Yeah, I agree with you about the players, and it was even "worse" the preceding few years. Guys were coming and going thru a revolving door.
I think Walsh deserves so much credit for what he did, not only weeding thru people like that, but in his draft choices, grabbing a few vets like Hacksaw and Fred Dean, and later Big Hands Johnson, Jim Burt, etc, and the offense, especially in '81, when he didn't have much to work with. His play calling was beautiful. I remember lots of quotes by players saying how "Bill drew this on the board, and said this guy would be here, and that guy would be there, and Coop would be open right here, and that's the way it was". He was more unpredictable in the early years, before he had great personnel. Genius, like hero, probably really doesn't apply to sports, but Walsh was /is an effing genius. Earl Cooper, Dan Bunz, Dan Audick? 3 rookies in the backfield, along with a free agent? Come on, give me a break, who are these guys? He really knew how to get the most out of them.
Hacksaw 64
Good press conferences the first time, too. Hack was handing out xeroxs of "The Hacksaw Story". I also read that he was so stoked, he forgot to pee in the locker room; he had the D huddle around him, and did it on the field; everybody thought it was a pep talk. (He's my favorite of all the Niners, all time, I think, just cuz he was such a character. He also is credited by a lot of guys like Ronnie Lott for teaching them about how the game is played in the NFL.) |
