Dwight Clark chimes in on Montana vs Brady, Kyle Shanahan, and more
Jan 23, 2017 at 2:28 PM
•
The Joe Montana versus Tom Brady debate may never end, but it's always interesting to hear the perspective of players – especially one like former San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Dwight Clark, who a young Brady watched from the stands at Candlestick Park as he leaped up to haul in the Montana thrown football and send the 49ers to their first Super Bowl. It doesn't hurt that Clark is not a fan of Brady's team, the New England Patriots, and is rooting for the Atlanta Falcons in Super Bowl LI. Is Clark a little bit bias in the debate? Probably. But that doesn't necessarily make him wrong.
On Monday, Clark
joined "Murph & Mac" on KNBR to discuss a number of 49ers related topics. The first of which was the Super Bowl LI matchup between the Patriots and Falcons. "[The Patriots] cheat from top to bottom, any chance they get," Clark said. "I just can't believe they're in the Super Bowl again, so, guess who I'm pulling for?"
Clark was then asked about his thoughts on the never ending Montana versus Brady debate. He was asked if the talk among the media that Brady might be the best quarterback of all time rubs him the wrong way. "Hell yeah, it rubs me the wrong way," Clark answered. "I've been in the huddle with Joe Montana and they always say that Brady wins with receivers you've never heard of. I was an 11th-round pick. Joe Montana won a Super Bowl with me. I mean, come on!"
Other than Clark's response being pretty humorous, it was also a point that most making an argument for Brady forget. The media and fans are quick to point out that Montana had wide receiver Jerry Rice, which contributed to his greatness. The problem with that argument is that Montana and the 49ers had already won two Super Bowls before Rice was even drafted in 1985.
Clark did go on to acknowledge that Brady is good and he works well within the Patriots system, making them tough to stop. "They're well-coached," he said. "They are kind of like the 49ers of the 80s. They've just been doing it for so long. It's amazing that they've been able to do it year after year after year."
Both Montana and Brady have won four Super Bowl championships. While Brady has been to seven Super Bowls, three more than Montana, the former 49ers quarterback never lost one and was a perfect 4-0. Both were named Super Bowl MVP three times as well. A victory by Brady on February 5 would put him past Montana for the most Super Bowl victories by a quarterback.
Clark also shared his thoughts on Kyle Shanahan, the Falcons offensive coordinator who is very likely to be named the 49ers' newest head coach following the Super Bowl. Clark is excited about the presumptive hire. "I'm very excited for him to be the head coach," he said. "I don't know if he can be the head coach because he's never done it, but he seems to have something going there in Atlanta that is very innovative. It's like Mike Shanahan took the West Coast offense to another level. It's like [Mike] Holmgren took it up a notch, Shanahan took it up a notch, and it looks like his son has taken it up a notch.
"Those guys yesterday – sometimes they were wide open by three yards and that's the way the West Coast offense is supposed to work – find the open guy. And there were open guys all over the field yesterday. His innovation or whatever he's doing to that West Coast offense makes me excited because it took Bill [Walsh] a couple of years to build us up to where we could win a Super Bowl and the 49ers got a long way to go, but if you have a guy that you believe in and you're getting better every year, I think the 49er fans will be patient for a couple of years."
You can
listen to the entire interview on
KNBR.
More San Francisco 49ers News
'Deebo was extremely efficient': Why Kyle Shanahan is starting to use Samuel more in the 49ers' rushing attack
Well, that was unexpected. No, not the San Francisco 49ers' dominant performance against the Jacksonville Jaguars. The shocker was that Deebo Samuel was not the 49ers' leading receiver in the game. Instead, that was Brandon Aiyuk, who had 85 yards from seven catches.
That in itself isn't the surprising aspect of the stat sheet from San Francisco's 30-10 win. It's that paired with Samuel being the game's leading rusher.
"We planned on giving him some (carries) throughout the game," Shanahan said after the game. "We usually do. Usually, when things work, you come back to them. We had a couple different things with it and some play-actions I think we got in the third quarter -- I think one off of it."
Samuel finished the game with eight carries for 79
Why Kyle Shanahan didn't give Trey Lance more playing time during 49ers-Jaguars
By Rohan Chakravarthi
Nov 22
During Sunday's victory against the Jaguars, 49ers quarterback Trey Lance got his first live snaps since his first NFL start in Week 5 against the Arizona Cardinals, although most of them were handoffs.
While the game seemed out of reach for much of the fourth quarter, head coach Kyle Shanahan elected not to put his rookie into the game to gain some of that "game-time" experience that Shanahan alluded to last week.
Lance trotted out for the first time in over a month during the 49ers last offensive series, in which he handed the ball off twice, rushed once, and kneeled twice to end the game.
When asked about whether Shanahan had any thoughts
Could Kyle Shanahan and the 49ers face a second rebuild this off-season?
As the 2021 season reaches the halfway point, one thing is for sure: there is still a lot of football left. Even with the San Francisco 49ers sitting at 3-5, they still (thanks to an underperforming NFC) have a legitimate shot at getting to the playoffs this year. But it's not too early to start thinking about the future. If the season were to end now, head coach Kyle Shanahan would be coming off his fourth losing season in five years. The 49ers would also have over 30 players entering free agency, no first-round draft pick in 2022, and appear to be on the brink of a second rebuild under the current front office. Just for fun, let's begin thinking about what this off-season could look like for the 49ers.
How this season wraps up will strongly determine the approach this
Transcripts: What Kyle Shanahan, Jimmy Garoppolo, and Richard Hightower said ahead of 49ers-Jaguars
The San Francisco 49ers are preparing to play the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday. Head coach Kyle Shanahan, special teams coordinator Richard Hightower, and quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo spoke with reporters before today's practice. Here is everything they had to say.
Transcript provided by the San Francisco 49ers Communications staff.
Head Coach Kyle Shanahan
Opening comments:
"The injuries. Mo [DL Maurice] Hurst, calf won't practice. [RB JaMycal] Hasty, ankle, won't practice, [CB] Josh Norman, ribs, limited. [WR] Deebo [Samuel], shin, limited. [OL] Jaylon Moore, knee, limited. [T] Trent Williams, he'll get a vet day and [RB] Elijah Mitchell won't practice, finger."
Any update on Elijah,
