Super Bowl ring would be a nice gift
The gloves came off in Miami on Wednesday, 1,000%.
After a few days of the 49ers and Chiefs complimenting one another and even interacting playfully for the cameras and microphones, a challenge was issued.
Kansas City defensive tackle Chris Jones, in an interview with NFL Network, said the Chiefs know that San Francisco likes to run. Jones was asked if the Chiefs’ plan is to put the game onto quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo’s shoulders.
“One thousand percent,” Jones said, “and we’ll see where it goes from there.”
Apparently, Garoppolo throwing only eight passes in the 49ers’ NFC Championship Game victory gave some the impression that head coach Kyle Shanahan doesn’t trust Garoppolo.
Garoppolo, asked to respond to Jones’ 1,000% comment, smiled (of course), shrugged, and said, “Great. I mean, teams have tried that this year. I think our offense does a great job, starting with Kyle with the playcalling, but (the coaches) do a great job of getting us in good situations, whether it’s run or pass, and we just do the rest.”
— Scott Ostler
When Sherman talks ...
Richard Sherman — who won’t be accused of having nothing to stay — was a veritable quote machine Wednesday. Some examples:
One for the son: Sherman’s son turns 5 years old a few days after the Super Bowl. On his birthday wish list: a Super Bowl ring.
“That’s what he asked for,” Sherman said.
Sherman, 31, said this Super Bowl — his third after trips with Seattle in the 2013 (a win) and 2014 seasons — has been especially gratifying because his son is present and old enough to appreciate the significance of the game and weeklong buildup.
“That’s one of the best parts about this experience,” Sherman told reporters. “And that’s what makes it so much different and gives you so much more perspective, because he’s so aware of it. He’s like, ‘Hey, that’s a Super Bowl helmet. Hey, you guys are in the Super Bowl. If you win, you get the championship trophy.’ He fully understands it. And that’s what’s so cool to me.”
Sherman said his son was born four days after the second trip, on Feb. 5.
“Thankfully, (he) stuck in there because it’s kind of a cool birthday — he’s born on ‘25,’ ” said Sherman, who wears No. 25.
— Matt Kawahara
A different man on the field: Sherman explained how his civil discourse and infectious smile dramatically give way to trash talking and mean mugging come game days.
Actually, he said his offfield personality undergoes a complete transformation more often than outsiders might realize.
“I don’t know if it’s just on the field. It’s when I’m in a competitive setting, when there’s a win or a loss,” Sherman said. “That’s one of the things that my parents and teachers realized early: If you make it competitive, then I’ll put everything into it. It doesn’t matter what it is.”
For Sherman, that included spelling bees, quizzes and essays while growing up.
“Make it a competition, and I’ll do my best to win it,” Sherman said. “My mind gets in that mode anytime there’s a competition.”
— Rusty Simmons
Safety, not 17: Not surprisingly, Sherman isn’t a big fan of a possible 17game NFL regular season.
“I think it’s just speculation at this point, owners using the media to control the rhetoric,” Sherman said. “I don’t think it’s something the players are interested in, honestly. It’s odd to me when you hear player safety is their biggest concern. They’re really standing up for that, but player safety has a price tag.
“Playing 17 games brings this much money, so we don’t care about player safety if it’s going to bring that much money. Players are more aware of life after football. The league kind of pretends they’re interested in it and pretends they care about it, and then wants to play more games. And they’re saying 17 games, but they really mean 18.”
— Ron Kroichick
That dude Jed
John Lynch said Wednesday that his interview with CEO Jed York and executive Paraag Marathe before he was hired as the 49ers’ general manager in 2017 was “very interesting.” Really? How so? “I think so many times in the interview process (job candidates) build books and say ‘Hey, here’s my belief system,’ ” Lynch said. “They kind of took that away and kind of had these exercises.
“It was a really cool thing where you had 150 points. And that was your salary cap. And you put it together to see where you would (put your resources). And it’s been communicated to me that Kyle and mine were almost directly in sync. Maybe they hired us for that reason.”
Lynch was halfjoking. But York was seeking a head coach and general manager who had similar football philosophies, so their synchronicity presumably didn’t hurt.
Of course, Lynch and Shanahan have since effectively used the gobs of cap space they inherited to help build a 214 bottom feeder into a 133 team that will face the Chiefs on Sunday in Super Bowl LIV.
The first steps were taken three years ago when Shanahan, the Falcons’ offensive coordinator, was preparing for Super Bowl LI against the Patriots. Shanahan, who unofficially was the 49ers’ next head coach, had told York he wanted Lynch to be his general manager.
He arranged to have York get in touch with Lynch.
“Well, Kyle was real busy — he was coaching a team,” Lynch said. “And you know how Kyle talks. So he said ‘Hey, I’m going to have this dude, his name’s Jed, give you a call. I said, “Yeah, I know Jed.’ ”
— Eric Branch
Goodell: Rooney Rule needs fixing
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell conceded Wednesday that the league’s Rooney Rule, intended to create diversity in headcoaching and frontoffice hires, isn’t working.
“Clearly, we are not where we want to be,” Goodell said at his annual “state of the league” news conference held at a downtown Miami hotel.
“It’s clear we need to change and do something different. There’s no reason to expect we’re going to have a different outcome next year without those kinds of changes.”
The Rooney Rule — named after Dan Rooney, the late owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers — was adopted in 2003 and requires teams with a headcoaching vacancy to interview at least one minority candidate. The rule later was expanded to include generalmanager openings.
This year was yet another when diversity took a backseat in hiring. There were five headcoaching openings and only one was filled by a minority candidate: Ron Rivera, a longestablished NFL head coach. The other four went to white coaches, three of whom had no prior NFL headcoaching experience.
The number of African American head coaches in the league remains at the same level as it was in 2003: three. More than 70% of players in the league are African American.
— Ann Killion