Retired 49ers defender on defense, training camp
An edited transcript of an interview with former Niners defensive end Justin Smith, a 14-year NFL veteran and fivetime Pro Bowl player.
Q: How was training camp this time of year for you in your long career? A: It definitely changed after the new (collective bargaining agreement), but it used to be a time that you dreaded. After the Fourth of July you know what was coming, the double days (two workouts a day) lasting at least a month. Now it’s only one-a-days and you can go in there and practice, actually train and keep your strength and not be beat to hell all the time. So it’s quite a bit different than it used to be, especially after 2011. Q: How much do you think that played a part in extending your career? A: I don’t think it really extends guys’ careers. Watching the younger guys, they don’t get as much time to practice and really learn how to play football. I think guys are more raw, the injuries can be less, but I don’t think it’s extending guys. If anything I think you see guys retiring earlier. Q: Who had the toughest camp in your career? A: Dick LeBeau, because it was six weeks long and you never got out of pads. That’s just the way it was. Q: Everyone around here is talking about the new regime and (general manager) John Lynch and if there’s been any communication with you.
A: Not much. I talked to him one time, he was asking about the new guy wearing my number. I said, “Hey, that’s what they’re there for, to be worn. That’s no problem with me.” That was it, but for him to reach out and talk to me, just a good, respectful guy. He knows how to treat people in football because he played. I’m sure they’re having as tough of a camp as they can have under them. Q: I wanted to ask you about (linebacker) Navarro Bowman. How much left in the tank does he have? A: I don’t know. I know those injuries are tough. That knee, I’m sure it still aches. It probably hurts from time to time. ... The Achilles is not as big of a deal. Bow is a grinder, man. He wants to be successful, he has been successful. I know he wants to get back to where his game was, and I’m sure he’s gonna do everything he can to get there. Q: Early in the draft they took Solomon Thomas, I’m just wondering what you’ve seen, what you’ve heard, does he have what it takes to be successful? A: Until you play, it’s all hype to me. I’m sure he’s got all the tools, it’s about how he’s gonna fit into that scheme. A 4-3 is much different than a 3-4, everybody knows that, but how do you use him? Is he gonna be playing the pass rush? All those types of things tell you how to use a guy and how he translates. Q: What do you see in (Thomas’ fellow first-round pick) Reuben Foster? Obviously with Malcolm Smith injured we’re going to see more of him, but what is his ceiling? A: Everything they’ve said about him is that he’s a heck of a player. I’ve seen some comparisons to P-Willy (retired linebacker Patrick Willis), so you never know. You never know how a guy is going to translate. It’s usually not the skill that trips a guy up, it’s the other stuff. Hopefully he’s got a good group around him that can keep him going in the right direction and he should be fine. Q: As far as the press conferences go and being in the public eye, have you been impressed with John Lynch and Kyle Shanahan? A: As a player you don’t care about that. That’s more fan, how you communicate with the fan base and to ownership, but that doesn’t translate into wins. It’s all gonna be where they put these guys, the position they put them in and the talent that they have. They haven’t been very good the last couple years, so they’ve been drafting high so those top guys should be coming together to form their core for the next four, five, six years. We’ll see how it shakes out for them.