They were the team of the '80s in the National Football League, and the San Francisco 49ers haven't slipped too far from the top. When you talk Super Bowl contenders, annually you start with the 49ers, and this year is no exception.
Carmen Policy, president of the 49ers, means no slight to the other teams in 49ers division, but he is being perfectly honest when he says, "Make no mistake about it. We're after Dallas."Wait a minute, the Cowboys play in the NFC East, not the NFC West.
"As soon as Dallas beat us for the second straight time in the championship game, keeping us out of another Super Bowl, we knew we needed to make some big changes," Policy says. "The biggest change had to be our attitude. Offensively, we feel like we can play with anybody. Defensively, we couldn't get the job done against Dallas. So we had to change that. We had to build a defense that could beat Dallas."
Sorry, Falcons, Saints and Rams. The eyes of the 49ers are on Texas, not you.
"The single most important thing we did is bring back Ray Rhodes (from Green Bay) as our defensive coordinator," Policy says. "Ray coaches with an attitude and he wants his players to play with an attitude. So we went after players with an attitude."
What kind of an attitude? Naturally, a bad attitude. The Niners know it is risky to change from their bend-but-don't-break 3-4 alignment, which helped them win four Super Bowls, to a 4-3, but a four-man rush is what you need to beat Troy Aikman and the Cowboys.
San Francisco started by plucking Ken Norton, the emotional leader of the Dallas defense, away from the Cowboys. Then the Niners picked up another wild-man linebacker, Gary Plummer, from San Diego, and for added punch, collected veteran pass-rushing linebacker Rickey Jackson from the Saints, and All-Pro defensive end Richard Dent of the Chicago Bears. So the Niners are looking at a possible defensive front of Dent, Dennis Brown, Dana Stubblefield and top draft choice Bryant Young out of Notre Dame. A big surprise at linebacker, to go with Norton, Plummer, and Jackson, is sixth-round pick Lee Woodall from West Chester. In the secondary, the Niners will have three of their four starters back: Eric Davis and Merton Hanks at the corners and Tim McDonald at safety. Dana Hall is penciled in as the other safety, but draft choice Tyronne Drakeford (Virginia Tech, second round) could sneak in at corner, with Hanks moving to safety. (And, suddenly out of work baseball player Deion Sanders was visiting with Policy during Friday night's 49ers-Broncos game).
Offensively, the Niners rank with the best in the game and have protected almost all of their starters with long-term contracts. They lost guard Guy McIntyre and fullback Tom Rathman, but they didn't fight to keep them. Former Giant Bart Oates will play center, with veteran Jesse Sapolu moving to guard. Rookie William Floyd of Florida State, who has been outstanding in camp, will be the fullback.
Oh yes, and they have some other guys named Steve Young, Jerry Rice and Ricky Watters available.