Dickey is the author of 16 full-length books:

• Champions, a history of the Oakland A’s.
• Glenn Dickey’s 49ers, the story of the rise and fall of the San Francisco 49ers.
• The First 40 Years, The Story Of The San Francisco Giants, 1958-97.
• The First 50 Years, The Story Of The San Francisco 49ers, 1946-1995.
• Just Win, Baby, The Story Of The Oakland Raiders, 1960-1990.
• Building a Champion, co-authored w/Bill Walsh, which shows how Walsh built the 49ers into five-time Super Bowl winners.
• Impartial Judgment, co-authored with Jim Tunney, a look at Tunney’s career as an NFL referee.
• San Francisco 49ers: The Super Years. Photos by Michael Zagaris.
• The History of Professional Basketball.
• The History of the World Series.
• America Has a Better Team, the story of the San Francisco 49ers first Super Bowl year.
• The History of the American League.
• The History of the National League.
• Champs And Chumps, Heroes And Villains Of The Sports World.
• The Great No-Hitters.
• The Jock Empire.

He is the author of two juveniles:

• Sports Hero Jerry Rice
• Sports Hero Kevin Mitchell

Glenn Dickey has been a columnist for Pro Football Weekly since 1972. He has written more than 300 magazine articles.

He has appeared on “The Last Honest Sports Show”, and appears on Comcast’s “Chronicle Live”. In the past, he was a regular panelist on “Good Sports”, which also showed on KBHK-TV, 1991-1994, did commentary on KGO-TV, 1994-95, was a weekly participant on KNBR, 1991-96, and did commentary on KCBS, 1984.

Welcome to GlennDickey.com!

I’m now charging $12 a year for my website columns, which usually run 1800-2000 words in length. I will continue to emphasize Bay Area sports and use the information IÕve gained from talking to the main newsmakers to analyze current events. I will also occasionally revisit the past with nostalgic anecdotes.

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motivational figure as head coach. Please, can we stop talking about “smash mouth” football? That’s a term used by unimaginative writers. Singletary wants a tough, hard-hitting team. Who doesn’t? While writers used the term “finesse” to describe Bill Walsh’s teams, Walsh continually told the players they had to out-hit their opponents. Would you have called Ronnie Lott a finesse player?

If anything, Singletary’s team threw the ball too often last year. He wants a balanced attack between run and pass, which we’ll see this year.

Meanwhile, Jed York has been a marked improvement over his father as the head of the franchise. Unlike his father, Jed doesn’t poke his nose in where he’s not qualified; he sits in on draft meetings but doesn’t give advice. He’s working tirelessly on the push for a new stadium in Santa Clara, which is probably dependent on the 49ers improving enough on the field to attract outside investors to help fund the stadium. That improvement should come because they’re making good moves, both in the draft and in a trade like the one which brought in Ted Ginn Jr.

матрациBy: Glenn Dickey
Special to The Examiner
April 27, 2010

SAN FRANCISCO — The most significant aspect of the 49ers’ first-round picks last week is that they now will be able to use an offensive system which is best for their offensive stars.

When Alex Smith took over as the starting quarterback early last season, the 49ers often went to a spread offense, not only because Smith was more familiar with that from his college days, but because, when he took a snap under center, he was often overwhelmed by the pass rush before he had time to look for receivers.

But the spread formation doesn’t have enough options for running, so Frank Gore was largely wasted when the Niners used the spread. They became too much of a pass-happy offense.

With Anthony Davis and Mike Iupati plugged into their offensive line, Smith should be able to get good pass protection operating out of split backs and Gore will get bigger holes — which will also take the pressure off Smith.

I expect the Niners to run mainly out of the straight T this season with Smith only occasionally dropping back into the spread-shotgun formation in obvious passing situations.

The 49ers addressed another need when they picked safety Taylor Mays in the second round. Because of his USC background and professed admiration for Ronnie Lott, Mays has been compared to Lott, which does him a disservice. There is only one Ronnie Lott.

A much better comparison is Tim McDonald, another USC player and Niners safety because, like McDonald, Mays should play close to the line of scrimmage to be a run stopper as well as a pass defender. He and Dashon Goldson, who came into his own last season, should be an effective combination.

There isn’t much doubt this draft was aimed at helping Smith become the premier quarterback they need to succeed. I was amused by the draft “experts” who kept looking for the Niners to draft a quarterback because they had no confidence in Smith.

In fact, coach Mike Singletary has said repeatedly that Smith is the No. 1 quarterback.

He will take most of the snaps in spring workouts and training camp to prepare for the season. David Carr was brought in as an experienced backup in case of injury to Smith, not to compete for the starting job, despite Carr’s misplaced optimism.

And the 49ers made no attempt to get either Jimmy Clausen, who fell to the second round, or Colt McCoy, who lasted into the third round.

For the first time as a 49er, Smith will have the same offensive coordinator, Jimmy Raye, for a second season. That should help immensely. I expect Smith to have a season that will firmly establish him as a top NFL quarterback, which also means the 49ers will be in the thick of the playoff hunt.

Bill Walsh always said that a team has to first look at whom it has to beat in its division. The 49ers are in a good position because division champ Arizona has lost its starting quarterback, Kurt Warner, to retirement. Seattle had a good draft, but still has holes. The St. Louis Rams are hopeless.

Should be an enjoyable season for Niners fans.

Glenn Dickey has been covering Bay Area sports since 1963 and also writes on www.GlennDickey.com. E-mail him at glenndickey@hotmail.com.

Thanks to Glenn for granting The Fan Club permission to post his articles pertaining to the San Francisco 49ers.