Camera Data – Canon 1D mark 2, Canon 400mm f2.8 with 1.4 tele-converter ( 560 mm ) ISO 250 f4.0 1/1600 of a second.

Andrew Luck celebrates a touchdown in the 113th Big Game against Cal on November 20th, 2011 at Memorial Stadium in Berkeley, CA.

With the 4th overall pick in the 2012 NFL draft the Minnesota Vikings select USC offensive tackle Matt Kalil. Matt Kalil was a 2011 All American 1st team member who also won the Pac-12′s Morris Trophy. Having played only his junior year, Kalil becomes the 76th player from USC to be drafted in the first round of the NFL draft.

With the 70th overall pick in the 3rd round of the 2012 NFL draft the Jacksonville Jaguars selected University of California at Berkeley ( Cal ) punter Byran Anger. Few punters are selected this high in the draft, but Jacksonville needed to replace their former punter Adam Podlesh who as a free agent went to the Chicago Bears. Jacksonville is hoping that Bryan Anger can put up the same type of numbers he did during his college career where he averaged 43.5 yards a punt, and put 90 punts inside the opposing teams 20 yard line. Anger is shown here punting against the USC Trojans in a 2011 regular season game at ATT park in San Francisco that served as the Bears home field while their permanent home field Memorial Stadium in Berkeley is rebuilt and will be ready for the 2012 college football season.

While the actual team picture is taken in 1/200 of a second, there is a lot of preparation that goes on before hand to make it all run smoothly and quickly. This time lapse movie shows the process involved with the San Francisco 49ers 2011 team picture.

San Francisco 49ers Team Picture Day Time Lapse from Keith Simonian on Vimeo.

What no quarterback in the NFL wants to see – 49er Defensive Tackle Justin Smith leaping over offensive lineman.

#85 49er Tight end Vernon Davis looks to repeat his 2 touchdown 7 catches for 180 yards performance against the visiting New York Giants.

It’s not holding if they don’t call it. They didn’t.

Saints cornerback #33  Jabari Greer leap frogs over 49er Michael Crabtree.

Saints QB Drew Brees set an NFL regular season passing record in the 2011 regular season. The 49er defensive slowed him down enough to claim victory in the Divisional playoff game last Saturday.

He scores touchdowns and leaps over photographers with a single bound, it’s 49er tight end #85 Vernon Davis.

#19 Ted Ginn waiting for the Saints kickoff.

49er Linebacker #52 Patrick Willis tackles #10 Eli Manning for a loss during their regular season meeting at Candlestick park that the 49ers won 27-20.

Touchdown catch by #82 Mario Manningham with the Fox Television dual camera sideline cart in the background.

San Francisco 49er Offensive lineman #74 Joe Staley “blocks” New York Giant #72 Osi Umenyiora during their Sunday November 13th regular season game.

Alex Smith, meet Osi Umenyiora. The 49ers are hoping to hold the Giants pass rush at bay. In this photo #72 Osi Umenyiora tackles #11 Alex Smith just as he releases the football during their November 13th regular season meeting the 49ers won 27 to 20.

AFC – NFC Championship update: The New England Patriots beat the Baltimore Ravens 23-20 in the AFC Championship game. The New York Giants prevailed over the San Francisco 49ers 20 to 17 in overtime with a 31 yard field goal. The Patriots will face the Giants in Super Bowl XLVI on February 5th at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis Indiana.

It’s been a really interesting journey for Alex Smith since he was selected first in the 2005 NFL draft by the San Francisco 49ers on April 23, 2005. By “really interesting” I mean the six previous seasons before Jim Harbaugh became head coach of the 49ers this year were filled with mostly disappoint and a parade of  head coaches and offensive coordinators. Due to the strike and lockout before the 2011 NFL season which caused a greatly shortened pre season, the 49ers really had no choice but to stick with Alex Smith for another year.

What a difference a season and a coach who knows how to coach can make. The 49ers went 13-3 during the regular season and earned the 2nd seed in the NFC playoffs. That 2nd seed got them a week off and a divisional playoff game against the New Orleans Saints. It would be Alex Smith’s first ever NFL playoff game. He made the most of the opportunity by leading the 49ers to a 36-32 victory over the Saints in front of 69,732 fans. The win over the Saints means the 49ers will host the New York Giants in the NFC Championship game on January 22, 2012. The winner of that game will meet the winner of the AFC championship between the New England Patriots and Baltimore Ravens in the 2012 Super Bowl to be played  on Sunday, February 5, 2012 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana.

This photo shows what would be the biggest play of Alex Smith’s seven year career up until that point as he rolled left on a designed run play for a 28 yard touchdown run the put the 49ers ahead of the Saints 29-24 with just over 2 minutes to play in his first ever NFL playoff game.

Quarterback Alex Smith and other 49ers congratulate Vernon Davis on making “the grab” which would be the game winning touchdown catch with just nine second left in their Divisional playoff game against the New Orleans Saints.

This photo is from Alex Smith’s first NFL game, a pre-season game against the Oakland Raiders on August 13th, 2005.

It’s not easy being an National Football League quarterback. Defensive players grab your face mask to try and tackle you.

Those defensive players grab your shoulder pads to try and tackle you.

The also grab your jersey to try and sack you. Sometimes one person does all that on one play as was the case with New Orleans free safety Malcolm Jenkins on this series of photos.

Alex Smith recovers this dropped backwards pass.

Then after winning the biggest game of your life you just stroll off the field content with a great job of playing quarterback. We shall see Sunday  against the New York Giants if this improbable season for the 49ers continues on to the Super Bowl

The 49ers last home playoff game in 2003 was a wild and exciting game against the New York Giants that featured the 2nd biggest comeback in NFL playoff history ( 24 points ) and a good deal of interesting officiating. The first photo in this post shows what many thought was an interception by #29 Ahmed Plummer 2 plays before what was to be a botched field goal attempt by the Giants that would have won the game.

Instead of rehashing the rest of the 2003 playoff game, I’m going to do more of a “where are they now” feature. First up, T.O., or as the program says, #81 Terrell Owens. TO had a great game that day in 2003 with 9 catches for 177 yards and two touchdowns. He would play one more season for the 49ers before heading to the Philadelphia Eagles. It took just two years before he wore out his welcome there. Next up, the Dallas Cowboys for three seasons. Then one season with the Buffalo Bills, and in 2010 his final NFL season was with the Cincinnati Bengals. In October of 2011 Owens held an open workout hoping to attract the attention of another NFL team. Not one team sent anybody to watch.

Kerry Collens #5 the then Giants quarterback played one more season with them before moving onto the Oakland Raiders for two seasons, the Tennessee Titans for 5 seasons, and finally the Indianapolis Colts for the 2011 Season.

#81 Amani Toomer was a East Bay Area product having first attended Albany high school, and the transferring to Northern California football powerhouse De La Salle high school in Concord, CA. After attending the University of Michigan he was the 34th overall draft pick in the 2006 NFL draft being selected by the New York Giants. He played 13 seasons with the Giants and was part of the 2008 team the won the Super Bowl XLII against the New England Patriots.

Quarterback #5 Jeff Garcia played his college career at San Jose State University. With no NFL offers, Garcia went North to play in the Canadian Football League where he played for the Calgary Stampeders. In 1999 he was signed by the San Francisco 49ers as a backup for NFL Hall of Famer Steve Young. Following Young’s retirement in 1999, Garica became the starting quarterback. In 2003 he was released by the 49ers and played the 2004 season with the Cleveland Browns. After the Browns he played for the Detroit Lions ( 2005 ), Philadelphia Eagles ( 2006 ), Tampa Bay Buccaneers ( 2007-2008 ), Oakland Raiders & Philadelphia Eagles ( 2009 ), Omaha Nighthawks ( 2010 ), and back in the NFL with Houston Texans for the 2011 Season. The Texans will play the Baltimore Ravens in the AFC Divisional playoff game this Sunday with a 10 AM ET start. According to the Houston Texan depth chart, Jeff Garcia is listed as the 3rd string quarterback for the game at the M&T Bank Stadium.

I have no idea where this gentlemen is now.

The 49ers lost the next week to the eventual Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers.  That game marked the end of Steve Mariucci’s coaching time with the 49ers as fired on Janaury 15th in what many thought was a power struggle with then 49er General Manager Terry Donahue. During his 6 years as head coach of the San Francisco 49ers Mariucci had a 60-43 ( .583 ) record including 4 playoff appearances. Dennis Erickson became the new head coach and lasted all of two years with a record of 9-23 during those years. GM Terry Donahue was also fired along with Erickson. Mike Nolan was next hired at head coach and lasted 3.5 years and was fired mid season and replaced with Mike Singletary. “Coach” Singletary lasted 2.5 seasons and was fired at the conclusion of the 2010 season. The 49ers hired highly recruited Jim Harbaugh from Stanford University in January of 2011, and have never looked back as they finished the 2011 NFL regular season with a 13-3 record and the 2nd seed in the NFC playoffs.

The only player still on the 49er team that played in that 2003 playoff game is Brian Jennings #86 the team’s long snapper. Jennings  played college ball at Arizona State and was the 230th player ( 7th round ) selected in the 2000 NFL draft, and has played his entire 12 year career with the 49ers.

The first outage  which last 20 minutes occurred just before kickoff and pushed back the start of the game  about 20 minutes. The teams were in their locker rooms at the time of the outage. Instead of the normal pre-game hoopla the precedes kickoff for a NFL game, the teams were allowed to come out and warm up for  an addition 10 minutes and the game started shortly thereafter.  The SECOND outage occurred during the 2nd quarter during a television time out with 12 minutes and 13 seconds left in the quarter. This time the teams were on the field and just waited around as did all the sellout crowd of 69,732 who were in attendance for the 49ers last regular season home game.

This photo shows Pittsburgh Steeler players and  NFL officials waiting out the 2nd power outage which happened early in the 2nd quarter. While the photo of the players and officials waiting appears to have ample light, the photo was made at ISO 1600 at 1/20 of a second at f2.0 on a 135mm canon lens. With the stadium lights on, the game action photos were made at ISO 1600,  1/640, at f3.2 or 6 stops higher than the power out photo. Six “f stops” brighter equates to 64 times brighter with the lights on.

There was indeed a complete football game played on Monday night, and the stingy 49er defense held the defending AFC Champions Pittsburgh Steelers to just 3 points in their victory. The game marked an NFL record 14 games the 49ers have not allowed a rushing touchdown scored against them. It wasn’t perfect form, but San Francisco 49er #29 Chris Culliver did hold on to the jersey of Pittsburgh Steeler #17 Mike Wallace and make the tackle during this 2nd quarter play.

The photo below is from the 2008 meeting between the New England Patriots and the San Francisco 49ers on October 5th at Candlestick Park. Randy Moss #81 makes a juggling 66 yard first quarter touchtown reception from qaurterback Matt Cassel while 49er cornerbacks #22 Nate Clements and #27 Walt Harris try to defend. Photo technical details: Canon 1D Mark II – Canon 400mm f2.8 lens with 1.4 tele-extender – RAW CR2 – ISO 250 – 1/1000 second – f6.3 – autofocus: AI Servo.

March 14th, 2012 update: It seems at least in the NFL that retirements don’t always last. The latest player to come back after retiring is Randy Moss after missing the 2011 NFL season. This time instead of catching passes against the San Francisco 49ers, he will be catching them for the 49ers as he signed a one year contract for the 2012 season. Moss was signed by the 49ers after passing a physical at Stanford University this past Sunday and then running the route tree on Monday with 49er head coach Jim Harbaugh throwing the passes to the wide receiver. I guess it helps to have a former NFL quarterback as head coach.

With their eight ( 8th ) pick in the 2011 NFL draft today, the Tennessee Titans selected senior quarterback Jake Locker from the University of Washington. Locker was the 2nd quarterback drafted today behind the first pick in the entire draft, Cam Newton from the University of Auburn. The 6′-3″ 231 pound quarterback from Washington who started 12 of 13 games in his senior year is projected to replace last year’s Titan quarterback, Vince Young.

Another NFL first round draft pick was on the field that day on November 27th, 2010 when the Golden Bears of California hosted the Washington Huskies. That player would be senior defensive lineman #97 Cameron Jordan who was selected 24th in the first round of the NFL draft by the New Orleans Saints.

During his senior year Cameron Jordan had 62 tackles and 5.5 sacks. In the the photo below we see two Washington offensive lineman trying to block Jordon while he nearly sacks the Washington quarterback and 7th pick in the 2011 NFL draft Jake Locker.

- April 29th, 2011 NFL draft Update -

The New England Patriots figured if a lot of rain couldn’t stop him, maybe the snow wouldn’t either, as they drafted California running back Shane Vereen in the second round of the NFL draft. Cal junior Shane Vereen was the 56th player taken overall in the 2011 draft. He played in all 38 games during his three years at Cal, and started 19 of them. After just three years, Vereen leaves Cal as fifth in school history with 4,069 all-purpose yards.

On this play California running back Shane Vereen scores of his two touchdowns against the Arizona St. Sun Devils at Memorial Stadium on October 23, 2010.

Funny how things turn out some times.  Sports like life can take many twists and turns that nobody sees coming.  On September 27, 2003 Aaron Rodgers was the starting quarterback in what would be his biggest game to date as the #3 ranked USC Trojans came to Memorial Stadium to play the 2-3 California Golden Bears. Rodgers had transferred to Cal after playing one season for Butte Junior College located near Chico, California. The Bears won the game 34 to 31 in three over times. Looking back at the game now, it’s interesting to see how things turned out for many of the players.

After his 2nd season at Cal, Aaron Rodgers declared for the draft and was projected to be a top 10 pick. Rodgers 2005 draft day became a nightmare. He was drafted 24th by the Green Bay Packers where he would the backup QB behind Brett Favre for 3 seasons.

Playing under the temporary lights, Cal place kicker Tyler Fredrickson makes the game winning 38 yard field goal in the third over time giving the Bears a 34 to 31 victory over USC.

The other starting quarterback that day was Matt Leinart. After the 2004 college season which USC won the BCS national championship game against the Oklahoma Sooners Matt Leinart was projected as the number one pick in the 2005 NFL draft. He decided to stay another year at USC to try and win another BCS championship. That didn’t happen as USC lost to Texas in the BCS championship game. Leinart’s stock had fallen by the time the 2006 NFL draft rolled around, and he was selected 10th by the Arizona Cardinals. Things never worked out for Leinart at Arizona, and he is currently looking for a new team.

The USC coach at the time was Pete Carroll. In this photo from the 2003 game he is waiting to shake hands with Cal’s victorious coach Jeff Tedford while Cal fans run onto the field to celebrate the victory. Carroll was USC’s head coach from 2000 to 2009. He left for the NFL and the Seattle Seahawks after the 2009 season. Turns out to have been a brilliantly timed move as USC would be sanctioned by NCAA for violations of improper benefits to Heisman Trophy winner Reggie Bush dating to the Trojans’ 2004 national championship season.

Though not a starter on that day Reggie Bush did have 4 carries for 7 yards. Two seasons later he was the Heisman Trophy Winner and was selected 2nd in the NFL draft by the New Orleans Saints. Those very same Saints won Super Bowl XLIV with Reggie Bush as the starting running back.  The rest of 2010 didn’t go quite as well for Bush. In June of 2010 the NCAA threw the book at USC for improper benefits to Reggie Bush dating to the Trojans’ 2004 national championship. Then in September the Heisman Trust announced the vacation of Reggie Bush’s 2005 trophy. The Saints quest to repeat as Super Bowl champions lead them to a first round game against the first to ever enter the playoffs with a losing record, that being the now Pete Carroll coached Seattle Seahawks. The Saints were an eleven point favorite, but lost the game 41 to 36.

Wide receiver Mike Williams had a brilliant 2 year career at USC with 176 catches in 26 games for over 2500 yards receiving and 30 touchdown receptions. Williams was 10th overall player selected in the 2005 NFL draft by the Detroit Lions, where in 2 seasons, he caught just 37 passes. Before the start of the 2007 season, Williams was traded to the Oakland Raiders and was cut after just seven games. A month later and over weight Williams signed with the Tennessee Titans. By July of 2008 his NFL career was all but over as he was cut again. After two full seasons out of the NFL, he was signed at the start of the season by the Seattle Seahawks with their new coach, Pete Carroll. Having lost weight Williams once again blossomed into the receiver he was at USC where as if you have been paying attention, he was coached by Pete Carroll. In the Seahawks playoff win over the Saints, Williams had five catches for 68 yards, including a 38 yard touchdown reception.

#99 Defensive Tackle Mike Patterson is shown here applying pressure to Cal quarterback Aaron Rodgers. Patterson was drafted 31st in the 2005 NFL draft by the Philadelphia Eagles and has played for them the past 6 seasons.

Kenechi Udeze was selected by the Minnesota Vikings in the first round of the 2004 draft. In his rookie year he was responsible for 5 sacks there by showing the promise the Vikings saw in him. After injuries he came back in the 2007 season and also had five sacks. In February of 2008 Udeze’s life changed forever as he  was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia — cancer of the blood and bone marrow. Kenechi received a marrow transplant from his brother and began the long road back to good health. His health was so good he even tried to make it back in the NFL.  Though he didn’t make it back into the NFL Udeze moved on with his life by going back to  USC, and getting his degree in sociology. Now living in remission Udeze is the strength and conditioning coach for former USC offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian at the Washington University.

Lofa Tatupu was the 45 player selected in the 2005 NFL draft by the Seattle Seahawks. He has played for them the past six seasons, including the 2010 season where he was reunited with former USC head coach Pete Carroll.

While he was the starting quarterback for the USC game, he didn’t finish the game in the QB position as he was replaced by Reggie Robertson in the 3rd quarter after passing for 217 yards with two touchdown passes and two interceptions. Rodgers can be seen on the left side of the photo wearing the headset.

]]> http://ksimonian.com/Blog/2011/02/06/cal-quarterback-aaron-rogers-leads-the-green-bay-packers-to-a-31-25-victory-in-super-bowl-xlv-is-named-the-super-bowl-mvp/feed/ 0 http://ksimonian.com/Blog/2011/01/16/aaron-rodgers-green-bay-packers-vs-chicago-bears-in-nfc-championship-game-sunday-january-23-2011/ http://ksimonian.com/Blog/2011/01/16/aaron-rodgers-green-bay-packers-vs-chicago-bears-in-nfc-championship-game-sunday-january-23-2011/#comments Mon, 17 Jan 2011 05:35:09 +0000 admin http://ksimonian.com/Blog/?p=3113 It was NFL draft day a little over 5 years and 8 months ago and things weren’t going as planned for Aaron Rodgers a junior from the University of California who had declared for the 2005 draft. He was expected to be the first or second quarterback taken in the draft, and certainly to be made one of the first 10 picks in the draft. Rodgers had played two seasons at Cal and had earned first team All-Pac-10 honors in 2004 with a stellar season that included completing 209 of 316 passes for 2,556 yards and 24 touchdowns. During his two years at quarterback Rodgers completed 424 of 665 passes ( 64%) for 5,469 yards and 43 touchdowns with only 13 interceptions.

The 2005 NFL draft started with the San Francisco 49ers selecting junior  Alex Smith of Utah as the first quarterback and very first pick in the draft. That seemed to be when things started to go wrong for Rodgers who had been projected to go early in the first round. He was the next highest rated QB on the board, and it now was a waiting game to see which team would selected him. It turned out to be a five hour wait for the Green Bay Packers to select him 24th in the draft.

Being picked by the Green Bay Packers meant that Rodgers would be Brett Favre’s backup for the foreseeable future. Rodgers would be the backup behind Favre for three seasons until what turned out to be one of many Brett Favre retirements. Last season as the starter Rodgers lead the Packers to an 11-5 record and a wild card playoff birth. The Packers lost in the first round to the Arizona Cardinals 51-45.

Once again for the 2010 season the Packers entered the playoffs as a wild card team, this time with an 10-6 record. The Rodgers lead Packers defeated the Philadelphia Eagles 21 to 16 in the opening round of the playoffs. Yesterday they traveled to Atlanta to play the Falcons and were victorious by a 48 to 21 margin. That win sets the Packers up to play the Chicago Bears in the NFC championship game on Sunday January 23rd at 3pm ET.

Rodgers questions a call during a 2004 game against UCLA.

Rodgers runs down the sideline in this photo from the 2003 Big Game against Stanford.

Update – Sunday January 23, 2011 – With their 21 to 14 win over the Chicago Bears in the NFC Championship game the Green Bay Packers will head to Super Bowl XLV which will be played in Cowboys Stadium near Dallas, Texas on February 6, 2011 to play the Pittsburgh Steelers who beat the New York Jets in the AFC Championship game 24 to 19.

Aaron Rogers will become the 4th different quarterback from California to lead a Super Bowl team as the starting quarterback. The first alum from California to lead a Super Bowl team as the starting quarterback was Joe Kapp playing for the Minnesota Vikings against the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl IV on January 11, 1970 in a losing effort.

The very next year California alumni Craig Morton was the starting quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys who were beaten by the Johnny Unitas lead Baltimore Colts in Superbowl  V by a score of 37 to 27 on January 17, 1971.  Seven years later in 1978 Craig Morton was back in the Super Bowl but this time as the starting quarterback of the Denver Broncos. The Broncos were beaten by the Roger Staubach lead Dallas Cowboys 35 to 34.

Just two years later in Super Bowl XIII on January 20, 1980 California alum Vince Ferragamo  would lead the Los Angeles Rams against the Terry Bradshaw lead Pittsburgh Steelers in a game that the Steelers won 31 to 25.

Super Bowl XLV update: February 6, 2011 -  The Green Bay Packers defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers 31 to 25 to claim their 4th Lombardi trophy. Aaron Rodgers was named the games MVP after passing for 304 yards and three touchdown passes while completing 24 of 39 attempts.

]]> http://ksimonian.com/Blog/2011/01/16/aaron-rodgers-green-bay-packers-vs-chicago-bears-in-nfc-championship-game-sunday-january-23-2011/feed/ 2 http://ksimonian.com/Blog/2011/01/09/stanford-coach-jim-harbaugh-signs-on-as-the-new-head-coach-of-the-san-francisco-49ers/ http://ksimonian.com/Blog/2011/01/09/stanford-coach-jim-harbaugh-signs-on-as-the-new-head-coach-of-the-san-francisco-49ers/#comments Sun, 09 Jan 2011 16:47:16 +0000 admin http://ksimonian.com/Blog/?p=3086 In what should be the end of  a wild and wacky two weeks for the Stanford Cardinal college football team and the San Francisco 49ers of the NFL, Jim Harbaugh signed a 5 year $25 million deal to be the 49er head coach on Friday January 7th.

The drama started unfolding two weeks earlier on December 26th with the 49ers loss to the St. Louis Rams which eliminated the 49ers from playoff contention. After traveling home from St. Louis that day, 49er head coach Mike Singletary was fired by team president Jed York at the team’s headquarters in Santa Clara, California. On Monday December 27th Jed York announces the 49ers will hire a General Manager, something they didn’t have all season. It was also announced on Monday that 49er defensive line coach Jim Tomsula would be the interim head coach for the last game of the season on Sunday January 2nd against the Arizona Cardinals. On Wednesday December 29 reports say that Jed York has already selected 49er personal chief Trent Baalke to be the team’s new general manager.

On Sunday January 2nd the San Francisco 49ers defeat the Arizona Cardinals 38 to 7 giving interim head coach his first NFL win in the head coaching role. The game most likely also was the last as a 49er for former first round pick quarterback Alex Smith. With the 49ers now in full head coach search mode, the name most often mentioned at the top of that list is Jim Harbaugh. On Monday January 3rd, the Mike Harbaugh coached 4th ranked Stanford Cardinal routs Virginia Tech 40 to 12 in the Orange Bowl in Miami, Florida. After the game it’s safe to say the Jim Harbaugh is the most sought after head coach in either college or professional football with Stanford hoping somehow to hold on the their hot property, the University of Michigan Wolverines hoping to lure back their college alumni Jim Harbaugh to coach, the Miami Dolphins looking a possible head coaching change, and the San Francisco 49ers looking for a coaching upgrade after the dismal performance of Mike Singletary.

On Tuesday January 4th the 49ers announce they have indeed hired Trent Baalke to be their new General Manager. Across the bay in Oakland on the same day the  Raiders announce they will be firing their head coach Tom Cable.

Now things really start to get hectic. On Wednesday January 5th, the University of Michigan fires their football head coach Rich Rodriguez after a disappointing three years on the job with a 15-22 record. It’s reported the Jim Harbaugh isn’t interested in returning to his alma mater even though the school would most likely throw a pile of money at the coach. The new 49er GM Trent Baalke interviews Oakland Raider offensive coordinator Hue Jackson for the vacant head coach position. Jackson is also rumored to be in line for the head coaching job at the Raiders. After that meeting  both Baalke and Jed York meet with Jim Harbaugh for 6 hours, while Miami Dolphin owner Stephen Ross files to San Francisco to meet with Harbaugh. At this point the Dolphins still have a head coach, Tony Sparano.

Thursday January 6th is greeted with the news that Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck who is a mortal lock to go first in the NFL draft decides to stay another year in school to get his degree in architectural design. The rumor mill is flying with stories that Jim Harbaugh will take the Miami Dolphins head coaching job for a reported $7 million to $8 million a year. At this point the Dolphins still have a head coach, that being Tony Sparano. It’s also rumored that Stanford University is trying to pony up some big bucks and keep Harbaugh on job there.

Friday January 7th is greeted with the news at 12:30 pm that the 49ers will be holding a 3:30 pm press conference at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco. There it’s announced the Jim Harbaugh has signed a 5 year $25 million deal to be the head coach of the San Francisco 49ers.  On Saturday January 8th the Miami Dolphins announce they are giving their current head coach Tony Sparano at 2 year extension on his contract through the 2013 season.

This photo shows then Stanford head Jim Harbaugh  during the team’s 48 to 14 victory over the Golden Bears of California in the 113th Big Game played this year in Memorial Stadium in Berkeley.

January 13th, 2011 update:  Stanford University has selected David Shaw has it’s new head coach. Shaw was Stanford’s offensive coordinator for the past four years on head coach Jim Harbaugh’s staff. Shaw becomes the 34th head coach of the Stanford football program. He is the first alumni to hold the job since Paul Wiggin had the job from 1980 to 1983.  Shaw played at Stanford from 1991 to 1994 under head coaches Bill Walsh and Dennis Green.  Shaw was with Jim Harbaugh as the wide receiver coach and passing coordinator during the 2006 season at the University of San Diego.

January 14th, 2011: The San Francisco 49ers today announced the hiring of three new coaches. The new coaches are Greg Roman as offensive coordinator, Vic Fangio as defensive coordinator, and Tim Drevno as offensive line coach. All three coaches were on Jim Harbaugh’s staff at Stanford this past season. The Jim Harbaugh led 49ers will meet the Baltimore Ravens who are led by Jim’s older brother Mike Harbaugh. The game will take place in Baltimore at a date to determined when the complete NFL schedule is released.

2012 NFL Playoff update: The 49ers finished the 2011 NFL regular season with a 13-3 record and a 2nd seed in the NFC playoffs. That 2nd seed gave them a bye week in the first round of playoffs. The 49ers hosted the New Orleans Saints in the Divisional playoffs who were victorious over the Detroit Lions 45 to 28 in the first round of playoffs. Two late 4th quarter drives sealed the 49ers 36-32 victory over the favored New Orleans Saints.

The Niners will host the New York Giants who upset the defending Super Bowl champion Green Bay Packers 37-20 at Lambeau field in Green Bay Wisconsin, in the NFC championship game on Sunday January 22. An interesting note is that the Jim’s older brother John Harbaugh will lead the Baltimore Ravens against the Tom Brady lead New England Patriots on Sunday in the AFC championship game.

]]> http://ksimonian.com/Blog/2011/01/09/stanford-coach-jim-harbaugh-signs-on-as-the-new-head-coach-of-the-san-francisco-49ers/feed/ 4 http://ksimonian.com/Blog/2011/01/06/stanfords-quarterback-andrew-luck-minnesota-vikings-quarterback-brett-favre-both-to-miss-the-2011-nfl-season/ http://ksimonian.com/Blog/2011/01/06/stanfords-quarterback-andrew-luck-minnesota-vikings-quarterback-brett-favre-both-to-miss-the-2011-nfl-season/#comments Thu, 06 Jan 2011 23:08:08 +0000 admin http://ksimonian.com/Blog/?p=3064 In a surprising move, today Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck decided to bypass the NFL draft and skip the 2011 season to play one more year of football at Stanford and to get his degree in architectural design. The decision is surprising as Luck was widely acknowledged as the player likely to be selected  first in the National Football League ( NFL ) by the Carolina Panthers. The decision to play one more year at Stanford could be a very costly one as there is a chance the NFL could enact a rookie wage scale for 2012 season when Luck enters the NFL draft. Were the rookie wage scale to be put in place next year, and not for the upcoming season it’s estimated that Andrew Luck could be passing us as much as an extra $30 million to $40 million.

Obviously Stanford fans are happy that their top rated quarterback will be returning for one more season. There is also another group that are most likely applauding Luck’s decision to pass on the NFL. The members of that group would be, Ryan Mallett (Arkansas), Cam Newton (Auburn), Blaine Gabbert (Mizzou),  and Jake Locker (Washington). As the top projected quarterbacks in the NFL draft, they all moved up one spot.

While one NFL career was put on hold, another surely seems over. While there was no “official announcement” about Brett Favre ending his storied 20 career in the National Football League, it sure seems likely to have ended. During his 20 season in the NFL, Favre played for the Atlanta Falcons ( 1991), Green Bay Packers (1992-2007), New York Jets (2008) and the Minnesota Vikings (2009-2010). All told, he attemped 10,169 passes, and completed 6300 of them for a total of 71,328 yards. Brett Favre is shown here in a December, 2008 loss to the San Francisco 49ers at Candlestick Park while playing for the New York Jets.

Stanford running back  #33 Stepfan Taylor eludes Cal safety #11 safety Sean Cattouse during Saturday’s 113th Big Game.

Turns out closing your eyes doesn’t make the defensive players go away.

Cal’s WR #1 Marvin Jones celebrates his touchdown reception with #11 Michael Calvin.

Linebacker  #18 Mike Mohamed of Cal picked off a pass and returned it 41 yards for a touchdown late in the first half against Colorado. It was his seventh career interception and the second time in his career that he has returned an interception for a touchdown.

Colorado kick returner #20 Brian Lockridge is about to be flipped over by Cal’s #40 place kicker Giorgio Tavecchio and #20 Isi Sofele. You know your team is having a bad day when the kicker comes down field and lays a hit on your kick returner. Maybe that’s why marshmallows were thrown onto the field from the Colorado section of the stadium. Instead of playing like Buffaloes, their team was playing like marshmallows.

Colorado’s #26 Ray Polk loses his helmet on this touchdown play by Cal’s Marvin Jones.

2008 Big Game against the Stanford Cardinal.

2009 Game vs Arizona Wildcats

2008 game vs Michigan State Spartans

With the 30th pick in the NFL draft, the Detroit Lions select running back Jahvid Best of the California Golden Bears. This marks the first time since the 2003 NFL draft that the Bears have had two players drafted in the first round.

Touchdown leap against UCLA in 2008 game.

With the 17th pick in the second round ( 49th pick overall ) the San Francisco 49ers selected Taylor Mays from USC. Taylor is shown here talking with then USC head coach Pete Carroll during a game against the University of California at Berkeley during the 2009 season.

Update: In January of 2010 Pete Carroll resigned as head coach of the USC football program to take over the head coaching duties at the Seattle Seahawks of the NFL. On June 10th, 2010 the USC football and basketball programs were hit wit massive sanctions by the NCAA for violations that occurred while coach Carroll was in charge of the football program. Funny how Pete Carroll gets a better paying job in the NFL and the players currently at the school who had nothing to do with the violations get penalized. Well, it’s not really funny.

November 22, 2009 Update – Cal beat Stanford in 2009 Big Game 34 to 28. The win moved the Golden Bears back into both the Associated Press and BCS polls in 22nd place. Cal junior linebacker Mike Mohamed was named the Pac-10 Defensive Player of the Week on Monday for his performance in the Big Game. It’s the 3rd time in his career that he’s had this honor.

December 5th, 2009 Update: Two weeks ago golfer Tiger Woods was the honorary captain for Stanford in the Big Game against Cal, after a really bizarre car accident and disclosures about Tiger’s personal life, he is now hiding in his Florida home. How the mighty have fallen.

August 23, 2010 Update: Nine months later, and after a whole lot of disclosures about Tiger’s private life, it is announced that Tigers Woods and Elin Nordegren have officially finalized their divorce.

Cal head coach Joe Kapp is carried of the field after defeating Stanford in the 89th Big Game at Memorial Stadium in Berkeley.