Love, War and Football in the Bay
Apr 14, 2014, 6:42 PM | Updated: 6:42 pm
I love the way the 49ers play football. They line up on both sides of the ball and dare you to hold up physically. They try to blow the face off their opponent through old fashioned, kick your face in football. And I love that.
And I respect Jim Harbaugh and think he is a great coach. But there is a bad moon risin’ over the Bay and, without being an alarmist, I don’t see how they get into the postseason in 2014.
The schism between GM, Trent Baalke, and Jim Harbaugh is real and has been festering. The 49ers explored trading their coach to the Cleveland Browns, a coach that has been to three-straight NFC Championships Games! Then there was the report by Jay Glazier that Harbaugh is wearing on his players in the 49ers locker room. The de facto king/leader/gatekeeper of San Francisco’s locker room, NaVorro Bowman, will be lost for much of the 2014 season. Colin Kaepernick is being investigated. Now, we learn of Aldon Smith getting arrested at LAX.
Remember how the Saints played after Bountygate? I didn’t think they would get into the playoffs after all the suspensions and the loss of their head coach…and they didn’t. I believed at the time if Drew Brees and company got into the postseason it would be one of the greatest team accomplishments I had ever witnessed.
I feel the same way about the 49ers in 2014. Although I do not say it with the degree of certainty I did after Bountygate, if the 49ers get into to the playoffs this season it will be pure testament to the great football players they have on their roster.
And that roster was built by Trent Baalke. We’ll call it Baalkegate.