Michael Silver of Yahoo sports penned a rather eye-opening column today in regards to the former (and current) coaching situation in San Francisco. Honestly, it appears the Raiders aren't the only team in the Bay Area currently cornering the market on crazy, psychotic behavior.
First, let's begin with the rumor that the two Mikes (Nolan and Martz) made up a report regarding quarterback Shaun Hill having a "tired arm" in training camp, all in an effort to keep him off the field, and J.T. O'Sullivan on it. Sounds crazy, but when you consider the bizarre, unwavering support that Martz currently has for O'Sullivan, it seems somewhat believable.
Hill, another career backup who signed a two-year contract with the team after performing well in the final two games of last season, was held out of training camp practices with what Nolan and Martz claimed was a tired arm; sources close to Hill say the assertion was totally fictional.
If true, that might help to explain why the 49ers won only 18 games during Mike Nolan's tenure. Well, that and the fact the 49ers players were no longer taking him seriously. According to Silver, several veteran players were thrilled to see Mike Singletary kick Vernon Davis off the sidelines yesterday, all in an effort to help slay the monster Nolan created.
Meanwhile, on the 49ers' sidelines, most of Davis' teammates were quietly singing the praises of 'Coach Sing.' " Explained one veteran defender: "Vernon does this crap all the time, and Nolan would always let it go. He created this monster. The good news is that Coach Sing wasn't having that." Added another veteran defender: "No one's bigger than the team, right? We were all happy to see that this (expletive) won't be tolerated."
Aside from letting Davis get away with whatever the heck he wanted, Nolan further lost members of his team when he screamed at them about how he would stop being Mr. Nice Guy, and no longer put up with "the (expletive) warm and fuzzy."
SportsWrap
The top sports headlines of the day
"He got up there and said, 'I'm done with the warm and fuzzies,' " recalled one player who witnessed the talk. "He said, 'I've made it too warm and fuzzy around here for too long. No more (expletive) warm and fuzzy.' It was comical. He was up there ranting and raving and clearly trying to be something he wasn't."
The other interesting piece of information was the story of how Mike Martz, always Mr. Negative in terms of critiquing his offense, wasn't satisfied with the teams 33-30 come-from-behind win against Seattle earlier in the season. Apparently, Martz told his offense that they shouldn't be satisfied with simply scoring more points than the other team. That's crazy talk in Mike Martz language. The objective should be "trying to be the best offense in the league ... the best offense in history."
Yup. Crazy.
Report: 49ers Made Up Shaun Hill Arm Injury; Mike Nolan Was Tired of the Warm and Fuzzy originally appeared on NFL FanHouse on 2008-10-27T17:45:00+00:00. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
