Blogs

Morning Tailgate: Alex Smith Departs

Player turnover is inevitable in the NFL. On Wednesday, the 49ers welcomed Glenn Dorsey to the organization while Alex Smith, Dashon Goldson and Isaac Sopoaga held their introductory press conferences with their new teams.

Following an eventful eight-year run that culminated with back-to-back playoff runs, Smith joined Kansas City coach Andy Reid and general manager John Dorsey at the podium to greet the local press on Wednesday. Ann Killion of the San Francisco Chronicle shared her impressions of Smith’s first appearance with his new organziation.

“Wednesday was the first day of Smith’s marriage to the Chiefs, following his quick divorce from the 49ers,” Killion said. “Both parties sounded infatuated with each other. Smith targeted the Chiefs as soon as he realized he wouldn’t be released, and hoped for a trade.”

Morning Tailgate: NFL Bracketology

There have been thousands and thousands of plays in the proud history of the NFL, but does “The Catch” stand above the rest? With the help of the 49ers Faithful, Dwight Clark’s iconic, last-minute touchdown against the Dallas Cowboys in the 1981 NFC Championship can be crowned as the greatest play in NFL history.

NFL.com recently unveiled it’s NFL Bracketology contest, which will begin with the first round of voting on Monday. Clark’s catch will compete against 63 other plays, including Steve Young’s epic 49-yard run against Minnesota and Terrell Owens’ playoff catch against Green Bay, in football’s version of March madness.

The rest of today’s Morning Tailgate rounds up the busy first day of free agency for the 49ers, including the Alex Smith and Anquan Boldin trades and other player movement.

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Week 16 Game Notes

A 42-13 loss at Seattle moved the 49ers’ record to 10-4-1 on the season, but San Francisco still leads the NFC West heading into the regular-season finale against Arizona. 49ers Public Relations presents the following game notes from the Week 16 matchup.

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Niner Talk: Bye Week

The voice of the San Francisco 49ers Ted Robinson was profiled in a 49ers.com feature story earlier today along with his broadcasting partner Eric Davis. Robinson, however, played double-duty for 49ers.com on Friday, also joining us for our latest Niner Talk podcast.

The respected broadcaster discussed his bright spots of the first half of the season, naming third-year guard Mike Iupati and second-year cornerback Chris Culliver as his two most unsung players of the first half for the 49ers.

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49ers Count on Will Tukuafu

Jim Harbaugh set out this offseason to create three-way roles for versatile players on the San Francisco 49ers roster.

Many auditioned to play on offense, defense and special teams, but only defensive tackle Will Tukuafu made a lasting transition.

The 6-foot-4, 293-pound defensive lineman handles multiple roles as a lead-blocking fullback and a kick-off team wedge blocker on special teams.

“He’s carved out a real niche for himself on this ball club,” Harbaugh, the 49ers coach, said on Monday. “A physical presence, both offensively and defensively and special teams. He is a guy that we know we can count on. He’s a count on me guy.”

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Morning Tailgate: Sept. 25

BOARDMAN, Ohio – Good morning 49ers Faithful. By the time most of you on the West Coast are reading this, 49ers.com will be taking a journey to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio.

But first, let’s take a look at the top headlines from the team’s first day in the Youngstown area.

The team turned the page from a Week 3 loss in the best way possible by visiting the Akron Children’s Hospital and two schools in the Youngstown community. Cam Inman of the San Jose Mercury News has the details from the team’s uplifting hospital visit.

“The 49ers responded to their first loss of the season by doing some soul searching Monday. But this wasn’t your typical therapy,” Inman wrote. “Instead of flying home to the Bay Area after Sunday’s 24-13 upset loss at Minnesota, the 49ers began their five-day layover in this nondescript Midwest suburb by making community appearances, including a stop at the Akron Children’s Hospital.”

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Morning Tailgate: Aug. 21

First-round draft pick A.J. Jenkins continues to progress leading up to the regular season. Jenkins’ 32-yard reception against the Houston Texans last week was the 49ers’ longest passing play of the preseason.

Furthermore, the No. 30 overall selection got behind the Texans defense several times last Saturday night and could have produced even greater numbers if not for a few overthrown passes in the second half.

Matt Barrows of The Sacramento Bee recently wrote about Jenkins’ promising big-play potential and discussed the receiver’s progress with fifth-year quarterback Josh Johnson who completed the 32-yard pass to Jenkins in the third quarter of a 20-9 defeat.

“Johnson said the rookie did a great job of ‘holding the red line,’ an imaginary line on the side of the field between receiver and sideline that gives the quarterback a few yards of cushion in which to place the ball,” Barrows wrote. “Johnson lofted the pass into that zone, and Jenkins detached from the defensive back in time to make a 32-yard reception.”

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Isaac Sopoaga Leads By Example

Isaac Sopoaga often uses his Samoan heritage to bring a unique energy into the 49ers locker room.

Known as one of the team’s emotional leaders for his enigmatic personality, Sopoaga showed that liveliness to the media during a press conference on Monday.

Sopoaga entered the media tent at 49ers headquarters and stepped up to the podium with headphones in his ears. The entrance puzzled most of the media members in the attendance until finally a reporter asked the nose tackle what he was listening to.

Sopoaga ran with it to start by pretending he couldn’t hear the question, which drew a loud laugh from the media present before he finally responded that he was listening to a musical genre not likely to make the team’s pre-game playlist anytime soon.

“I love my Samoan church music,” the 6-foot-2, 330-pounder said. “The words are strengthening. They are some powerful wise words.”

The upbeat tunes seem to be keeping the Samoan in a positive frame of mind through more than three weeks of training camp.

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Morning Tailgate: June 12

The 49ers mandatory three-day minicamp begins today, signaling the start of the team’s final on-field work prior to training camp.

Similar to Organized Team Activities, the minicamp will involve the same non-contact principles as the previous stages of the offseason program. Team and 7-on-7 periods are permitted, one-on-one pass-rushing battles, however, will have to wait until training camp.

49ers.com will have extended minicamp coverage throughout the week, but before camp begins, let’s take a look at the top team-related headlines.

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Saturday Photos From London

What a day. A walk through at Wembley Stadium followed by a pep rally at Trafalgar Square with 20,000 screaming fans (many in 49ers red) made this Saturday a very unique and memorable day.

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