Niners Nation

Why are you a 49er fan?

2012-05-17T02:49:00Z

Fooch's Note: This is a fun FanPost for the evening. Post in it if you get a minute.

After my last fanpost, I learned a harsh lesson: I don't know near enough about my favorite NFL team, the San Francisco 49ers. With this realization, I was forced to ask myself another question. Why am I a 49er fan?

After all, I live in Alaska and have never even been to San Francisco. The closest team to where I live is the Seattle Seahawks, and trust me, there are a lot of Seahawk fans here (though there is a decent mix of most teams, the only ones I see prominently are the 'hawks and the latest up-and-coming team). I don't get to watch near enough games since I am active in my church. So, why am I a niner fan?

I got to watch John Taylor walk in with the game-winning TD in Superbowl XXIII, got to watch Jerry Rice play, watch Ronnie Lott hit people. I got to watch a world-class orginazation play football. I watched Steve Young "get the monkey off his back", watch Montana embarass Elway, and watch Jerry Rice play. I got to watch Craig high-stepping and Rathman run people over.

I've also seen the bad times. Lawrence Phillips will always be on my evil list. Montana to the Chiefs still stings. Craig and Lott in silver and black made me cry. I watched T.O. earn his spurs because Young threw to him over and over despite him having hands of rubber. I watched Garcia play dang well only to be cut and insulted by T.O. I watched he-who-must-not-be-named (the coach after Mariucci) destroy our team and make Sing look like a genius. I watched as Sing broke my heart (I wanted him as a HC so bad, and look where it got us!). This pasts decade has just SUCKED. So, again, WHY AM I A NINER FAN?

Then the reason hit me: because they are the best dang team ever (and I think it was cool that they are like Alaska in that Alaska is the 49th state)! I have always followed them, even when I was a little boy looking through the Sears catalog and wanting that 49er gear (and the women models, but that's another story). The 49ers are trend-setters. They have class. And I am just that damn stubborn. I have been, and always will be a 49er fan.

Oh, and we now have Jim Harbaugh. (My apologies to Coach Harbaugh for calling him "hurtback" while he was playing QB in the NFL.)

This is an exciting time to be a 49er fan, and I fully expect us to get #6 soon. And even if we don't, I will still follow the best dang team ever.

I am curious. Why are you a 49er fan? Please let us know.

NFL Top 100: Joe Staley Ranked No. 67, Carlos Rogers Ranked No. 69

2012-05-17T01:06:47Z

The NFL Network continued their series of the Top 100 players in the NFL in 2012 tonight, providing us with the players ranked No. 61-70. After seeing NaVorro Bowman ranked No. 85, the 49ers had two more players in tonight's episode. Cornerback Carlos Rogers was ranked No. 69 and offensive tackle Joe Staley was ranked No. 67. 49ers.com has reaction video from both players (Staley video; Rogers video).

The list is supposedly decided on by a vote of players. I recall some tweets last year from some players who hadn't voted and were wondering who actually did vote. Whatever the case, it's still a cool recognition. In a league with upwards of 1,700 players, getting ranked among the top 100 shows some serious respect for a player.

The season was notable for both players. Both players made their first Pro Bowl appearances and both also made their first appearance on All-Pro teams, appearing on the second team unit. The 49ers will be counting on big things from both players in 2012.

Awesome 49ers Player Re-Tweet Of The Day

2012-05-16T22:30:21Z

It's a slow day, but that didn't stop Jason Slowey from helping us out by retweeting this great line.

@JasonSlowey is the symposium where they teach you how be be a normal member of society and not shoot yourself in a club?
— Alex Orr (@Alex_Orr_What) May 16, 2012

Over the summer, NFL rookies take part in an NFLPA rookie program, coming up this weekend, and then a rookie symposium the league conducts. The NFLPA rookie program is more about getting the players names out there and includes the day where they get some photos for football cards.

The symposium is where players get a chance to learn about the perils of NFL life and how to stay on the straight and narrow. Some players live the good life and make it through their NFL career with few issues. Others do not.

It's also worth noting that he had this reply to a tweet about the hardest defensive front to face. Jason knows what's up.

@bigzeke49 any defensive front that includes Patrick Willis, Justin smith, Navarro bowman, Aldon smith, tukuafu, etc... Lol
— Jason Slowey (@JasonSlowey) May 16, 2012

SB Nation Wants Your Deployment Sports Stories

2012-05-16T21:30:13Z

Memorial Day is approaching, and SB Nation's YouTube channel wants to honor veterans with some video. If you ever served overseas, the network would love your help on this project: we're seeking video of veterans talking about their favorite sports memories while deployed. Matt Ufford, a former Marine who does a lot of video content for the network will be compiling video submissions into a sort of long form feature video.

The content can really be anything: how you learned who won the World Series, watching the Super Bowl at 3 a.m., playing soccer with Iraqi kids (or kids of whatever country in which you were deployed) -- whatever sports memory that has stuck with you through the years. Tell us how you felt, what the atmosphere was like, why it mattered to you.

There are no concerns about the production quality of submissions. Webcams are fine, and you can upload it to twitvid or YouTube and tweet it to Matt, or email Matt the video file. Please include your name, your service, and the years you served.

Thanks, and we look forward to sharing your memories.

2012 NFL Draft: Reviewing the Minnesota Vikings

2012-05-16T20:00:16Z

The Vikings have the potential to be good in a few years. I feel pretty comfortable making such a statement; and I do not think it is too controversial to make. A lot of the pieces are in place for a successful rebuilding process.

The major caveat to such a statement is that even if the Vikings do rebuild successfully, they still have to play in a very competitive NFC North. It's not like they are chasing one team. Nay, they have to catch up to three (I think) playoff caliber teams. That is tough in this league - but crazier stuff has happened, I suppose.

That said, the Vikings did have a lot of areas of concern this offseason, and the relative success of their Free Agency was never going to fix everything. The plethora of drafts picks this year, however, should go a long way to solving these problems. I particularly like how aggressive the Vikings were in the first round, making some smart moves and still getting excellent players that also fill needs in OT Matt Kalil from USC and S Harrison Smith from Natre Dame.

Jump to the third round for another addition to the secondary with CB Josh Robinson from UCF. It's the fourth round, however, that may be the best round for the Vikings (with obvious exceptions for the first). Adding three players, the Vikings went a long way to potential upgrade their passing attack, which was a big area of need, with WR Jarius Wright from Arkansas, TE Rhett Ellison from USC, and WR Greg Childs from Arkansas. From what I have read, though, Ellison will not be much more than a special team type of guy who can potentially play fullback and TE when necessary. Also, when in doubt, collect all the Arkansas receivers!

The only other multi-pick round the Vikings had was the seventh, in which they chose LB Audie Cole from North Carolina State and DE Trevor Guyton from California. They join sixth round choice K Blair Walsh from Georgia and fifth rounder CB Robert Blanton from Notre Dame.

Alex Smith Mechanics: A Before/After Picture Courtesy Of CSN Bay Area

2012-05-16T17:57:36Z

One of the more frequently discussed stories the last few weeks has been the report that 49ers QB Alex Smith worked with pitching coach Tom House to improve on his mechanics. We have not had many pictures from workouts, so it is a bit difficult to sort through the changes. I shot House an email with some questions, but never heard back, so we've sort of been flying blind.

Thankfully we've got something we can work with for now. Matt Maiocco put together an article about the mechanics issues, with an interesting before and after shot. Here is the picture (thanks to CSN's digital folks for allowing us to post it):

via www.csnbayarea.com

One of the common questions about Alex Smith's mechanics has been the locked front leg. As Maiocco pointed out, Ron Jaworski has pointed to the locked leg as being a significant issue in Smith's accuracy. The "after" shot shows Smith throwing the ball with a distinctive bend in his leg.

Smith does not always have the locked leg, but it has been enough of an issue that hopefully this will lead to more bending on a fairly consistent basis. Smith will need to carry this over to the playing field and not slip into bad habits. Smith is getting plenty of coaching from across the 49ers coaching staff, but Coach Harbaugh will need to continue working to enforce these good habits.

Will it be enough to improve his accuracy? We'll just have to wait and see. However, I might take more time keeping an eye on the locked vs. bent leg once the season begins.

On a related note, Tom House will be on Chronicle Live on CSN Bay Area Thursday evening at 5pm PT and again at 11pm PT.

49ers OC Greg Roman Talks Offense On KNBR

2012-05-16T16:01:01Z

49ers offensive coordinator Greg Roman took a few minutes out of his day today to go on KNBR for a chat about the 49ers offense heading into the 2012 season. While the 49ers coaching staff is generally fairly tight-lipped about most everything, they still provide the occasional bit of insight. Additionally, Greg Roman's media interaction has generally been at least a little bit more interesting than we often see.

Roman didn't reveal a whole lot about the team, but he took some time to chat about several aspects of the offense, as well as some off-the-field stuff. When I get a chance to listen to or watch 49ers interviews, I try and tweet out pertinent quotations. You can check out the Niners Nation twitter account @NinersNation:

Wednesday workouts at this time of the year generally start with some individual work and treatment. Followed by organized lifting, then some football meetings
On Alex Smith consulting with Tom House: Coaching staff encouraged him to take advantage of this; provided an objective way to look at Smith's biomechanics and efficiency of motion - he also pointed out that there is not nearly enough time to get to those issues once 11-man football starts
On backup QBs: Kaepernick, Johnson and Tolzien are all doing a good job competing; "Iron sharpens iron"; Kaepernick making good strides spitting out plays in the huddle
On Randy Moss: Roman's still getting to know him; he's a smart football player with lots of energy; resume speaks for itself
On A.J. Jenkins: Roman doesn't think he's overwhelmed at this point and is taking advantage of the chance to be around and learn from successful players
On Michael Crabtree: He's a smart guy who has reached a point where he can teach young players and help the younger receivers
On LaMichael James: He plays big and wouldn't define him as a "tiny" player; he has a low center of gravity, which helps him

My favorite part of the interview probably came when Roman was asked about Gregg Williams. The host asked Roman about Williams comments before the Saints-49ers playoff matchup related to going after specific players. Roman took the high road stating that what other people want to do is up to them, but that is not something the 49ers do. The 49ers play good, hard, clean football. He said he won't sit in judgment but it was a great win for the 49ers.

Finally, there were reports out of practice yesterday that 49ers head coach Jim Harbaugh actually suited up for practice yesterday at the quarterback position. There is no complete confirmation of what exactly went down and unfortunately Greg Roman would not comment on it. If we can find a picture or some video of Coach Harbaugh suited up, we'll get it posted. My fingers remain crossed!

49ers May 15 Practice Video: A Whole Lot Of Jugs

2012-05-16T13:23:48Z

The 49ers were back at practice yesterday and we've got a bit more video to keep you mildly entertained. And I managed to avoid hiding it behind a private wall. Learned something new on YouTube yesterday!

There's not a whole ton to break down from this video, but head after the jump for a few thoughts.

The first 30 seconds featured a coach using the Jugs machine to fire off passes to receivers and defensive backs. They are not the most accurate or well "thrown" of passes. At the same time, Carlos Rogers spent a lot of time working with the Jugs machine as part of his process of improving his catching ability. He also got laser-eye surgery so that may have played a significant role, but the Jugs machine provides plenty of practice. I believe Vernon Davis spends a lot of time with the Jugs machine.

While yesterday's video from Monday did not feature a whole ton of material, it seemed to provide a bit more content than this one. It's better than nothing, but there's only so much we can take from defensive backs running wide receiver routes and linebackers jumping over some small padding.

The video wraps up with Randy Moss running a quick little route and catching a pass. Truly riveting stuff.

For now the team cannot run offense versus defense drills, but they are still able to work on some basics of playbook implementation. There is a limitation on their ability to work on play-calling adjustments depending on the offensive or defensive look, but they can work on fundamentals and other basics.