Lying With Class

No surprise: 49ers lie and break rules, yet NFL fails to act

The 49ers blatantly misreported the status of quarterback Steve Young prior to the playoff game at Green Bay, yet no punitive action has been taken by the NFL. Usual NFL policy is to fine a team $10,000 for violating the league's policy on reporting injuries, but clearly there is a double-standard when it comes to their favorite football franchise, the 49ers.

Back in 1994, Troy Aikman hurt his thumb in a practice on the Friday before the Cowboys faced the 49ers. After X-rays showed there was no break, the Cowboys neglected to report the injury. NFL rules state that a team must report any injury, but the Cowboys' felt that they didn't need to report it. "We had no reason to think [Aikman] might not play because of the thumb injury so we weren't obligated to report it," Cowboys' Owner Jerry Jones said. "We didn't want it distorted."

Despite the fact that Aikman went on to play out the full game, the league and media were outraged. Headlines skewered the Cowboys. The NFL responded to Jones' explanation with a technical interpretation of the rules, and commissioner Paul Tagliabue fined the Dallas Cowboys $10,000 for violating the league's policy on reporting injuries. A letter from the NFL office to the Cowboys cited "the public confidence in our game" as the reason the club should have obeyed league policy and asked the Cowboys to respond with an explanation of their actions (notwithstanding Jones' previous explanation).

The analogy to Steve Young's rib injury is clear. The 49ers knew that Young's ribs were broken and failed to report it truthfully. As late as Friday, head coach George Seifert was referring to Young's "bruised ribs." On Wednesday, Seifert said, "he was told Young suffered neither torn cartilage nor broken ribs." Young said, "I haven't seen the X-rays," and, instead of revealing the break, said, "I'll let the doctors comment on what [the injury] is exactly. I just know it hurts." Of course, doctors are not allowed to talk to the media unless cleared by the 49ers, and, surprise, they never said a word.

After the game, the truth was revealed. It turns out that Young was fully aware of his broken ribs all along. The San Francisco Examiner reported, "He faked being in one piece, when parts of him were broken. He had two fractured ribs and passed them off as bruised." Said Young right after the game, "We know there's two [ribs that are broken]. We were trying to keep it down so there wouldn't be a bigger target on me than there already was."

So there you have it. Admission that they knew all along and decided to lie and cover it up. "Faked?" "Keep it down?" Somewhere, Richard Nixon is proud.

Obviously, there's one reasonable course of action: the 49ers should be fined. And yet, there's no action and probably never will be. If the NFL is concerned with "the public confidence in our game," as they were in 1994, how can the NFL be content to condone outright lies by a franchise? How come the NFL was quick to reprimand the Cowboys, but sits idly by when the 49ers engage in an intentional, devious cover-up?

The answer is clear. There is a blatant double-standard accorded to the 49ers. If the 49ers were any other team, they would be fined by the league and chastised by the media, but there is a presumption that whatever other teams (like the Cowboys) are involved with is bad, but whatever the 49ers do is good-- a presumption we hope to change by publishing the truth.

Media turns deaf ear

Even more disappointing than watching the NFL sit idly by is watching the press corps continue as a willing accomplice to the double-standard. The muse for 49er sleaze.

There's no debating it: the 49ers flat out lied through their teeth, spewing crap into the faces of the media, yet nobody in the media seems to care. The 49ers played the media for fools, feeding them this "no X-ray results" B.S., and yet, there is no outrage. In normal reality outside 49er Fantasyland, if somebody lies to you, you get pissed off. But 49er beat reporters seem to enjoy have a 49er spit lies into their face and continually swallow bold-faced prevarication. They referred to the cover-up as "subterfuge" and remarked about the clever ways the 49ers "spin gold out of straw." What does this say about the character of today's media?

Lying clearly defining 49ers franchise

But even if the spineless mainstream media didn't mind the lie about Young's ribs, there's no question that the cumulative, almost subliminal effect of these stunts is taking its toll on the public. For years we've watched the 49ers engage in questionable ethics: outlandish salaries in the 1980's being funded from questionable sources, circumventing the salary cap in devious ways, bringing Deion Sanders to San Francisco under corporate influence, etc. Up until now, the public was willing to accept these stunts because they won Super Bowls (the classic "ends justify the means" scenario). But since the 49ers haven't won a meaningful game in over a year, it is finally starting to dawn on the formerly ignorant Joe Public what the 49er franchise is really all about.

The constant excuses made by the 49ers' haven't helped. The 49ers have had a creative excuse for every loss, ranging from "aberration" to "fluke." But given that the 49ers have gone 0-6 in their most recent games against Carolina, Green Bay, and Dallas, even 49er fans can't believe in that "opponent was just lucky" theory anymore. Now, add the fact that the 49ers blatantly lied about Young's ribs, and more and more people should understand what we've known for years: the 49ers' words cannot be taken at face value.

We've already seen some impact. In the recent press conference to announce the "resignation" of George Seifert, not even the local media bought into the crap the 49er brass was shoveling. Sure, there's always going to be some pathetic 49er fan that's duped, but as of now, there is serious doubt out there. People have to be wondering how the 49ers can claim they "win with class" and yet continually lie and deceive? How much longer are we going to hear the 49ers being improperly placed among "the class of the league" if they continue to blatantly undermine their own credibility? When will they wise up?

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