49ers Clubhouse

San Francisco Chronicle

Walsh watches television, the rest is history

Glenn Dickey
BILL WALSH was in a Houston hotel room, the night before the 49ers' eighth game of the 1984 season, watching the late news on television. The sports segment featured Jerry Rice, who would finish with 18 NCAA career receiving records that season. As Walsh remembered later, Rice had scored four or five touchdowns that day, all on plays of more than 50 yards.
The 49ers were on their way to a 15-1 regular-season record, their best ever, and their second Super Bowl triumph. Many who have watched all their great teams think that was the best of their five Super Bowl champions.
Walsh, always the perfectionist, worried about the team's one weakness: the lack of a big-play receiver. Freddie Solomon and Dwight Clark, who had caught the most memorable pass in 49ers history to win the NFC Championship Game three seasons earlier, were solid receivers but with no more than average speed for receivers. Walsh also thought that Solomon, who had been bothered by muscle pulls, was near the end of his career.
"When I saw Rice, I thought immediately of how well he would fit into our offense," Walsh said later, "and how he would give us an extra dimension."
A master at using the draft, Walsh had years, like 1981 and 1986, when he looked for several players who could help. Because he had a championship team in '84, he believed it would make more sense to look for an impact player in the 1985 draft, and he thought Rice could be that player.
Walsh doubted, though, that Rice would be available, even if he were able to trade up into the middle of the first round. He thought Rice would go in the first five picks.
Not everybody in the 49ers' organization agreed with Walsh's evaluation. One top scout even thought Rice should be no more than a sixth-round pick. There were two questions about Rice: He had played at a low level, at Mississippi Valley State, and nobody could be certain he would continue to excel at a much higher level; and he had not run fast times in workouts, usually being timed at 4.6 for the 40, while some receivers were being tested as fast as 4.3.
Though he sought input from all the scouts and coaches in the organization, Walsh relied on his own judgment. He disdained the stopwatch, preferring what he called "football speed." His many years in the game had taught him that some players ran faster when they were making plays on the football field than when they were being timed in a sprint, and he figured Rice was one of those players.
The level of competition? Walsh was confident the ability Rice had shown in collegiate games would translate into pro success.
There was more to the process, of course, than just watching the sports news. Walsh would look at tape from other games, as well, and he also would rely on the psychological testing that he had done of prospective draft picks. Those tests showed Rice's intense drive, which was a big contributor to his excellence.
None of this would have mattered if Walsh's original guess on where Rice would be drafted had materialized. But other teams had the same doubts about Rice that Walsh's own scouts had, and there were other, safer choices in the draft.
The first receiver to be drafted was Eddie Brown, who went to Cincinnati with the 10th pick. Al Toon was next to go, to the New York Jets as the 13th pick.
Now, Walsh was getting excited. Before the draft, he had offered his first- and second-round picks, which were the last on each round because the 49ers had won the Super Bowl, for the first-round pick of another team. The only team that was interested was the New England Patriots, and Walsh and Patriots general manager Dick Steinberg had agreed to talk further on draft day, when such trades are usually made.
After the Jets' pick, Walsh told his assistant, John McVay, to call Steinberg. When the Patriots' GM said he was still interested in the trade, Walsh gave the OK and took Rice with the 16th pick in the round.
Rice was not an immediate success with the 49ers. He was originally overwhelmed by the huge 49ers playbook, and his mental discomfort translated to on-field problems. He dropped so many passes that newspapers were running boxes and television announcers were showing graphics of the drop total.
But in the 14th game of the season, against the Los Angeles Rams, Rice caught 10 passes for 241 yards, both 49ers rookie records and the harbinger of all the records to come.
And it all started because Bill Walsh was watching television.

Glenn Dickey

BILL WALSH was in a Houston hotel room, the night before the 49ers' eighth game of the 1984 season, watching the late news on television. The sports segment featured Jerry Rice, who would finish with 18 NCAA career receiving records that season. As Walsh remembered later, Rice had scored four or five touchdowns that day, all on plays of more than 50 yards.

The 49ers were on their way to a 15-1 regular-season record, their best ever, and their second Super Bowl triumph. Many who have watched all their great teams think that was the best of their five Super Bowl champions.

Walsh, always the perfectionist, worried about the team's one weakness: the lack of a big-play receiver. Freddie Solomon and Dwight Clark, who had caught the most memorable pass in 49ers history to win the NFC Championship Game three seasons earlier, were solid receivers but with no more than average speed for receivers. Walsh also thought that Solomon, who had been bothered by muscle pulls, was near the end of his career.

"When I saw Rice, I thought immediately of how well he would fit into our offense," Walsh said later, "and how he would give us an extra dimension."

A master at using the draft, Walsh had years, like 1981 and 1986, when he looked for several players who could help. Because he had a championship team in '84, he believed it would make more sense to look for an impact player in the 1985 draft, and he thought Rice could be that player.

Walsh doubted, though, that Rice would be available, even if he were able to trade up into the middle of the first round. He thought Rice would go in the first five picks.

Not everybody in the 49ers' organization agreed with Walsh's evaluation. One top scout even thought Rice should be no more than a sixth-round pick. There were two questions about Rice: He had played at a low level, at Mississippi Valley State, and nobody could be certain he would continue to excel at a much higher level; and he had not run fast times in workouts, usually being timed at 4.6 for the 40, while some receivers were being tested as fast as 4.3.

Though he sought input from all the scouts and coaches in the organization, Walsh relied on his own judgment. He disdained the stopwatch, preferring what he called "football speed." His many years in the game had taught him that some players ran faster when they were making plays on the football field than when they were being timed in a sprint, and he figured Rice was one of those players.

The level of competition? Walsh was confident the ability Rice had shown in collegiate games would translate into pro success.

There was more to the process, of course, than just watching the sports news. Walsh would look at tape from other games, as well, and he also would rely on the psychological testing that he had done of prospective draft picks. Those tests showed Rice's intense drive, which was a big contributor to his excellence.

None of this would have mattered if Walsh's original guess on where Rice would be drafted had materialized. But other teams had the same doubts about Rice that Walsh's own scouts had, and there were other, safer choices in the draft.

The first receiver to be drafted was Eddie Brown, who went to Cincinnati with the 10th pick. Al Toon was next to go, to the New York Jets as the 13th pick.

Now, Walsh was getting excited. Before the draft, he had offered his first- and second-round picks, which were the last on each round because the 49ers had won the Super Bowl, for the first-round pick of another team. The only team that was interested was the New England Patriots, and Walsh and Patriots general manager Dick Steinberg had agreed to talk further on draft day, when such trades are usually made.

After the Jets' pick, Walsh told his assistant, John McVay, to call Steinberg. When the Patriots' GM said he was still interested in the trade, Walsh gave the OK and took Rice with the 16th pick in the round.

Rice was not an immediate success with the 49ers. He was originally overwhelmed by the huge 49ers playbook, and his mental discomfort translated to on-field problems. He dropped so many passes that newspapers were running boxes and television announcers were showing graphics of the drop total.

But in the 14th game of the season, against the Los Angeles Rams, Rice caught 10 passes for 241 yards, both 49ers rookie records and the harbinger of all the records to come.

And it all started because Bill Walsh was watching television.