Who’s got it better? The rise and fall of the Harbaugh 49ers pt.1

Yes I survived the night. From sleeping with one eye closed, and constant shaking, no one has come for me yet. These tales will continue until I am stopped. (Evil laugh) Where were we? Awww yes. Conspiracy Theories. Yes this next one…

Conspiracy Theory #4. The Demise Of Jim Harbaugh 49ers

This  conspiracy is a fun one. We have to go back and go through some history before we continue and elaborate. Trent Baalke (our current punk ass GM) Was promoted on 1/5/11 and 2 days later he announced that Stanford Football coach Jim Harbaugh would have the keys to drive the 49ers.

Our punk ass owner and crybaby Jed York was going to “Clean House” and make changes.  Jim Harbaugh took over The San Francisco 49ers on 1/7/11. as head coach. Prior to the 2011 season (the 2010 season) the San Francisco 49ers finished 8-8. Mike Singletary was fired after the heartbreaking loss to the the St. Louis Rams a day after Xmas. Rumors had swirl for years of Mike Singletary’s lack of offensive execution as a head coach in the NFL. With the roster we had at the time, it was not a championship-esq roster but definitely a playoff worthy one. Defensively no one can ever question what this man did for the 49ers. Offensively, you can open Pandora’s box with these questions. Many questionable moves, being too conservative, not opening up the playbook etc were always the focal points in the local media and fans alike. Enter Jim Harbaugh.

Harbaugh immediately was a fan favorite here in 49er lore. Not only was he not nervous to have the keys to the illustrious franchise, he vowed to make sure his players played hard. And that’s exactly what happened. Let’s start with the 2011 draft and 2011 offseason moves to get a clearer picture, shall we? No? Okay well I’m going to do it anyways. Ha.

1. Trent Baalke gets promoted from Vice President of Basketball Operations to GM. If you recall Scot McCloughan was our GM prior to that but unfortunately him and the 49ers agreed to part ways in 2010 due to personal issues.

2. 2011 Draft.
7th overall pick was Aldon Smith, 36th Overall Colin Kaepernick, 80th overall Chris Culliver, 115th overall Kendall Hunter, 153rd overall Daniel Kilgore, 182nd overall Ronald Johnson (*Released during preseason), 190th pick overall Colin Jones, 211th overall Bruce Miller, 239th overall Mike Pearson & 250th overall Curtis Holcomb (Curtis was a Supplementary Compensation Pick never playing a down for the 49ers). That is a good crop of draftees right.

3. 2011 Free Agency signings.

The following players were resigned in 2011 as current free agents: Alex Smith, Ray McDonald, Dashon Goldson, & CJ Spillman. David Akers, Jonathan Goodwin, Carlos Rogers, Donte Whitner, & Braylon Edwards were all signed from other teams.

Get back on the Bandwagon. Yes a lot of 49ers fan jumped off at this time. Little did they know that we would go on to win 10 of our first 12 games, including an impressive 8 game win streak headlined by that amazing defense. The 49ers would finish that season 13-3. A fairy tale season for all. Set an NFL Record for fewest turnovers in a season. David Akers set an NFL record for most FGM & FGA in a season ( He went 44 of 52). Also it was noted that during the Week 15 game on 12/19/11 against the Pittsburgh Steelers the power went out twice at Candlestick Park. The 49ers were on their way back to the promise land. Sending 9 players to the pro bowl and having 6 all pro players, the 2011 San Francisco 49ers were honestly kicking some ass. “Who’s got it better than us?” Was Jim Harbaugh’s patent quote. The 49ers clinched the NFC West and would have home field advantage throughout the playoffs.

The NFC Divisional Round Playoff Game against the New Orleans Saints were one of my favorite sports moments in bay area history. Not only was I at this game, but to witness the mighty comeback from the San Francisco 49ers and seeing Vernon Davis cry after catching the game winning touchdown from Alex Smith with 9 seconds left was amazing. I, myself even teared up. Seeing Vernon’s maturity and passion come out that day was one of the proudest moments in 49ers history. Candlestick Park stood together that day and that play made us do it. Now the Next game was against the New York Giants. In this NFC championship game the winner would go on to face the Patriots. Everyone was waiting for this one. The 49ers just won their first playoff game in 9 years against the Saints a week prior. Surely that momentum will carry over to the next game. It sure did. It caught on and it was a “SLOBBERKNOCKER.” Speaking of catches I sure wish Kyle Williams would have caught those 2 punts. That cost us a trip to the Super Bowl. A day in 49ers infamy. Surprisingly I did not list Kyle Williams on my list of 10 players I hate list. I don’t know why. Maybe it hurts to even think about that still. No I’ll tell you why it hurts. I worked for a bus company who got a contract to drive the sports teams. To and from the airports, hotels, etc. Guess who was Bus #2 with The 2011 NFC Champions (and eventually super bowl champions)? Yep Me. Seeing Eli Manning Celebrate with his peers was hurtful. Knowing how much of a sports fan I am, it stung. Seeing those crisp, white, 2011 NFC Champion hats really got my blood boiling. Long Sigh.

That’s it for this season folks. The 49ers was back on top and they would be on top and it all was with the start of this season. Next episode we will focus on the 2012 49ers. Stay Thirsty my friends