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October 24, 1999 (NHS) -- "One of the reasons I came here was I heard it was a class organization." The infamous words of Mark McMillian, the 49ers' diminutive cornerback who went from starter to scrap-heap in one phone call.
McMillian was speaking to kids at a local high school when the 49ers phoned him on his cell phone and fired him. In a manner of moments, the free agent who won a starting role in training camp was no longer even good enough to wear the 49er uniform. "Any time you're a starter and one of the best defensive backs on the team and you're cut, you gotta be surprised," he said, "They're just using me as an excuse."
In other words, the firing of McMillian is nothing short of making him the scapegoat for all of the 49ers' troubles on defense this year. At 5' 7", McMillian is an easy target. His title as "shortest player in the NFL" makes for a good media soundbyte, and the 49ers have successfully laid their failures on his shoulders. Nobody is asking Bill Walsh why he signed him in the first place or asking Jim Mora why he was starting all this time. Nope, the answer to everything is "McMillian's too short".
The 49ers offered McMillian another reason for the move. "They told me they cut me because of the salary cap," said McMillian, "They still have to pay me throughout the year. It was just a way of copping out."
Excuse. Copping out. These labels are no surprise to 49er-haters who have witnessed the tradition of the 49ers' backstabbing of players. True, other teams cut players under similar less-than-honorable circumstances, but no other team labels themselves as "winning with class", no other team speaks with reverence of a holier-than-thou system like "the 49er Way", and no other team perpetuates a fake image so successfully to lure unwitting free agents, like McMillian.
Over and over, the NHS has pointed out the truth: that "49er class" is a myth. We have listed the victims from Rod Woodson to Antonio Langham to Kevin Gogan to Harris Barton to Merton Hanks and so on, hoping to impart some wisdom. McMillian realizes the truth about the 49ers now, but like so many others before him, it's too late.
We therefore come full circle to McMillian's reason for joining the 49ers: "I heard it was a class organization." With all the evidence and history of the 49ers screwing their players over, there's just one remaining question. Heard it from who?
September 11, 1999 (NHS) -- As we've said before, Merton Hanks can't defend the run, can't defend the pass and certainly can't defend the length of his neck. But the 49ers can't defend the classless way they released him just days before the start of the 1999 NFL season, once again proving a mockery of the "49er class" and "49er family" myths.
Hanks ranks as one of the most despised 49ers ever by 49er-Haters everywhere for many reasons:
It is this last point which gives 49er-Haters everywhere such satisfaction in the way Hanks was canned. For the past nine seasons Hanks did everything he was asked by the 49ers, became beloved by the fans and his teammates and in return loved the organization, praising the 49ers at every turn. Now, like so many before him, he finally finds out that all along he was playing the fool.
In the preseason there was talk Hanks would be cut because the 49ers couldn't afford to keep his big salary under the cap. So, like a good little team player, he bent over and restructured his contract to take less money. Now what does he get for his loyalty? Yes, the proverbial merlot-and-cheddar dagger stuck in his back.
What truly takes the cake is the timing of the move. Getting cut days before opening day is bad enough since it virtually eliminates any chance for Hanks to start for another team any time soon. More important is the effect on Hanks' pocketbook. One luxury for NFL veterans with sufficient tenure is that if they are on an opening day NFL roster, they get a guaranteed salary. So not only does Hanks lose his job, but he loses the security of that guaranteed paycheck. How's that for treating your players well? How's that for payback for nine years of service?
The 49ers and media naturally ran for the cover of their friend, the salary cap, to hide from any blame. "It's not us, it's the mean old salary cap!" is the familiar refrain. Uh-huh. Heck, if not for the salary cap, Joe Montana would still be on sidelines!
No, this was a plain and simple cut based on Hanks' lack of effectiveness. This has been in the works since the oft-publicized plays in which Antonio Freeman toasted him and Jamal Anderson made him into a hood ornament. All the salary cap whining in the world can't hide the ugly way Hanks was discarded with no concern for his years of loyal service. We are all-too familiar with the sickening myth that the 49ers "treat their players better than any other team", so it is a pleasure every time Bill Walsh does us the courtesy of making a liar out of himself, the 49ers and the media, a.k.a. those that perpetuate the 49er myths.
The truth, of course, is that unless there's something fishy going on (like illegal under-the-table payments of the type allegedly received by Brent Jones) or something else we don't know (they serve honey-roasted peanuts instead of plain on flights), the 49ers do not treat their players better than other teams. From what we've seen over the years, one could and should conclude that in reality the 49ers treat their players worse because they use them up and screw them over time and time again. We addressed this issue with Harris Barton and Derrick Loville. Most recently Kevin Gogan voiced his concern over the 49er organization's lack of loyalty to its players: "I was in the locker room ... and someone said I was on the trading block. I didn't believe it. I never thought you would be traded when you do everything they wanted you to do."
Walsh's poorly executed cut of Hanks was another blow to the cadaver that is the 49ers' image and proof that he has lost touch with the game. Walsh may have upgraded the talent in the defensive backfield, but he is apparently oblivious to the effect it will have on the morale of the defense. While Hanks is overall a useless player skill-wise, that assessment pretty much sums up the entire 49ers defense. The unit is just plain bad. In fact, the only thing that it had going for it was facing an easy schedule and the intangible qualities of luck and chemistry. Hanks was the heart of the latter and Walsh just flushed it down the toilet.
"We worked all through the preseason to get a chemistry in the secondary and all of sudden the guy is gone. It's like getting married, being with your wife for a week and all of sudden she walks out on you," said 49ers diminutive cornerback Mark McMillian.
And what does Hanks think? He's been mum on the subject, but we can probably guess that after the way Walsh and the 49ers jerked him around, he's feeling less like a chicken and more like a turkey.
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created: September 11, 1999
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