Blogs

MT: Kendall Hunter Back Sprinting

The San Francisco 49ers enjoy a bevy of talented running backs who can run Greg Roman’s complex offensive system. One of them, third-year runner Kendall Hunter, is back running sprints this offseason. He’s doing so five months removed from a torn left Achilles. Perhaps, Kobe Bryant might want rehab notes from the 49ers running back.

Hunter shared details of his progress with Eric Branch of the San Francisco Chronicle.

“I’m just doing what the trainers want me to do,” Hunter told Branch. “That’s the process. I feel and know I can do more, but I’m not going to rush whatever the coaches and trainers want.”

Hunter rushed for 371 yards in 2012, good for 5.2 yards per carry. Hunter also scored two rushing touchdowns before injuring himself on Nov. 25 against the New Orleans Saints.

Hunter told Branch he’d like to participate in OTAs in May or San Francisco’s mandatory minicamp in June, but the talented running back understands the importance of a patient rehab process and expects to be held out of action until training camp.

More 49ers headlines can be found in today’s Morning Tailgate.

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MT: Seifert, Young Join SB Committee

The Bay Area’s quest to host Super Bowl L or LI received a boost this week with the two key former 49ers joining the region’s Super Bowl bid committee.

According to the SF Gate, Hall of Fame quarterback Steve Young and two-time Super Bowl winning coach George Seifert, have joined the committee that features many other well-known Bay Area personalities (Condoleeza Rice, Charles Schwab, Thomas Keller and others).

NFL owners will decide the host cities for both Super Bowls at the annual owner meetings on May 21. If the Bay Area wins, the game will be played at the new Santa Clara Stadium which is set to open in 2014.

The Bay Area is up against the Miami region to host Super Bowl L in 2016. It would be the 50^th anniversary of the biggest game in professional sports. The runner-up from that vote will compete with Houston to host Super Bowl LI in 2017. Bay Area mayors, Jamie Matthews of Santa Clara and Ed Lee of San Francisco, recently held a press conference on March 7 to discuss the Super Bowl bid.

Learn more about the future home of the San Francisco 49ers at NewSantaClaraStadium.com and book your personal tour of the facility today.

You can also learn more about the San Francisco Super Bowl bid on their official site and Twitter account.

More 49ers headlines can be found in today’s Morning Tailgate.

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MT: 49ers Top NFL Team Sales

The San Francisco 49ers sold the most team gear in the National Football League last season.

That’s according to a report from NFL.com’s Gregg Rosenthal, who also shared the top 15 jersey sales from the 2012 season. According to Rosenthal, the NFL’s tracking of team sales showed the 49ers last finished atop the NFL’s rankings in 1979 and also finished No. 2 back in 1994 and 1995.

Colin Kaepernick and Patrick Willis made the top-selling jersey list at the No. 4 and No. 10 spots, respectively.

ESPN sports business reporter Darren Rovell also weighed in on the team’s booming merchandise sales.

“49ers sell more gear than any other NFL team this year,” Rovell wrote on Twitter. “Congrats @JedYork.”

The 49ers have made an effort to make team merchandise more accessible to fans with the creation of the 49ers Team Store in Palo Alto, Calif., plus an official Facebook account for the store that keeps fans up to date with the latest arrivals.

The team is also offering jerseys of recently acquired wide receiver Anquan Boldin.

More 49ers headlines can be found in today’s Morning Tailgate.

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MT: Colin Kaepernick Goes Country

One of them is the Entertainer of the Year, the other is a fast-rising superstar.

It’s hard not to argue that both are worthy of the other’s designation, but that can be resolved at a later date. For now, Colin Kaepernick and Luke Bryan spent time backstage at the 2013 American Country Music Awards in Las Vegas.

Bryan won the Entertainer of the Year award; Kaepernick presented the Top Vocal Duo honor, given to Thompson Square.

The 49ers quarterback posted photos on his social media accounts, including a photo with Bryan, Sunday night’s big winner.

“A huge congratulations to @LukeBryanonline for winning entertainer of the year!” Kaepernick wrote on his Twitter account. “Couldn’t happen to a nicer guy!”

San Francisco’s starting quarterback also made complimentary comments about another standout person, former 49ers quarterback Alex Smith. Kaepernick told the Las Vegas Sun that he spoke with Smith over the phone after the veteran signal-caller was traded to the Kansas City Chiefs.

“He was a great teammate, a great mentor, and he’ll do great in Kansas City,” Kaepernick said of the former No. 1 overall draft pick in 2005.

More NFL headlines can be found in today’s Morning Tailgate.

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Morning Tailgate: Greg Roman Profile

There’s a lot to like about San Francisco 49ers offensive coordinator Greg Roman. I repeat, a lot.

He’s energetic, he’s thoughtful and perhaps most important of all, he knows how to put his players in position to win.

Twenty-seven victories in two seasons later, those impressive traits were recently documented by esteemed Yahoo! Sports writer Michael Silver, who wrote a solid profile on the 49ers play-caller. Silver and Roman spoke for so long over lunch recently, the 49ers coordinator’s car was impounded. Not to worry, Roman picked his car up and got back to doing what he loves.

Silver went into detail on how Roman is moving on from Super Bowl XLVII and how the game’s final sequence overshadowed a stellar season in 2012.

“The upshot is especially cruel,” Silver wrote. “Roman, the man who probably dialed up more brilliant calls than anyone in the business last season, the audacious innovator who overhauled the Niners’ offense on the fly in midseason and literally and figuratively unveiled formations that turned the football world upside down, is the guy getting blasted by half the folks who’ve ever held a Madden joystick.”

But don’t only take Silver’s words. Consider the comments from two-time Pro Bowl left tackle Joe Staley.

“I’ve never been around a coordinator who understands everything,” Staley told Silver. “Not just X’s and O’s and how you draw it up, but the bigger picture, too. Watching games [on tape], I find myself saying, ‘This is a perfect call here.’ It seems seamless to him. There are a lot of guys who are really smart with plays and who run creative schemes, but it’s the way you call those plays that makes all the difference. He’s great at both. He’s very innovative.”

Roman continues to find ways to make the 49ers better in 2013 and is surely eager to work with recently acquired quarterback Colt McCoy, in addition to installing more wrinkles to the hybrid offense the 49ers ran last season.

Roman can analyze the Super Bowl outcome all he wants, but in the back of his mind he knows there’s more to come from his offensive unit.

“The reality is, if you’ve got a guy who can throw the ball like [Colin Kaepernick] can and run it like he can, it eventually becomes a numbers game,” Roman told Silver. “What do you want to stop? Then we turn to something we call play-action, and it’s a huge advantage.

“So yeah, (defenses are) gonna be spending a lot of time on this. They should. This is real. And we’re just getting started.”

More 49ers headlines can be found in the Morning Tailgate.

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Morning Tailgate: Madden Cover Vote

It’s voting season.

NFL.com is asking fans to choose the best play in NFL history and two of San Francisco’s Hall of Fame quarterbacks, Joe Montana and Steve Young, are among the great eight remaining plays. Montana delivered “The Catch,” while Young seemingly broke 49 tackles on his way to a 49-yard game-winning touchdown run against the Minnesota Vikings back in 1988. Fifth round voting ends on April 3.

Another important offseason vote involves 49ers past and present.

Montana, along with Hall of Fame teammate Jerry Rice and current 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, still remain in the Madden Cover Vote for the game’s 25 anniversary edition.

Kaepernick, a No. 1 seed, faces Houston Texans running back Arian Foster in the “New School” side of the bracket.

Montana, a No. 1 seed, faces Super Bowl XIX opponent and Kaepernick fan, Dan Marino, a No. 4 seed, in the “Old School” bracket. Meanwhile, Rice, another No. 1 seed, will match up against Michael Strahan (No. 5 seed) as one of the other throwback pairings.

It’s worth noting that no other team has more than one representative in the Madden tournament.

That’s important if you subscribe to the “Madden Curse” theory. Detroit Lions mega-star wideout Calvin Johnson didn’t fall for it in 2013. Johnson, the most recent player to grace the Madden cover, broke Rice’s single-season receiving record with 1,964 yards for the Lions. Rice’s old record was set in 1995.

Meanwhile, Kaepernick’s Twitter feed has recently been filled with retweets of fans supporting his quest to be on the Madden cover.

If you don’t want to vote for the current 49ers quarterback, Montana and Rice are long removed from their playing careers and will surely accept placement on the Madden cover. Both stars have joined Twitter, too. Connect with them here: @JoeMontana & @JerryRice.

Round three of the Madden vote ends on April 3. Vote often for any three of the 49ers representatives.

Check out additional 49ers headlines in the Morning Tailgate, including reports of a new quarterback joining the team in 2013.

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Morning Tailgate: Team Needs

Who will be the newest members of the San Francisco 49ers to run out of the tunnel at Candlestick Park? The question will be answered in 24 days when the three-day NFL Draft begins.

The 49ers have 14 selections in the upcoming draft and can add depth to the roster in addition to finding long-term replacements for outgoing free agents like Dashon Goldson and Delanie Walker.

Matt Barrows of The Sacramento Bee examined potential additions to the NFC’s defending champions.

The 2013 draft looms large for the franchise as it looks to reload for another Super Bowl run. Barrows points to a number of incoming rookies who can step in and help San Francisco in 2013.

“The 49ers won’t be able to hold onto everyone in coming years, especially with a potential mega deal for Colin Kaepernick on the horizon,” Barrows wrote. “That’s why having 14 draft picks is such a boon to the 49ers right now and so crucial to sustaining success. It gives them the ability to plan for the future.”

Barrows noted kicker, center, wide receiver, defensive end, quarterback, safety and tight end as potential draft targets for the 49ers.

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Morning Tailgate: Backup Quarterbacks

With Alex Smith now in Kansas City, the 49ers only have two quarterbacks on the roster, Colin Kaepernick and Scott Tolzien. The 49ers will surely add to that position group, either in free agency or the draft.

Matt Barrow’s of the Sacramento Bee reported that former West Virginia Quarterback Pat White stopped by 49ers headquarters for a visit yesterday. White reportedly played catch with Jim Harbaugh.

If the 49ers look to the draft for a quarterback, San Francisco Chronicle’s Eric Branch suggests the 49ers could target Duke quarterback Sean Renfree, who Harbaugh recruited at Stanford. Harbaugh offered Renfree a scholarship to play for the Cardinal, but the quarterback chose to head to Durham, NC to play for the Blue Devils.

“I developed a relationship with (Harbaugh) and knew that he was a great coach with a great staff,” said Renfree, who took several trips to Stanford during high school. “In the end, I think it worked out pretty well for both of us.”

Other headlines discuss who the 49ers might target in the NFL Draft:

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Morning Tailgate: Sizing Up the Defense

As the NFL Draft approaches, many are pegging the 49ers to pursue defensive line depth with their league-high 14 picks. Mike Sando of ESPN.com took stock of the d-line and 2013 prospects for Justin Smith, Ray McDonald and free-agent signee Glenn Dorsey.

“McDonald and Justin Smith had both played at least 85 percent of the defensive snaps through Week 15, which was when an arm injury forced Smith to the sideline until the playoffs,” Sando wrote. “Tampa Bay (three) and New Orleans (two) were the only other teams with more than one defensive lineman logging 85-plus percent of his team’s snaps to that point in the season. The Bucs and Saints had a combined seven other defensive linemen logging at least 30 percent of the snaps to that point. The 49ers had none.”

The rest of today’s Morning Tailgate looks at the 49ers secondary, NFL Draft news and more.

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Morning Tailgate: Crabtree & Kap

Once Colin Kaepernick took over as the 49ers starting quarterback in Week 11, Michael Crabtree soon emerged as young signal-caller’s favorite target. By the end of the 2012 season, the duo combined for 62 connections for 891 yards and eight touchdowns in 10-plus games. Crabtree was live on the set of NFL Network on Tuesday and said he developed a quick chemistry with Kaepernick that improved throughout the year.

Cam Inman of the Bay Area News Group shared comments from Crabtree on his relationship with Kaepernick. “49ers wide receiver Michael Crabtree’s chemistry with Colin Kaepernick was evident well before their thrice-failed attempts at combining on a Super Bowl-winning score,” Inman wrote. “Appearing Tuesday on the NFL Network, Crabtree credited his and Kaepernick’s earlier success to practice time, their common age (25), a shared desire to make plays, and, perhaps most of all, a trust factor.”

The rest of today’s Morning Tailgate looks at the NFL Draft and the latest offseason news for the 49ers.

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