Wednesday, December 01, 1999
Niners' gold turns to dust
USA Today
SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Despite departures of franchise icons, a salary cap seemingly geared to tear down spend-free dynasties and recent front office turmoil, the San Francisco 49ers extended their dominance for nearly two decades — unprecedented in the NFL's modern era.
Time, however, has caught up with the once-model franchise.
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49ERS DOMINATED
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• The 49ers hadn't lost more than back-to-back games since 1980. Their current losing streak is seven games.
• They have one offensive touchdown in their past five games, a streak that covers 54 offensive series. By comparison, the maligned Bengals offense has five offensive touchdowns in its last two games.
• The 49ers been outscored 134-38 in their last five games.
• The 49ers are averaging 289.4 yards per game on offense. Last year, they averaged 425.0.
• Replacing the injured Steve Young, quarterback Steve Stenstrom is 0-3 as 49ers starter, and 1-9 overall as a starter in hte NFL. Quarterback Jeff Garcia is 1-4, all with the 49ers.
• Aging Jerry Rice has a club-best 43 catches for 413 yards; or about three good games' worth in his heyday.
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After almost a decade of draft mistakes and free agent band-aiding, several years of win-at-all cost salary cap maneuvering and a family feud that has torn apart the team's hierarchy, the 49ers' Super Bowl era seems officially over.
By losing Monday to the Green Bay Packers, the 49ers (3-8), who visit the 2-10 Bengals on Sunday, lost their seventh straight game for the first time since 1980. It also means an end to their string of 16 straight winning seasons.
“The (49er) mystique is over,” Rams coach Dick Vermeil said after St. Louis beat the 49ers last week.
The 49ers have had more winning seasons (17), division championships (13), playoff appearances (16) and Super Bowls titles (five) than any other NFL team. In 18 years, the 49ers made it to 10 NFC title games.
“A lot of guys can throw in the towel and feel comfortable about what they've done this season,” Rice told the San Jose Mercury News. “I think it's up to the veterans to show by example and not let this become a circus. Personally, I'm going to go out in practice and bust my butt and try to beat Cincinnati.”
The 49ers have gone 1-7 since Young's season was shelved because of his fourth concussion in three years. And, though questions persist about his future — both he and Rice want to return next season, but they represent a combined $14 million in salary cap money, and $10 million in hard cash - the core of the team's problem often is lost in the frenzy.
Said retired 49ers scouting director Tony Razzano, who in recent days has been brought back to evaluate an unnamed collegiate quarterback, “This did not happen overnight.”
No one understands that better than Walsh, whose initial arrival, departure and two controversial returns have coincided with the beginning and end of San Francisco's dominance.
Asked how the 49ers got to this stage, he said: “It appears some of the personnel decisions didn't turn out as expected. And it doesn't take too many before an organization begins to lose its edge. In this case, over a period of years, there were some misfires, some disappointments, and some very, very costly trades and free-agent signings.
“With that in mind, we're now faced with restructuring this squad, basically. And at this point, we're leaving the era of Steve Young-Jerry Rice-Tim McDonald and moving into a new chapter in 49er history.”
Walsh has become the latest scapegoat for the 49ers' woes; few of his personnel moves have gone well since deposed owner Eddie DeBartolo tapped him to return as general manager in January.
But the 49ers responded with yet another average draft, exposing one of the franchise's biggest problems. Since Razzano's departure in 1992, the 49ers, perennially drafting with low picks, have taken only two impact players with their top picks — defensive linemen Bryant Young (1994) and Dana Stubblefield (1993). And Stubblefield is gone (and not too successful in Washington), as are a handful of other successful high picks such as second-rounders Eric Davis (1990) and Ricky Watters (1991).
The 49ers have just five players on their roster who were drafted below the second round during the 1990s and became solid starters - a key part of their successful 1980s formula.
The Super Bowl era was built around the quarterback. Joe Montana arrived in the 1979 draft, and Walsh traded for Young in 1987. Having back-to-back Hall of Fame quarterbacks is rare enough.
When the hierarchy decided to draft a quarterback in 1997, it went against the advice of then-consultant Walsh and selected Jim Druckenmiller, a power-thrower, rather than Montana-clone Jake Plummer. Druckenmiller was traded to Miami this year.
“The thing that has had the most impact on the organization's success and streak, and continuation of the streak, is, simply, the salary cap,” said Mariucci, who keeps a 1997 team photo in his desk drawer that has check marks next to 43 players either gone or injured from the 49ers' last NFC title game entrant.
When the NFL instituted its salary cap in 1993, then-49er president Carmen Policy was credited for finding loopholes in the system. Basically, the 49ers signed veterans to low salaries and compensated by giving them large, guaranteed bonuses. Now, those who took part during his reign — he and general manager Dwight Clark fled to Cleveland last season - are taking heat for mortgaging the future.
Not only that, the NFL has been investigating some of the 49ers' deals after years of complaints from other teams.
Speaking by phone from Cleveland, Policy defended his actions as being unanimous from the owner on down. “When should we have stopped?” he said. “1992-93, and give up the Dallas years? 1994, and give up the Super Bowl? What would you give up? When do you pull back? When it becomes obvious that you have no opportunity to strike paydirt, and that, apparently, is what they are approaching.”
Policy used the word “sad” to describe the fallout from DeBartolo's removal of power because of a 1997 federal gambling fraud probe in Louisiana.
Still in limbo is a July agreement to divide the family holdings between DeBartolo and his sister, Denise DeBartolo York.
So what happens now?
The 49ers will be about $18 million over the salary cap after this season. (By comparison, the Denver Broncos are about at the middle of the pack, between $10 million and $12 million over the cap.)
Mariucci, whose offense has scored just one touchdown in the past five games, wants a new quarterback and to bolster his defense and offensive line. But if a starter gets injured, a la Pro Bowl tailback Garrison Hearst, there is little depth or money to replace him.
“So, the bill has come due,” he said, “and with new ownership, we're trying to fix it.”
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