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(See update and original story below)
October 7, 1999 (NHS) -- I guess we shouldn't fault Bill Walsh for seeing Joe Montana everywhere he goes. After all, it was the weak-armed Montana who perfectly executed Walsh's nickel 'n dime offense to the tune of four Super Bowl titles in the 80's. No one -- including Steve Young -- understood the basic tenets of Walsh's offense better than Montana (tenets that revolve around the concept of "get rid of it and save your ass," as Terry Bradshaw once called the West Coast Offense).
Even so, Walsh needs to lighten up on the Joe comparisons -- either that, or he needs to seek therapy, because he's beginning to sound borderline-obsessed. In Walsh's world, everything comes down to Joe. This is obvious by looking at Walsh's bio in the 49er media guide. Favorite drink? Cup of Joe in the morning. Favorite movie? "Joe Vs. The Volcano" (apparently, Walsh thinks Joe pulled out the win over the volcano with a quick two-yard slant to Rice in the two-minute drill). Favorite character on "The Facts of Life"? Jo Polniazek. It never ends.
But seriously, we've been hearing quite a bit about Joe Montana lately, which is curious seeing as the Weak-Armed One hasn't emitted a peep, as he's been holed away in his Northern California home trying to sell his wife's workout machine to his neighbors or something. No, all mentions of Montana have been coming from the mouth of Walsh and his ever-adoring media. The two latest flaps have been the whole Plummer-as-the-next-Joe controversy, and now the "Jeff Garcia reminds me of Joe" blather that Walsh has been spouting ever since he signed Garcia in the preseason to be the 49ers' backup quarterback.
Now, as the 49ers prepare to face the Rams in this weekend's showdown of an up-and-coming team and an aging squad still trying to cling to past glory, Walsh is at it again. Apparently, Rams coach Dick Vermeil kinda, but not really, reminded Walsh of Joe. It seems that among the few things Walsh is able to clearly remember is the play of Vermeil, who was a quarterback for San Jose State in the 1950s, when Walsh was a graduate assistant there. According to Walsh, the young Vermeil "had tremendous energy and was really competitive ... He came in the first year, and I think he might have been a backup. But he had a really solid career as a quarterback and was smallish as you know."
Oh, it doesn't end there. "There was some Montana in him," Walsh continued. "I just don't think the arms and legs were long enough. He had everything else."
So to recap, over the last several years, Walsh has seen bits and pieces of Joe in the following people:
Like a love-crazed stalker that sees visions of their obsession everywhere they go, Walsh can't seem to let go of his infatuation with Montana. One wonders if he plays Monopoly and, drawing the "Go To Jail" card, sees "Do not pass Joe, do not collect $200". Or perhaps Walsh's favorite campfire song is "Joe Joe Joe your boat."
Whatever the case, as long as Walsh is back with the Niners, it's a virtual guarantee that we won't soon hear the end of comparisons to Montana -- which probably suits Niner fans just fine, because seeing as the team is slowly going down the tubes, they'll need someone to remind them of their past glory, and who better than "the Genius"?
As for the rest of us, we're getting kind of tired of hearing about it, so hopefully Walsh will end the comparisons sometime soon, although this seems doubtful, seeing as he spends a lot of his leisure time listening to his favorite musician and entertainer -- and the man with the perfect name -- Eagles guitarist Joe Walsh.
September 25, 1999 (NHS) -- Being a genius isn't all fun and games. Sometimes, there's so much stuff going on in your mind, it feels like it's going to explode. Sometimes, people want so much from you that you'll say anything just to get them off your back. And, as we're now seeing with the ever-continuing Bill Walsh-Jim Druckenmiller saga, sometimes being a genius means that you can never admit you're wrong. Otherwise, people might just stop thinking you're a genius.
Even those that don't follow the Niners closely know the drill by now: in 1997, the Niners were looking at the draft to select the heir-apparent to Steve Young at quarterback. San Francisco consulted with its savior, Bill Walsh, who supposedly told the team to select Jake Plummer, despite the fact that most draft boards graded Druckenmiller higher. When the team finally found itself on the draft clock, then-GM Dwight Clark, along with Carmen Policy and Vinny Cerrato, spurned the great Walsh and took Druck.
We know how the story has worked out since then. Plummer was selected by the Cardinals, and has become an effective starting QB in his two-plus years of service. He is continually lauded for his ability to lead his team back from fourth-quarter deficits in order to pull out a win (of course, there's rarely a mention of why they were behind in the first place, as if Plummer and his myriad interceptions -- 27 in his last 18 starts -- had nothing to do with that). Football fans everywhere look at Jake the Snake and see shades of Joe the Schmoe (Montana, that is). Meanwhile, Druck has become... well, Druck was acquitted of rape charges, and that's about it. On the field, he hasn't gotten much of a chance, but he's been a zero when he has.
After whining up a storm about how the Niners should have taken the great Plummer and how Druck sucks, Walsh finally unloaded the unsightly baggage to Miami early in September. Despite evidence to the contrary, Walsh has maintained all along that he recommended Plummer, and not Druck, to the Niners, and therefore his hands are clean of any draft blunder. After all, Walsh is a genius, and would never misjudge a quarterback talent, right?
(Before we go any further, let's pause for a moment to reflect on the fact that in 1993, Walsh anointed Notre Dame quarterback Rick Mirer as "the new Joe Montana" before the draft. NFL fans know how that one worked out.)
Okay, back to the current story. With a 49er-Arizona matchup looming large, the headlines are dominated by the Plummer-Druck subplot. During those long, slow, suffering days in his office, when Walsh stares blankly at the walls, teary-eyed, wondering what life would be like with Jake Plummer instead of Jeff Garcia as his backup to Young, The Genius has had to field calls on the subject from nosy reporters wondering what the real story is. And now, it seems that Walsh has finally cracked.
The Friday, September 24 issue of the San Jose Mercury notes that Walsh is now completely backing off any story that had him praising Druckenmiller before the 1997 draft. "I suggested Jake, in my report, was as close to Joe Montana as I'd seen coming out of college," Walsh told the Mercury. "Druckenmiller was never a factor. I think the 49ers felt he would be drafted earlier in the draft than he was, but I don't know how much research had been done on Jim."
And what of the infamous USA Today quote, in which Walsh alleged that Druck was at the top of the class? In case you've forgotten, we'll refresh your memory: "He can really throw the football," Walsh told USA Today in 1997, referring to Druck. "He's got a great arm, comparable to Drew Bledsoe and some of the best arms in the NFL, and he seems to have good command of what he's doing. I didn't see anybody in his category."
Sounds like an endorsement of Druck to us. Yet, now Walsh is backpedaling on that quote: "If I did (say it) it was ... probably out of a (scout) book," Walsh said. "They say, 'Who are the top quarterbacks?' And I'm thinking, 'Now, how do I get off the phone here? Just a minute, let me think about it.' I'd never seen Jim play."
So there you have it. According to Walsh, he's not even responsible for his own opinion -- kinda like Charles Barkley claiming that he was misquoted in his own autobiography. It wasn't that Walsh was high on Druck; it was just that some pesky reporter wanted an opinion, so Walsh referred to a scout book and authoritatively passed off the opinion of the book as his own.
This claim is dubious at best, seeing as Walsh has always prided himself in being Bill Walsh, the Genius who can do no wrong. Now, suddenly, he's throwing out uninformed opinions to the media, without considering the repercussions to his sterling image? Doubtful at best, and by all accounts, it sounds like an outright lie.
Walsh's former co-conspirator, Dwight Clark, provides the evidence to impeach Walsh's latest statements. Now mangling the roster of the Cleveland Browns, Clark claims that Walsh was far from being an innocent bystander as the Niners nabbed Druckenmiller in the '97 draft. "I was in those meetings; I heard Bill say (Druckenmiller) was the most talented quarterback in the draft and that Plummer fit the (49ers') offense better," Clark told the Contra Costa Times. "I was there; I know what was said. Bill never said which one he would pick. He just made that statement and it was really up to us."
According to Clark, then, Walsh did see Plummer as the better fit for the Niners' rinky-dink West Coast Offense, but he also touted Druck as a better QB, and didn't go on record as to which QB San Francisco should take. Two years later, Plummer is a rising star, Druck is a laughingstock, and Walsh wants people to think that he stood squarely behind Plummer the whole time. Genius, isn't it?
Is Walsh resorting to lying in order to escape the embarrassment of ever having praised Druck? Given his obsession with self-image management, that would be no surprise. But just to be fair to the old codger, let's give him the benefit of the doubt. Maybe he just forgot what he told Clark -- after all, as we discussed before, Walsh seems to have a history of forgetting things, such as when he forgot Steve Stenstrom's name and referred to him as "Joe". So maybe he's not an intentional liar, maybe he's just going senile.
While it's amusing to see yet another chink in the armor of the most overrated coach in history, we hope this little story is nearing its end. The fact of the matter is, the Niners don't have Plummer, nor will they get him. Plummer isn't assured of being the next Joe Montana or Joe Namath or even Joe Kapp -- right now, he's still a young QB taking his lumps. If Plummer had been on the Niners the last two years, he'd have all of one start to his name, and we'd know almost nothing about him. Either way, it's all speculation -- the bottom line is that regardless of who made the Druck draft decision, that's what's happened, and it's time to move on. Hopefully, following the Cardinal game, the media will stop fixating on this little event, so we can watch Walsh backpedal on some other issues -- like why the 49ers were so dismal in this year's draft.
April 22, 1999 (NHS) -- With Steve Young growing longer in the tooth with every passing day, the 49ers find themselves one hit away from disaster and edging towards panic mode. After having two "best ever" quarterbacks at the helm for the better part of the last two decades, how are they going to keep the flame burning?
To hear the fans and media talk about it, this wouldn't even be an issue if the 49ers had just done the right thing and selected Jake Plummer two years ago. Instead, despite the pleading and prodding of "The Genius", Bill Walsh, the Niner brass at the time selected bulky and brainless Jim Druckenmiller. It almost seemed like Carmen Policy and Dwight Clark selected Druckenmiller to spite Walsh. And we all know how the story has worked out: Jake The Snake wears Montana's number, 16, out in Arizona, where he is becoming the next great quarterback. Meanwhile, Druckenmiller languishes on the Niner sidelines, too stupid to even figure out where he is.
Well, at least that's how the fans and most of the media tell it. But they're forgetting one little thing.
At the time of the 1997 draft, Bill Walsh was asked to profile several of the available quarterbacks. Sure, Plummer was Walsh's first choice to fit the 49er system because of his intangibles and leadership, and even compared him to the great Joe. But the fact is, he liked Druckenmiller as well, and graded him highly, even going so far as to calling him the best QB prospect in the draft. Walsh liked his arm strength and accuracy, and said that he thought Druck was going to be a good quarterback.
Don't believe us? Here's a quote from Walsh that appeared in USA Today, two months before the 1997 draft: "He can really throw the football. He's got a great arm, comparable to Drew Bledsoe and some of the best arms in the NFL. And he seems to have good command of what he's doing. I didn't see anybody in his category."
That quote from Walsh is about Druckenmiller, not Plummer. Fast forward two years. Walsh is back with the 49ers, Policy and Clark are in Cleveland, Plummer is highly regarded, and the Niners need a backup QB desperately. It's pretty clear at this point that Druckenmiller isn't going to be that guy, and Walsh is now looking to move him to another team for any sort of value.
However, in the midst of Walsh's auction, he's ignoring one fact: you're not supposed to badmouth the item that you are trying to sell. Yet, there's the Genius, verbally hammering Druckenmiller at every possible turn. It seems as if Walsh almost goes out of his way to disparage his young quarterback, possibly to make it look like he's reaffirming to everyone that Druck wasn't his guy and he wanted Plummer instead. Here's Walsh's take these days: "Velocity on the ball means nothing. When a man takes pride in how hard he throws it, or if they can pull a car 50 yards, you're not in the area of performance."
That comes from the San Francisco Chronicle last week, and is merely one of a long string of slams that Walsh has directed at Druckenmiller. For someone that is supposed to be a genius, Walsh sure doesn't seem to understand the concept of market value. His constant grousing about Druckenmiller's shortcomings isn't attracting other teams to line up and offer anything of value to trade for him.
Even as he trashes Druck, The Genius now seems to be enamored of former CFL quarterback Jeff Garcia, currently the second-string man on the Niner roster. Walsh thinks Garcia has some shades of -- guess who? -- Joe. Yep, that comparison apparently took place six years ago, when then Stanford coach Walsh matched up against Garcia, who was then QB of powerhouse San Jose State. Of course, back then, Walsh was also mistakenly referring to Stanford QB Steve Stenstrom as "Joe". You gotta wonder if Walsh sees Joe Montana wherever he goes and whenever he closes his eyes at night. After all, he did seem to see shades of Montana when he graded Notre Dame quarterback Rick Mirer before the 1993 draft in yet another instance of Walsh flagrantly misjudging talent that everyone seems to have forgotten.
So the 49ers enter the 1999 season with a strong-armed QB wasting away on the sidelines, while the man that could have been the next Joe is building his career in Arizona. The fans have a convenient scapegoat in Clark, so they can direct all their anger out toward the Cleveland area. Meanwhile, Walsh looks like a saint, because he wanted to pick Plummer, but the evil Niner brass wouldn't take his advice, and now that he's running the show, he's doing all he can to call attention to that fact. Whatever the case, the Niners are still in a tenuous situation at QB. If Young goes down, nothing short of the return of Joe himself will save this team. However, wouldn't it be fitting if Druck came off the bench to lead the team to victory? In that case, Walsh could remind everyone that, back in 1997, he did tell everyone that Druckenmiller was the best.
The sad thing is, most people would buy it.
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