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foreign49er
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Bejaard49er
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Being one of the old farts on the board I remember when Eddie took over the team. We had gone 8-8 in 1976 under Monte Clark (1ST year as coach) our defense had recorded 65+ sacks (called the Gold Rush in those days) and we appeared to finally be turning things around. Eddie immediately fires Clark (hired by Detroit took them to playoffs) brings in Thomas who as GM dismantles a very good defense, trades for an over the hill O.J. giving up 4-7 picks in process and brings in a coach worse than Sing. Many of us hated Eddie for what he had done to our team of course Eddie learned from his mistakes and the rest is history.
Eddie like Jed had to go through a learning process and realize he didn’t know squat about running an NFL team and needed NFL people around him. McVay and Walsh brought the NFL experience to the Niners along with innovation. On a side note I believe Eddie will never make the HOF for several reasons; he raised travel expenses 49er players flew on a private jet, had their own room, a chef on call, SO could come to away games and stay with the player (accept for night before game), SO were given bday, anniversary gifts along with the kids. When the team won a SB the ring ceremony was done in Hawaii of course all paid for by Eddie. I believe this is no longer allowed. In those days owners flew commercially, players stayed 2-3 in a room, etc. Eddie is partially to blame (owners feel this way) for free agency, and last Eddie corruption charges in LA
Jed grew up watching his uncle adore and give very lavish gifts to his players. He also saw his uncle get angry over losing and let players know that I will take care of you as long as you are winning for me. I remember seeing Jed sitting on Jennifer Montana lap as a kid and watching games. Jed like his uncle hates to lose, wears his heart on his sleeve during and right after games. He has been around the NFL his entire life with his uncle and Walsh as mentors. I do not put the Sing hire on Jed many of us have short term memory and Jed was in a no win situation on that deal plus he was still dealing with his dad. Jed showed a lot of maturity with the hiring of Harbaugh he was willing to wait him out and make sure this is what Harbaugh really wanted, he didn’t over pay him, and he had a plan B even if the media said he didn’t. Jed will continue to make mistakes but long term I think we will be ok. Funny enough this is how I felt when Eddie hired Walsh and McVay.
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Godsleftsock
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qnnhan7
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Originally posted by Wubbie:
It should be interesting. I never realized that Eddie DeBartolo was about Jed's age when he inherited the team.
I understand everyone's feelings though. It's tough to watch your franchise's front office be so... weak... right now. You can only hope that Jed does indeed improve as Eddie did so many years ago.
The parallels to Walsh are so similar though. Eddie DeBartolo was desperate back then and, from I understand, impulsively hired Walsh, and got lucky. It turns out Walsh was the architect that the franchise was needing. I don't know how McVay came into the picture though.
Watching Jed right now is interesting. It sucks having to go through his growing pains as an owner, but as fans... the only thing we can really do is hope and show our approval/disapproval.
It's much better than it was back in the days of Donahue/Erickson. The Yorks didn't seem to care about the franchise. With Jed here, we know that he cares. Now he just needs to demonstrate his competence for us to have faith in him like we had faith in Eddie.
No, Al Davis help him by recommending Walsh to Eddie. Al Davis knows a thing about football back then. Although he's old and probably senile now. Eddie went to Davis because Al knows better than he.
[ Edited by qnnhan7 on Jan 9, 2011 at 2:11 PM ]
