Ah, the “startling” news that B. Favre is thinking about reporting to the Packers training camp this summer should have come as no surprise to anyone….. should it? Yah, Farvre is gonna hang around his pad and cut the grass, and go fishin’ and huntin’ all right. This guy is way too competitive and his team got way too close to the prize last year for him to hang ‘em up. Besides…………he can still play in this league. He knows it, and so do the Packers.  I kinda feel sorry for young Aaron Rodgers who has been diligently preparing to be the starter. Looks like he may need to get re-acquainted with the clipboard for at least another year. Then there’s 2008 Draft picks Brian Brohm from Louisville, and Matt Flynn from LSU. Certainly both thought they’d be in the NFL this year. If #4 really does come back to the Frozen Tundra, then one of them probably won’t be. All in all it will be interesting to see how this plays out. Any NFL fan wants to see Favre back on the field. He is, and remains one of the very best who has ever strapped on a helmet.

MN

Did you happen to see the note in the news recently that the SF 49ers have promoted Keena Turner to vice president of football affairs?

A link to the Niners glory days, KT is so deserving of this new post that I wonder why it hadn’t happend sooner . . . director of the team’s alumni coordinators until his recent promotion, Keena played linebacker for SF for 11 seasons (1980-1990) and has been part of the 49ers preseason television broadcast team for the past 13 seasons. 

In his new role, according to vice president of strategic planning Jed York, KT “will be in charge of all programs related to player well-being & success – including counseling, faith-based programs and player-development programs.”  He will also serve as an adviser to the coaching staff and head the club’s alumni program.

Drafted out of Purdue, Turner helped lead the 49ers to four Super Bowl wins as a player and since his retirement in 1990, has represented the team at public events and assisted in player development. 

This move may not draw much attention league-wide, but it may very well rank right up there as one of San Francisco’s BEST “off-season” moves in many years!

I for one applaud the Yorks for seeing his worth and the Niners for naming KT a VP . . . I also send along my best wishes to a great Forty-Niner!

– JayDub

It seems to me in the sports world, a contract is a merely a suggestion, rather than a iron clad agreement that both sides will agree to.  The latest case in point is Giants receiver Plaxico Burress, who has recently announced he will not report to team activities because he wants a new contract. Ah……………..Plax, YOU HAVE A CONTRACT! Burress has three years remaining on a $25 million dollar deal that he and his agent agreed to in 2005, and SIGNED.  The wide receiver is due $3.25M in 2008, $3.5M in 2009, and $3.75M in 2010. Not bad for a player that will be in 12th year in the league when the contract expires. Nope, not good enough for Plax. He and his agent saw T.O and Randy Moss both recently sign three-year deals at $9M per, and Larry Fitzgerald sign a four-year deal for $10M per.  Yeah, I do think Burress is under paid relative to some receivers that have recently signed deals, or other receievers that got deals last year, or before. But that’s really not the point, is it?  Burress SIGNED a contract in 2005 for 6 years. Now he wants that contract to be placed in the nearest paper shredder and create a new one at a level that is commensurate with many of his “peers.” Perhaps he should have signed a three-year deal in 2005 instead of a six-year contract?  Perhaps he should have signed a two- year contract? The point is, if you agree to a contract in the NFL or anywhere, and if the terms and conditions are met, you need to honor it………….pure and simple. 

MN

Hey, did you see where former SF 49ers assistant coach Sam Wyche was successful in his move from the world of football to the world of politics?

Wyche, who coached quarterbacks under the late Bill Walsh for the Niners from 1979 through ‘82, captured the Republican nomination for a Pickens County (S.C.) council seat recently, defeating incumbent Ben Trotter. 

A former college football coaching success, Sam also did very well as an NFL head coach, including leading the Cincinnati Bengals to Super Bowl XXIII against San Francisco, following the 1988 Season, in Miami!  Can you believe that was 20 years ago?  Jeez!

Anyone, wouldn’t it be fun to see the looks on the faces of those other council members as Sam introduces his “No Huddle Politics” to what used to be loooooooooong, booooooring council meetings?

Way to go Sam, we wish you well . . . !!!!!

– JayDub

At the recent SF PAL fund raising golf tournament, I had the distinct pleasure of meeting one of the celebrity participants, Donald Strickland, Niner defensive back.  It is always nice to report that one of the home town heroes is a nice guy.  Strickland has a shy demeanor and is a good sport.  He was playing in the event with his grandfather and it was easy to see that the two were truly the best of friends.  As the emcee of the event, I took several liberties to make fun of the hard hitting corner and he took it all in stride.  On the spur of the moment, he even offered an autographed jersey that fetched a handsome price.  As for Strickland’s golf game, he attacks the game the same way he attacks life on the gridiron: he hits hard!  Drives in the neighborhood of 275 to 300 yards are not uncommon for him.  However, as my old pal and former PGA Touring Pro, Moon Mullins, once told me, “There are only two things in golf; straight and distance.”  Take it from me,  Strickland is half way there. 

Toodles,

MJ

The Falcons signed Boston College QB Matt Ryan, the third overall pick in the 2008 NFL Draft, to a six year, $72 million dollar contract. This almost certainly means that Mike Vick, despite the $130 million dollar contract extension he signed in 2005, will not be a Falcon when he’s released from prison. I’m sure the Falcons and their fans are breathing a collective sigh of relief that they will no longer have Vick in town. But, there ceratinly will be suitors for Vick once he hands back his prison overalls, just as there was for Packman Jones, for T.O. and for Randy Moss. Some teams just can’t stay away from these super athlete/problem children, and are sure they can turn them around, in “their system.”  The Falcons now have a new face on their franchise, and his name is Ryan.  The Falcons also had a very nice 2008 draft overall aside from Ryan, adding USC Offensive Tackle Sam Baker, Oklahoma Linebacker Curtis Lofton, and LSU Corner Chevis Jackson, among others.  Things indeed may be looking up in the capitol city of the great state of Georgia.

MN

Dave Parks, who played for the SF 49ers back in the 60’s (1964-67), is headed to the College Football Hall of Fame next year . . . There, he’ll join other recent (current decade) Niner selections:  Jerry Rice (Mississippi Valley State, inducted in 2006), Charle Young (USC, 2004), Ronnie Lott (USC, 2002), Brent Jones (Santa Clara, 2002) and Steve Young (BYU, 2001) . . . Parks, the first player chosen by SF (out of Texas Tech) in the 1964 draft, will be honored with other 2009 inductees at the National Football Foundation banquet in New York in December and then formally inducted in the Hall next summer in South Bend, IN.

– JayDub

After coaching girls basketball at Notre Dame-Belmont the past two years, former SF 49ers QB John Paye is back at his HS alma mater (Menlo School).  Back to where he coached the Knights to three state titles (1989 to 1991) in seven seasons in his previous tenure there.  He is a member of the Menlo School Sports Hall of Fame, the San Mateo County Sports Hall of Fame and the Stanford University Sports Hall of Fame. 

– JayDub

Don’t know if you’ve heard, but the NFLPA Retired Players Association and the Providence Foundation of San Francisco (Nate Thurmond, Chairman) will be honoring R.C. “Alley Oop” Owens with a “This Is Your Life” Black Tie Dinner, September 27th, 2008.  The event will be held in the grand ballroom of the Hotel Nikko, 222 Mason Street, San Francisco, CA.

A celebration to honor “Oop” is, in my opinion, a GREAT IDEA . . . and LONG OVERDUE!

For more information, especially in regards to purchasing tickets or buying an ad in the evening’s souvenir program, you can contact Carolyn Hoskins at 650/921-4191 . . . Larry Bates at 408/9811-5668 . . . or Lynette Sweet at 415/642-4874.

– JayDub

When people ask me about the 49ers, my response is usually that I think they are doing “all the right things” . . . and, along those terms, I think they’ve done it again . . . as a season ticket holder, I recently received a letter from Andy Dolich, the Niners “new” Chief Operating Officer . . . and, basically, it thanked me - on behalf of the organization - for renewing my season tickets, for my “investment of time, money and emotion” and for my “unwavering support!”

That, my friend, is a touch of class . . . but coming from a classy guy such as Andy, I’d expect nothing less!

Nice going Niners!

– JayDub