Blogs

MT: 2013 Draft Week Arrives

In a matter of days the San Francisco 49ers will have 13 opportunities to add to the roster in the 2013 NFL Draft.

Starting Thursday, the three-day draft will see General Manager Trent Baalke and his personnel staff find the best prospects for San Francisco.

There’s plenty of speculation going on as to who the 49ers will take with the No. 31 overall pick and if the team will actually make 13 selections in the draft. Baalke said last week that he’s treating every selection with the utmost importance and that there’s potential to move up and move back in the draft via trades.

For now, it’s a waiting game and an exciting one at that.

Over the weekend we finished our “49 in 49” series. You can check out all 49 profiles on this year’s intriguing prospects. Maybe one of them will be a 49ers draft pick just like LaMichael James was in 2012.

If you’re attending the 49ers Draft Bash , here’s all the information you’ll need for the event.

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

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MT: 49ers Offseason Workouts Begin

It’s the first football activity the San Francisco 49ers can hold in 2013. Voluntary offseason conditioning work begins today at team headquarters in Santa Clara.

In Phase One of the offseason program, the 49ers will hold two weeks of conditioning work under the supervision of the team’s strength and conditioning staff.

When the two weeks have passed, Phase Two of the program will allow coaches on the field to work on drills with the players before the start of 10 days of offseason team activities (OTAs) and minicamps to be held in May and June.

The first OTA sessions will be held on May 21-23, May 28-30 and June 3-6.

A rookie minicamp will be held after the 2013 NFL Draft. Rookies, however, must finish their spring semester or fourth quarter of school before participating in the OTA sessions with veteran teammates. Last offseason, second-round pick LaMichael James had to finish school at Oregon before taking part in offseason workouts with the 49ers.

More 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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Morning Tailgate: Jerry vs. Deion

Just like old times.

The Madden 25 cover vote is down to four matchups, including Jerry Rice versus Deion Sanders.

The Hall of Fame players battled throughout their professional careers. The encounters were worth the price of admission, too.

Rice and Sanders were teammates with the 49ers in 1994 and helped San Francisco win a fifth Super Bowl. They’ve since moved on to media careers, Rice with ESPN and Sanders with NFL Network.

And now, they’re back in competition mode. Only this time, fans get to decide the winner. The Madden vote’s quarterfinal round lasts until April 10, so make sure to vote early and often.

Joe Montana also advanced to the next round of voting. He’ll face another Hall of Famer, former Detroit Lions running back Barry Sanders.

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: 49ers Bracketology

Bracektology doesn’t just apply to the NCAA this time of year. NFL.com is also featuring football’s version of March Madness, as you can vote for the top play of all time. We’re down to the round of 32 and the 49ers are represented with three plays, Steve Young’s iconic 49-yard touchdown scramble against the Vikings, “The Catch,” and Garrison Hearst’s 94-yard touchdown run.

Voting for the Sweet 16 of NFL.com Bracketology ends on Tuesday, so be sure to support some of the greatest moments in 49ers history. You can also vote for Colin Kaepernick, Joe Montana and Jerry Rice to be featured on the upcoming cover of the 25th anniversary Madden NFL video game.

The rest of today’s Morning Tailgate spotlights Jim Harbaugh and Pete Carroll as they compete to win the NFC West.

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Morning Tailgate: Nnamdi on Radar

The 49ers bolstered their roster on Tuesday with the additions of veteran kicker Phil Dawson and receiver Marlon Moore. But the team might not be done making offseason moves just yet.

Matt Maiocco of CSNBayArea.com spoke with 49ers General Manager Trent Baalke at the league owners meetings in Arizona to get an update on the recent activity. Baalke also told Maiocco the team is still “considering” free agent veteran defensive back Nnamdi Asomugha after he had a “great visit” last week at team headquarters.

“The 49ers’ top five cornerbacks from last season are in line to return,” Maiocco wrote. “Carlos Rogers, Tarell Brown, Chris Culliver and Perrish Cox are under contract. Tramaine Brock was tendered as a restricted free agent. If Asomugha and the 49ers come to a contract agreement, Asomugha would join the 49ers with no guarantees of a starting job or playing time, Baalke suggested.”

The rest of today’s Morning Tailgate features the latest headlines on the newest 49ers and more.

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Morning Tailgate: Feb. 6

Colin Kaepernick faced the media for the final time of the 2012 season on Tuesday in the 49ers locker room. The second-year quarterback spoke about his first Super Bowl experience in just his 10th game as a starter, as he nearly guided the team back from a 22-point deficit in the second half.

Matt Barrows of the Sacramento Bee examined Kaepernick’s exit day gathering with the media.

“Kaepernick still was simmering and on edge after cleaning out his locker Tuesday,” Barrows wrote. “Wide receiver Kyle Williams said Kaepernick already was maniacal when it came to offseason training, so having a Super Bowl title within his grasp will boost that intensity level a few more degrees. Kaepernick said he will start training next week in Atlanta, where he prepared for the scouting combine and the draft in 2011.”

The rest of today’s Morning Tailgate looks at Harbaugh’s parting words of the 2012 season and more.

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Kaepernick Named NFC Off. POW

Five starts into his career in the National Football League, Colin Kaepernick can now say he has received NFC Offensive Player of the Week honors.

The San Francisco 49ers second-year signal-caller took home the Week 15 award Tuesday morning after his impressive four touchdown passes in a 41-34 road win over the New England Patriots.

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Throwback Thursday: 1990 Title Game

With 10 regular season games left to play at their historic stadium, the San Francisco 49ers are asking their Faithful fans to vote all month long on their favorite memories at Candlestick Park.

One of the moments to choose from involves this week’s opponent, the St. Louis Rams, who faced the 49ers in the 1990 NFC Championship game when they were known as the Los Angeles Rams.

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