49er alums Jerry Rice and Rickey Jackson have been voted to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Rice is undoubtedly the greatest wide receiver of all time, holding numerous records including most career receptions, receiving yards, receiving touchdowns, and most touchdowns overall. He was a member of the 1988-89, 1989-90 and 1994-95 Super Bowl championship squads and is considered by many as the greatest football player of all time. Jackson was also a member of the 1994-95 squad, and finished his career third all-time in quarterback sacks. They are the 17th and 18th 49ers to be voted into the HOF. The staff at NinerCapHell send their congrats to these two worthy hall of famers.
Unfortunately, well-deserving finalists former 49ers Roger Craig, Charles Haley and Richard Dent did not make it in. Hopefully they can get in soon.
Two former 49ers were named to the NFL's 2000s All-Decade Team. Wideout Terrell Owens, who had 3 of his best seasons with the 49ers in 2000, 2001 and 2002 and guard Larry Allen, who helped lead the way for Frank Gore's franchise record rushing season in 2006, are the only representatives for the team in a very poor overall decade for the franchise. The only candidate that could be considered a snub would be Bryant Young, who you can make an argument for being every bit as good or better than the other defensive tackles that made the team.
The 2000s team was a far cry in comparison to the golden era of the 49ers. The 1980s team included 49ers Joe Montana, Roger Craig, Jerry Rice, Ronnie Lott, John Taylor and the late Bill Walsh while the 1990s team fielded Jerry Rice, Chris Doleman, Bryant Young, Kevin Greene, Deion Sanders, Rod Woodson, Ronnie Lott and Gary Anderson.
Patrick Willis has withdrawn from the Pro Bowl citing knee bursitis and swelling. Matt Maiocco reports that if this were a regular season game, Willis would have played with the injury. The Panthers' Jon Beason, who had a great case for the Pro Bowl, is now in as Willis' injury replacement.
Per the New York Daily News, former 49ers cornerback Eric Green has been accused of sexual assault, according to a $10 million law suit filed against Green by transgender woman Angelina Mavilia, 38, of New York City. According to Mavilia, she was "forcibly sodomized" by Green in Scottsdale, AZ in early 2009 when he was still with the Cardinals. The papers have been filed in Florida, where Green maintains his residency.
According to Mavilia, Green got "extremely agitated and threatening... 'This never happened. You'd better not tell.'"
New OL coach Mike Solari has brought back a former 49er great as his assistant - Ray Brown. Brown, who played in the NFL for 20 years, was with the 49ers from 1996 to 2001 as the mainstay left guard. Often underappreciated by evidence of only one Pro Bowl appearance despite annually being one of the elite guards in the NFL, he was one of the anchors of a dominating offensive line that was top 10 in rushing every season but one while he was there, including one #2 ranking and two #1 rankings. The 47 year old Brown was previously an OL assistant with Buffalo for the past two seasons until Dick Jauron was fired.
Standout DE Justin Smith has been named to his first Pro Bowl. Arguably the best 3-4 DE in the NFL in 2009, Smith was the second alternate at DT behind Pat Williams. With Kevin Williams pulling out due to injury and Pat Williams opting out, the underappreciated Smith is deservedly in.
This makes for 5 49ers making Pro Bowl appearances in 2010:
(* denotes starter, ^ denotes injury alternate) * Vernon Davis ^ Frank Gore * Andy Lee ^ Justin Smith * Patrick Willis
Former 49ers punter Tom Wittum has passed away at the age of 60. Wittum, who played for the 49ers from 1973-1977 (70 games, 40.8 yds per punt, two-time Pro Bowl selection), died on Friday, January 22. Our condolences go out to the Wittum family.
Offensive line coach Chris Foerster was allowed to leave the team to sign with Mike Shanahan in Washington. The 49ers quickly replaced him with former Chiefs and Seahawks OL coach Mike Solari. Foerster's line struggled terribly throughout the year, whether it was the talent or the coaching or both is yet to be seen. Solari, a native of Daly City, saw great success in Kansas City from 1997-2005 as OL coach before taking on offensive coordinator duties the next two years. Solari spend the past two years as Seattle's OL coach and was released with Pete Carroll's hiring. Previously, Solari served under the late great Bobb McKittrick on George Seifert's staff from 1992 to 1996 as tight ends coach and assistant offensive line coach, so he brings a terrific resume to the table to hopefully fix what arguably is the worst offensive line in the NFL.
Frank Gore is headed to Miami for his second career Pro Bowl appearance. With the NFC's top rusher Stephen Jackson out of the game with an injury, first alternate Gore was named as his replacement. Gore rushed for 1,120 yards (T-11th NFL) and 10 touchdowns (T-9th NFL) while having 406 yards and 3 touchdowns receiving this season.
If the Vikings beat the Saints this Sunday, Justin Smith will also be headed to the Pro Bowl, his first. Smith is the second alternate behind Pat Williams at 4-3 defensive tackle and both Williamses would obviously sit out of the game in preparation for the Super Bowl. Smith was arguably the most dominant 3-4 DE in the league this year and a highly overlooked player on the 49ers' defense, putting constant pressure on opposing quarterbacks and causing plenty of havoc in the backfield all year long.
Matt Maiocco reports that the 49ers have replaced fired ST coach Al Everest with Kurt Schottenheimer, the younger brother of Marty and uncle of Jets offensive coordinator Brian. He has been a defensive and special teams coordinator at both the NFL and college levels in the past for three decades, most recently as the secondary coach for the Packers and has not coached special teams since 1994 with the Kansas City Chiefs. Last week the 49ers interviewed their #1 candidate, former Bills ST coach Bobby April, but April chose to go to Philadelphia instead.
Vernon Davis, Patrick Willis and Andy Lee have been named to the 2010 NFC Pro Bowl roster, all as starters.
This is Davis' first Pro Bowl, Willis' 3rd and Lee's 2nd. Davis currently leads all tight ends in receiving touchdowns (2nd overall in the entire league) with 12, one touchdown away from tying Antonio Gates TE touchdown record, and is fourth amongst TEs in receiving yards and fifth in receptions. Willis leads the entire league in tackles with 147 and Lee trails only Raider Shane Lechler in punting average at 47.7 with a net of 41.4, also second only behind Lechler.
49er alums Jerry Rice and Rickey Jackson have been voted to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Rice is undoubtedly the greatest wide receiver of all time, holding numerous records including most career receptions, receiving yards, receiving touchdowns, and most touchdowns overall. He was a member of the 1988-89, 1989-90 and 1994-95 Super Bowl championship squads and is considered by many as the greatest football player of all time. Jackson was also a member of the 1994-95 squad, and finished his career third all-time in quarterback sacks. They are the 17th and 18th 49ers to be voted into the HOF. The staff at NinerCapHell send their congrats to these two worthy hall of famers.
Subscribe to our news feed!
New OL coach Mike Solari has brought back a former 49er great as his assistant - Ray Brown. Brown, who played in the NFL for 20 years, was with the 49ers from 1996 to 2001 as the mainstay left guard. Often underappreciated by evidence of only one Pro Bowl appearance despite annually being one of the elite guards in the NFL, he was one of the anchors of a dominating offensive line that was top 10 in rushing every season but one while he was there, including one #2 ranking and two #1 rankings. The 47 year old Brown was previously an OL assistant with Buffalo for the past two seasons until Dick Jauron was fired.
Former 49ers punter Tom Wittum has passed away at the age of 60. Wittum, who played for the 49ers from 1973-1977 (70 games, 40.8 yds per punt, two-time Pro Bowl selection), died on Friday, January 22. Our condolences go out to the Wittum family.
Offensive line coach Chris Foerster was allowed to leave the team to sign with Mike Shanahan in Washington. The 49ers quickly replaced him with former Chiefs and Seahawks OL coach Mike Solari. Foerster's line struggled terribly throughout the year, whether it was the talent or the coaching or both is yet to be seen. Solari, a native of Daly City, saw great success in Kansas City from 1997-2005 as OL coach before taking on offensive coordinator duties the next two years. Solari spend the past two years as Seattle's OL coach and was released with Pete Carroll's hiring. Previously, Solari served under the late great Bobb McKittrick on George Seifert's staff from 1992 to 1996 as tight ends coach and assistant offensive line coach, so he brings a terrific resume to the table to hopefully fix what arguably is the worst offensive line in the NFL.
Frank Gore is headed to Miami for his second career Pro Bowl appearance. With the NFC's top rusher Stephen Jackson out of the game with an injury, first alternate Gore was named as his replacement. Gore rushed for 1,120 yards (T-11th NFL) and 10 touchdowns (T-9th NFL) while having 406 yards and 3 touchdowns receiving this season.
Matt Maiocco reports that the 49ers have replaced fired ST coach Al Everest with Kurt Schottenheimer, the younger brother of Marty and uncle of Jets offensive coordinator Brian. He has been a defensive and special teams coordinator at both the NFL and college levels in the past for three decades, most recently as the secondary coach for the Packers and has not coached special teams since 1994 with the Kansas City Chiefs. Last week the 49ers interviewed their #1 candidate, former Bills ST coach Bobby April, but April chose to go to Philadelphia instead.
Vernon Davis, Patrick Willis and Andy Lee have been named to the 2010 NFC Pro Bowl roster, all as starters.
