SAN FRANCISCO – The San Francisco 49ers have officially announced the signing of running back Brandon Jacobs to a one-year contract. View full post on Yahoo! Sports – NFL – San Francisco 49ers News

We knew that the Gregg Williams story was bound to get emotional at some point. Whenever you have proof that a coach told his own players to intentionally injure their opponents, reactions are going to come as swift and hard as a Jonathan Vilma blindside hit. A new factor in this case is the reaction by former Saints player Steve Gleason, who facilitated the entry of documentary filmmaker Sean Pamphilon into the Saints’ daily preparation for football — including the team meeting before their divisional round loss to the San Francisco 49ers in which Williams told his defenders to go after 49ers players in several interesting and profane ways .
Gleason, who played defensive back for the Saints from 2000 through 2006, is suffering from ALS and responded to Pamphilon ’s proposal that a film be made of Gleason’s life as he fights the disease.
[ Related: Mike Silver on the NFL's culture change ]
On Thursday, Gleason released a statement on NOLA.com , which reads in part:
In the spring of 2011, Sean Pamphilon approached me, and we agreed to collaborate to further document my family’s journey.
I have a unique relationship with the Saints and the City of New Orleans. The Saints have been incredibly open and supportive of me and my family during my disease progression. From my perspective, the Saints have helped begin to shift the paradigm of how an NFL team should treat its players after retirement.
Since my retirement, and specifically this year, the Saints have opened their doors and included me in countless team functions. I included Sean Pamphilon in some of these activities, because I felt my relationship with the Saints was an integral part of my overall journey. The Saints trusted me and gave us unlimited access in filming, and I, in turn, trusted Sean Pamphilon.
Sean Pamphilon and I have an agreement that all recordings ultimately belong to me and my family. Nothing can be released without my explicit approval. I did not authorize the public release of any recordings.
A multitude of feelings have passed through me. I feel deflated and disappointed. I feel frustrated and distracted. Nevertheless, these feelings will pass, and I will continue steadfast in my mission.
It’s a difficult situation for Gleason, for the Saints, and for Pamphilon. As Gleason wrote, the Saints have been very supportive of his efforts to live the best life possible. Pamphilon apparently acquired the audio that busted the Williams story wide open through ethical means, but the release of that audio has become far more complex. If Gleason has that release agreement in writing, Pamphilon is in more than a bit of trouble, but certainly not as much trouble as the Saints are currently experiencing.

The release of the audio, and Mike Silver’s corresponding story for Yahoo.com on the subject, most certainly hindered the prospects for the three Saints employees in appeal hearings the same day — head coach Sean Payton, general manager Mickey Loomis, and assistant coach Joe Vitt were each trying to get their suspensions reduced at the pleasure of the NFL. View full post on Yahoo! Sports – NFL – San Francisco 49ers News

When the San Francisco 49ers released their official preseason schedule on April 4, I noticed something peculiar. The NFL and owners made good on their promise to not have the 49ers face the Oakland Raiders in the preseason after the events surrounding their 2011 preseason… View full post on Yahoo! Sports – NFL – San Francisco 49ers News

By BRETT MARTEL AP Sports Writer View full post on Yahoo! Sports – NFL – San Francisco 49ers News

By STEVE REED AP Sports Writer View full post on Yahoo! Sports – NFL – San Francisco 49ers News

The San Francisco 49ers got busy as soon as free agency began in the NFL and haven’t looked back since. In fact, in comparison to other NFL teams, the 49ers have probably done the most good so far in improving their team. View full post on Yahoo! Sports – NFL – San Francisco 49ers News

Former St. Louis Rams center Jason Brown will work out with the San Francisco 49ers this weekend, according to Comcast Sports Net Bay Area. It is not clear whether the team will try him out at the open right guard spot or compete against Pro Bowler Jonathan Goodwin at center. View full post on Yahoo! Sports – NFL – San Francisco 49ers News

Click here to read our previous draft needs reports The San Francisco 49ers and head coach Jim Harbaugh… View full post on Yahoo! Sports – NFL – San Francisco 49ers News

Joe Montana knows all about quarterback controversies. After he helped the San Francisco 49ers win four Super Bowls from 1981 to 1989, he was replaced over time by Steve Young and eventually traded to the Kansas City Chiefs in 1993. The 49ers won their fifth Super Bowl with Young at the helm the next season, and the it could be argued that the 49ers had the best right-handed and best left-handed quarterbacks in NFL history on their roster at the same time. Not bad, really.
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The stakes in the New York Jets’ current quarterback controversy are a bit lower at this point — Mark Sanchez and Tim Tebow are two players looking to meet (never mind exceed) the expectations set for them as first-round draft picks. Both quarterbacks are still finding their feet in the NFL, and the Jets’ recent trade for Tebow could very well complicate Sanchez’s development process — unless the Jets are counting on Tebow as the contingency in case the Sanchez upswing never takes place.
[ Michael Silver: Tim Tebow trade could work out well for Mark Sanchez, Jets ]
Tebow Time with the Jets will become official at Monday’s press conference, but Montana has already laid down his verdict on the decision to have the two passers in the same rotation.
“Mark is a better player right now and that’s it,” Montana wrote in an email to the New York Daily News . “As long as Mark believes in himself and plays, it’s not an issue. It’s more of an issue for those of you who write, or blog or tweet and all the other methods of delivering content.” View full post on Yahoo! Sports – NFL – San Francisco 49ers News

It’s been a foregone conclusion for months — the Indianapolis Colts will select Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck with the first overall pick in the 2012 NFL draft. Luck is the most pro-ready college quarterback most people have seen in years, and for a Colts team rebuilding from the ground up, it makes all the sense in the world for Luck to be the man over Baylor quarterback Robert Griffin III, who may have higher upside in the long term.
Well, not so fast. Colts owner Jim Irsay recently told USA Today that the team has made no absolute decision, and is in fact considering both Luck and Griffin with that most valuable of picks.
“It’s up in the air. We have to look at this thing completely open-minded. You have two outstanding athletes, two great pure passers, two guys from families that are incredible … If we get to the point where we’re going to negotiate early, get something done before the draft, you never rule that out. We’ve talked to both agents. We haven’t negotiated yet.”
One may term this a pre-emptive move to let the agents for both quarterbacks know that the Colts aren’t locked in, but with the new rookie cap in place, that’s less a factor than it would have been in years past. What this could be is yet another example of the shift that has taken place in recent days among those watching more Baylor game tape. As Greg Cosell of NFL Films and ESPN’s “NFL Matchup” told us in Monday’s draft podcast , it’s easy to put Griffin alongside or above Luck as a pure prospect. It’s a switch I made a couple months ago, and based on Luck’s Pro Day, it could be argued that the fit for both players might be better if Griffin went first and Luck second.

New Colts offensive coordinator Bruce Arians was known for his multiple spread-style formations in Pittsburgh, and that’s a great match for Griffin, who played an advanced three-digit, multi-read spread offense at Baylor. Given Luck’s impressive ability to run and throw from play action and boot action from all angles in his Palo Alto workout, he seemed like the ideal Mike Shanahan quarterback — in fact, I thought he looked a lot like Steve Young, who Shanahan coached from 1992 through 1994 as the San Francisco 49ers’ offensive assistant.
[ Photos: Andrew Luck dazzles scouts with workout ]
At the 2012 scouting combine, Griffin certainly didn’t sound like a man ready to concede the first overall pick to anyone else.
View full post on Yahoo! Sports – NFL – San Francisco 49ers News