2007 NFL Unrestricted Free Agency Period Over - 88 Re-Sign; 126 Switch Teams

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Unrestricted Free Agency Period Ends -- 88 Re-Sign, 126 Switch Teams - NFLMedia.com
07/31/2007

UNRESTRICTED FREE AGENCY PERIOD ENDS;

88 RE-SIGN, 126 SWITCH TEAMS


Eighty-eight veteran free agents re-signed with their old teams this year during the free agency signing period, while 126 signed with new teams, the National Football League announced today. The four-month UFA signing period, under terms of the Collective Bargaining Agreement between the league and players, ended July 22.


The Arizona Cardinals signed the most unrestricted free agents from other teams (9), while the Oakland Raiders signed eight, followed by the Denver Broncos and Houston Texans with seven each.


There were a total of 308 unrestricted free agents this year. The total player pool is approximately 1,700.


Four of this year's 94 restricted free agents signed with a new team – Indianapolis cornerback JASON DAVID with New Orleans, Dallas linebacker RYAN FOWLER with Tennessee, Miami punter DONNIE JONES with St. Louis, and Cincinnati defensive tackle SHAUN SMITH with Cleveland. Eighty-eight restricted free agents returned to their former clubs. The period for restricted free agents to accept offers from other teams ended April 20.


The 130 total free agents who switched teams represent only eight percent of all NFL players. Of 449 players who were free agents in the various categories of the system, 312 signed new contracts with either new teams or their old clubs.


Under the NFL Collective Bargaining Agreement, players without 2007 contracts who had four or more seasons of free agency experience qualified to be "unrestricted free agents" and were free to sign with any club between March 2 and July 22.


If a player's prior club made a 110 percent tender on or before June 1, the prior club retained exclusive negotiating rights after July 22 if the player did not sign with another club. If the player and club are unable to negotiate a contract by the 10th week of the regular season (November 13), the player may not play the remainder of the season. If the player sits out the season, he becomes an unrestricted free agent next year.


Under the CBA, restricted free agents are those players who have three seasons of free agency experience and are subject to compensation and/or right of first refusal.


A "transition" player is a designated restricted or unrestricted free agent whose team must tender a one-year contract at the average of the 10 highest-paid players of 2006 at the transition player's position, or a 20 percent increase, whichever is greater. A "franchise" player is a designated restricted or unrestricted free agent whose team must tender a one-year contract at the average of the five highest-paid players at the franchise player's position in 2006, or a 20 percent increase, whichever is greater.

Commissioner Roger Goodell On Bill Walsh - NFLMedia.com

NFL COMMISSIONER ROGER GOODELL ON BILL WALSH:

“His Hall of Fame coaching accomplishments speak for themselves, but the essence of Bill Walsh was that he was an extraordinary teacher. If you gave him a blackboard and a piece of chalk, he would become a whirlwind of wisdom. He taught all of us not only about football but also about life and how it takes teamwork for any of us to succeed as individuals. He helped the league on many important initiatives, from improving opportunities for minorities in coaching and the front office to our executive training and international development programs. Bill Walsh was a mentor to me and many others. He revolutionized the game with his ‘West Coast Offense’ and will always be remembered as one of the most influential people in NFL history.”

Field Position.com's New Website Is Up

Field Position.com , which has the most popular podcast in the land, has a new website design. Check it out!

Profootballtalk.com Calls For Brady Quinn To Fire CAA's Tom Condon

Will CAA Sports Divsion's Tom Condon lose yet another high profile quarterback, having just lost Matt Leinart earlier this year. Well, there's no official word but if Profootballtalk.com has its way, it could happen. This is what Florio and his people over there are Profootballtalk.com wrote:

QUINN SHOULD FIRE CONDON

Earlier this week, a league source opined to us that Browns quarterback Brady Quinn should fire agent Tom Condon. We disagreed, due in large part to the rule that requires Quinn to wait five days before hiring a new agent.

But given the fact that Condon has displayed no sense of urgency to get the contract finalized so that Quinn can commence his career as a member of a football franchise that desperately needs to give folks in Cleveland a reason to cheer, we now believe that Quinn should write up the letter disengaging from Condon and send it to the NFLPA.

Just do it, Brady. Forget about the marketing guarantee or whatever other inducement Condon offered to get you to sign. He has given you, in our opinion, nothing but bad advice, every step of the way.

The tipping point for us was when we read that Condon only "talked briefly" with the Browns on Friday, and that Condon has invited Browns management to travel to Kansas City to get the deal done.

Condon, in our opinion, should pack his bags and get his ass to Cleveland, and stay there until there's a contract. Quinn clearly wants to play, as evidenced by his response to a question from ESPN's Collen Dominguez regarding whether he is willing to sit out the full season.

"You know, I don't think it's gonna go that far," Quinn said. "I don't think we're in that sort of situation. That's something that I don't wanna do."

Does Condon have the entire Quinn family so bamboozled that they can't see that the agent's foot-dragging does nothing to get Quinn ready to pursue his next contract? You know, the one that will pay him more than $30 million in guaranteed money, if Quinn becomes the player that he thinks he is.

With that said, there's a school of thought that Condon is holding out for the best deal possible for Quinn because Condon believes that Quinn will be a bust, and thus Condon thinks that he needs to get the most possible money for Quinn now, since there likely won't be a second big contract.

And part of Quinn's reluctance to dump Condon could be due to the fact that Quinn is unwilling to admit that he might have erred by hiring him.

Regardless, it's time for the deal to get done. It's wrong for Condon to be exercising so much control over the player. Reasonable people should be able to work something out reasonably quickly, if they all can get together and work on making it happen.

As we've previously said, we think that this is all about Condon setting the stage to attract his next crop of quarterback clients, and not about Condon taking the best possible care of his current one.

We also think that the Browns should call Condon's bluff and go to Kansas City and tell him that they are ready and willing to do whatever needs to be done to make this contract happen. That'll put even more pressure on Condon to crap or get off of the commode.

Also, why not publicly disclose the specific terms of the offer that the Browns have made, and the terms that Condon is seeking? Sure, this stuff usually happens under a veil of confidentiality, but we think that the Browns should put it all out there, so that folks can make their own assessment as to who's right, and who's wrong.

WILL QUINN AGREE TO A REBATE?

Though we continue to hear that the primary sticking point in the Brady Quinn contract is that agent Tom Condon wants to get more guaranteed money and more total dollars than Quinn's draft slot dictates, one of the other issues is the back-end incentives that Quinn will receive based on playing time and other factors.

The Quinn camp wants the triggers to be easy to meet, and the Browns want the bar to be higher than that.

But, as one league source pointed out to us, if Quinn and company are so focused on ensuring that he is paid a "fair" amount if/when he becomes the starting quarterback, is Quinn also willing to agree to reduce his future pay if he ends up being the next Ryan Leaf or Akili Smith or Cade McNown or Dan McGwire or David Klingler or Andre Ware or Tim Couch or any of the other first-round quarterbacks who got a bunch of money for, in the end, not much at all in return?

Probably not, because the player-friendly rookie compensation system never accounts for the fact that the first-round pick might be a first-class bust.

So, on one hand, Quinn and Condon want to tilt the field in their favor if Quinn becomes the starting quarterback (which most quarterbacks taken in round one are expected to do), and on the other hand they'd never agree to reduce future salaries figures if Quinn becomes the starter, but has a passer rating lower than his jersey number.

The system protects first-rounders from ever having to pay money back. So if Quinn wants to reap the benefit of that system in the event he never delivers as the Browns' quarterback, then Quinn should also respect that same system when formulating his demands.

Indy Colts Release Cory Simon and Michael DePriest - AP

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (AP) -- The Indianapolis Colts released former Pro Bowl defensive tackle Corey Simon on Saturday.

Colts owner Jim Irsay said Wednesday that he expected to release the tackle within the next few days.

Simon did not pass his physical last weekend. He was expected to report to camp on time July 29 but was never seen at Rose Hulman Institute of Technology.

Simon did not play last year during the Colts' Super Bowl-winning season and was eventually placed on the non-football illness/injury list with an undisclosed ailment.

The Colts also waived rookie wide receiver Michael DePriest and placed tight end Mike Seidman on injured reserve with a knee injury. Seidman was signed this past spring after five seasons with Carolina.

Indianapolis also signed a pair of free agents, defensive end Noland Burchette and wide receiver Aaron Brown. Burchette is a 6-foot-2, 259-pound rookie defensive lineman who played at Virginia Tech. He was originally signed as an undrafted free agent by Atlanta.

Brown is a 6-3, 212-pound rookie who played at New Hampshire. He was originally signed as an undrafted free agent by Buffalo.

Michael Irvin, Bruce Matthews, Bob Hickerson, Thurman Thomas, Roger Wehrli Get In The Hall Of Fame

CANTON, Ohio (AP) -- The Pro Football Hall of Fame induction became a family affair Saturday night.

Michael Irvin lauded the Dallas Cowboys family for inspiring him to make it to Canton. Thurman Thomas asked his wife to marry him again. Charlie Sanders finally got to say "Hi Mom."

Bruce Matthews campaigned to have his brother, Clay, join him in the hall. Roger Wehrli praised the timing of his election because it allowed his grandchildren to share the special moment.

And Gene Hickerson's son, Bob, accepted on behalf of his father, who suffers from Alzheimer's disease. Then Gene was brought onto the stage in a wheelchair guided by former teammates Jim Brown, Leroy Kelly and Bobby Mitchell -- all running backs he helped get into the hall.

Irvin kissed his hall bust before he capped the riveting ceremony with preacher's intensity. His eyes wet, his words coming slowly and emphatically, he commended Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and fellow "Triplets" Emmitt Smith and Troy Aikman for motivating him. He saluted Cowboys fans, but saved his most moving tributes for the relatives who stuck with him through three Super Bowl wins and all the difficulties away from the field.

Irvin pleaded no contest to felony cocaine possession and was put on probation for four years after a March 1996 arrest. Police crashed Irvin's 30th birthday party and found him, marijuana, cocaine and strippers in a hotel room.

He subsequently had other incidents with police.

On Saturday, Irvin asked sons Michael, 10, and Elijah, 8, to stand before he recited the prayers he gives up for his sons.

"Help me raise them for their kids, so that they can be a better father than I," Irvin said. "I tell you guys to always do the right thing so you can be a better role model than dad.

"Look up, get up, but don't ever give up."

Thomas set a record by leading the NFL in total yards from scrimmage four consecutive seasons. The 1991 league MVP, he rushed for 12,074 yards in his career, and only all-time rushing leader Smith and Barry Sanders ran for more yards in the 1990s.

Thomas didn't kiss his bronze bust but rubbed the head when it was unveiled, and mentioned "it's really, really scary up here."

He later turned to wife Patti, seated in the crowd of 12,787, and asked if, after nearly 20 years together, she would marry him again.

Finally, Thomas saluted the thousands of Bills fans in the crowd.

"In closing, to the fans of Buffalo," he said to a huge cheer, "every guy that probably has stood here in all these Hall of Fame jackets and said they had the best fans supporting you, I am here to say that's hogwash. No fans are like my fans, Bills fans.

"It was a ride that none of us will ever forget. Unfortunately, we can't buy tickets for that ride again, but we will always have those memories."

Citing what he called a "simple but memorable life," Charlie Sanders entered the hall by thanking a mother he never knew -- she died when he was 2 years old.

Noting how players often mug for the camera and salute their mothers, a teary-eyed Sanders said: `I thought it was something that was always special and I would want to do, but couldn't. So I take this time, right here and right now, in Canton, Ohio, at the Pro Football Hall of Fame, to say, `Hi Mom.' "

To finish his speech, the tight end with the Detroit Lions from 1968-77 read from a poem, "The NFL: Just Passing Through," that he wrote in 1976.

"So give your all and nothing less, today we win, tomorrow we rest.

"You are not just my teammate, but my very best friend. Let's play together until the very end."

Sanders foreshadowed the era of pass-catching tight ends that spawned fellow Canton inductees Kellen Winslow and Dave Casper. As a rookie in 1968, he made 40 receptions for 533 yards, almost unheard-of numbers for his position. He was selected to the NFL's all-decade team of the 1970s.

"Charlie is what you look for today at that position. He was a pioneer," said Lions owner William Clay Ford, his presenter. Sanders, currently an executive with the team, has spent all 40 of his years in pro football with the Lions.

Bob Hickerson remembered his dad, who was too ill to sit on stage or speak, as "still leading the way for" Brown, Kelly and Mitchell. Then those three great runners turned things around by leading Hickerson onstage.

As a 248-pound guard, Hickerson played 15 seasons for the Browns, and Cleveland never had a losing record in that time. He made five straight All-Pro teams (1966-70) and in 1964 won the NFL championship.

"It's a tremendous honor and the crowning achievement of his career," Bob Hickerson said.

Hall of Famer Mike Munchak, who introduced his former on the offensive line-mate, lauded Matthews' "work ethic, competitiveness and passion for the game, which were contagious. He raised the standard for all of us."

Matthews' set an enviable standard for blockers. He played in more games than any positional player in NFL history, starting 292 of 296, and 15 playoff games. He had 99 starts at left guard, 67 on the right, 87 at center, 22 at right tackle, 17 at left tackle.

"Having your name mentioned with the all-time greats in the game is very humbling," he said.

Matthews also asked hall voters to consider electing his brother, former linebacker Clay Matthews.

Wehrli was a shutdown cornerback from 1969-82 who also excelled as a punt returner. He recovered a franchise record-tying 19 fumbles during his career and made the NFL's all-1970s team.

Wehrli was elected in his final year of eligibility with the regular selection committee.

"The Hall of Fame is never a given. I never for once took it for granted that I would be or should be here," Wehrli said. "I believe I was elected at this time of my life so my children ... and three grandchildren could be here and enjoy this, and remember something special about their grand dad."

Copyright 2007 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Commissioner Roger Goodell Visits Titans Training Camp

To the rave reviews of players like Al Haynesworth, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell visited Tennessee Titans training camp according to Sports Illustrated .

"He grabbed me right after the meeting and said he wanted to talk about the help he was getting," Goodell said during a ride to the airport with an Associated Press reporter. "He wanted me to know he was getting help for his problems. It was good to hear. You like to think that players who get in trouble can work on turning around their lives."

S.I.'s Michael Silver On Bill Walsh's Genius - The Passing Of Bill Walsh

Early in his coaching tenure with the San Francisco 49ers, before he turned a long-suffering franchise into the greatest organization in professional sports, Bill Walsh once cut a player on the practice field.

Enraged by a cheap shot, Walsh fired the player -- who, to be fair, was not one of the team's major contributors -- right there on the spot, ordering a member of the security staff to escort him out of the building. To underscore his point, Walsh trailed behind as the two men trudged toward the locker room, screaming, "Don't even let him f----- shower!"

This was Walsh, who died today at 75 after a long bout with leukemia, at his most ruthless. Yet there was a calculated brilliance behind his brashness: After he took over in 1979, no Niner dared cross the new man in charge.

Nearly a decade later, as he was losing his grip after having completed the most impressive NFL coaching run since Vince Lombardi's in Green Bay, Walsh sometimes directed his enmity toward members of the local media. He was equal parts paranoid and condescending, and when he stepped down following his third Super Bowl title in January 1989, there wasn't a whole lot of sentimental sadness in either the press room or the locker room.

A few months later, I began covering the team as a beat writer for a Northern California paper, and the horror stories about Walsh's final days circulated with abandon. But he and I hit it off from the start, and over the next 17-plus years, whether I sought his opinion as a television analyst, as the progenitor of an offensive philosophy and unmatched tree of executive and coaching excellence, as a reinstalled Stanford mentor who'd just toyed with Joe Paterno, or a personnel guru who temporarily brought the 49ers back to prominence, he was invariably wise, witty and kind.

When people would ask about my relationship with the white-haired legend, I used to respond jokingly -- well, maybe half-jokingly -- that he and I bonded based on our shared belief of an unassailable tenet: Bill Walsh was a genius.

It wasn't that far from the truth. Growing up in L.A. as an oft-humiliated fan of the hometown Rams' chief rivals, I spent my high-school years watching in awe as Walsh transformed a 49ers team that went 2-14 his first year and 6-10 his second into a first-time champion in his third.

Because of Walsh, the franchise of a thousand choke jobs was now led by a cool, magical quarterback named Joe Montana, whose passes were as picturesque as the Golden Gate Bridge in heavy fog.

Because of Walsh, a group of young hellions led by Ronnie Lott took over a malleable defense that suddenly played with dash and defiance.

Because of Walsh and his innovative offensive schemes, receivers were five yards open, a 10th-round draft pick named Dwight Clark would become an All-Pro and Bay Area legend, and a washed-up running back named Lenvil Elliott would gain many of the key yards on the dramatic drive that produced The Catch.

On a more personal level, because of Walsh, I could wear my ratty, way-too-small 49ers jersey to school on Jan. 11, 1982, and for the first time in my life no one would dare laugh.

So, yes, after I started covering the Niners and thus stopped loving them like a gushy teenager, I was predisposed to think pretty highly of Walsh. But the more I learned of him -- and from him -- the greater my appreciation became.

In an era in which many head coaches callously prohibit their assistants from talking to the media (and, by extension, hurt their profiles and potential for attracting the interests of other employers), Walsh did the opposite, vigorously promoting the virtues of the coaches who worked under him through the press and back-channel diplomacy. This was especially true when it came to minority coaching candidates. Indeed, undoing racial injustices when it came to such hires remained one of Walsh's primary causes long after he stepped away.

Remember that in early January 1989, shortly before Walsh resigned as the Niners' coach, his receivers coach, Denny Green, got the Stanford job -- largely on the strength of his boss's recommendation. Walsh's reaction in the midst of a tense playoff drive? He essentially allowed Green to become the Cardinal's fulltime coach while filling in with the Niners whenever time allowed.

It's not surprising that, unlike Jimmy Johnson and other successful NFL head coaches whose assistants turned out to be substandard bosses, Walsh saw his legacy carried on directly (George Seifert, Mike Holmgren, Ray Rhodes, Green) and indirectly (Mike Shanahan, Jeff Fisher, Jon Gruden). It was Walsh, after all, who not only revolutionized football strategy with the West Coast Offense, but who also created the organizational blueprint for the modern franchise, from the down-to-the-precise-minute daily schedule to the filming of practices and play-installation meetings.

Give me an hour, and I can go on and on about the other areas in which Walsh made a lasting impact, including his insistence on cutting prominent players a year before their decline, rather than after it, all things being equal. Critics might call this another example of his ruthlessness, and some victims of the policy, such as Clark, would hold a longtime grudge.

But if you paid attention to the 49ers, you eventually understood that Walsh knew best, for he -- more than even Lott or Montana or Jerry Rice or owner Eddie DeBartolo -- was the man most responsible for the franchise's unprecedented run of excellence that included five Super Bowl championships in 14 years.

Manipulative as he might have been -- like all great coaches, really -- Walsh boldly strove for excellence and wasn't averse to risking everything while doing so. Every move he made was meant to create or sustain a dynasty, from the 1987 trade for Steve Young, that triggered a years-long quarterback controversy, to his persuading of Montana, Clark and other veterans not to cross the picket line during the '87 players' strike for fear of the damage to team chemistry it might cause (they nonetheless returned the following week).

As that strike reminded us, Walsh was a tactician whose brilliance shone behind-the-scenes and, most glaringly, on Sundays in front of a rapt, football-watching nation.

Playing his first game with replacement players against the Bill Parcells-coached Giants on Monday Night Football, Walsh, during interviews with the New York media, made a big deal about the presence on the roster of backup quarterback Mark Stevens, who'd run the option in college. Stevens, Walsh suggested, might be inserted in specific situations in which the Phony Niners could utilize his speed and running ability.

Sure enough, before a short-yardage play near midfield, Stevens came sprinting into the huddle, and everyone waited to see Walsh unveil his new toy. The bait successfully lowered, Stevens took the snap, faked a handoff, dropped back in the pocket and calmly delivered a touchdown pass to a wide-open receiver.

On one level, the whole thing was kind of coldblooded. It was also funny and sublime and, yes, genius. That was Bill Walsh, and those of us who got to observe him up close will remember him that way until we, too, are told to disappear without showering.

Something To Share About Coach Bill Walsh - Zennie Abraham

I only met Coach Walsh three times, and on every occasion he always referred to me as "Lenny" rather than "Zennie" but he never refused to take time to talk to me about his system, and I was into the details of it, like the "hitch step" for example, which is simply the extra step a QB takes just before throwing, and the concept of throwing without a hitch step, which is hard as hell to do -- try it yourself.

The point is that he would always share.

But what really rankled me -- and still does today -- is how many people, reporters, incorrectly describe "The Walsh System." It's always "short, ball control" and left at that.

That's so wrong.

Yes, that was a part of it. But man, that wasn't even the difference. It was the way of thinking.

To illustrate how different Coach Walsh's system was, let me compare it to the Dallas Cowboys passing game concept under Coach Tom Landry.

The Cowboys were known for passing plays that essentially "pulled" a defense into a particular direction and then took advantage of how the defense deployed itself as a result.

For example, one of the most successful plays the Cowboys ran in the 70s -- when Walsh was developing his ideas -- came out of split backs or "Red or Green Formation." The Flanker went in half motion toward the tight-end, and then
released at the snap of the ball.

The play started as a "sweep" running play, with both guards pulling, the fullback lead blocking and the halfback running. Then the QB would fake a handoff to the halfback, and then look down field.

The Flanker who went in motion toward the tight end then ran a crossing pattern 15 - 20 yards. Meanwhile the Split End ran a kind of "mirror" crossing pattern. The offensive play caused both safeties in a standard Cover Two -- which is what the Pittsburgh Steelers played at the time -- to essentially go deep and move wider apart, leaving the Flanker all alone on the crossing route.

That play worked in Super Bowl X, where Drew Pearson caught a 47-yard touchdown pass. But it failed to work later in the same game because Steelers safety Mike Wagner didn't move deep. When Split End Doug Donley ran his crossing pattern, Wagner stayed home rather than move deep or follow him.

The result was an interception, which surprised Dallas QB Roger Staubach -- "It was the first time it didn't work" Staubach remarked later.

Well, let's think about it. That play was designed to throw to one -- and only one -- receiver, the Flanker. The Split End was a decoy and the tight end wasn't even a factor in the play -- the running backs were strictly used for run fakes and then forgotten about.

Coach Walsh's offense didn't have so many decoys. And in his offense, there was always another receiver to go to. It was flexible, which was new at the time. It was so new that Paul Hackett, who was Coach Walsh's QB coach and passing game student, was hired as Offensive Coordinator by the Cowboys under Landry in '83 I believe. It didn't work out because Hackett's learned idea of flexibility conflicted with the "fixed" philosophy Landry held. So Landry was an example of many
coaches who didn't "get" what Bill was doing at the time.

How would Coach Walsh have changed that play? Ha. The fullback that is the lead blocker would have ran an "up" pattern off the run block fake. The Halfback would have ran a swing pattern after the sweep fake.

The Flanker's crossing pattern would remain. The Split End would have ran a fly pattern. So the order of recever progression would have been 1) Split End, 2) Flanker, 3) Fullback, 4) Halfback (hot receiver). The key read would have been the weak (free) safety. The Split End was essentially clearing out for the Flanker, who was clearing out for the fullback.

See?

That's not just an example of how Coach Walsh would have done it, it's an example of how his way is so basic and logical that it can be shown to a guy like me, and I can repeat it with confidence.

That's a pure tribute to the man.

But what I will most miss, Ray, is Coach Walsh as a member of the Bay Area sports community -- don't forget the impact he had on the Big Game rivalry.

You know, we're blessed to be around so many great people in one area of America. What a sad day. I was at JFK Airport in New York when I got the news Monday. The plane ride home -- from CNN -- was hard, so very hard. Reading Coach Dungy's book "Quiet Strength" helped some -- a good book by a great man who -- as one might expect -- was touched
by Coach Walsh.

49ers and Stanford Coach Bill Walsh Passes Away - NFL.com

Hall of Fame coach Bill Walsh dies
NFL.com wire reports

SAN FRANCISCO (July 30, 2007) -- Bill Walsh, the groundbreaking football coach who won three Super Bowls and perfected the ingenious schemes that became known as the West Coast offense during a Hall of Fame career with the San Francisco 49ers, has died. He was 75.

Walsh died at his Woodside home following a long battle with leukemia, according to Stanford University, where he served as coach and athletic director.

"This is just a tremendous loss for all of us, especially to the Bay Area because of what he meant to the 49ers," said Hall of Fame quarterback Joe Montana, the player most closely linked to Walsh's tenure with the team. "For me personally, outside of my dad he was probably the most influential person in my life. I am going to miss him."

Walsh didn't become an NFL head coach until 47, and he spent just 10 seasons on the San Francisco sideline. But he left an indelible mark on the United States' most popular sport, building the once-woebegone 49ers into the most successful team of the 1980s with his innovative offensive strategies and teaching techniques.

The soft-spoken native Californian also produced a legion of coaching disciples that's still growing today. Many of his former assistants went on to lead their own teams, handing down Walsh's methods and schemes to dozens more coaches in a tree with innumerable branches.

Walsh went 102-63-1 with the 49ers, winning 10 of his 14 postseason games along with six division titles. He was named the NFL's coach of the year in 1981 and 1984.

Few men did more to shape the look of football into the 21st century. His cerebral nature and often-brilliant stratagems earned him the nickname "The Genius" well before his election to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1993.

Walsh twice served as the 49ers' general manager, and George Seifert led San Francisco to two more Super Bowl titles after Walsh left the sideline. Walsh also coached Stanford during two terms over five seasons.


Bill Walsh turned the struggling 49ers into the Team of the '80s.
Even a short list of Walsh's adherents is stunning. Seifert, Mike Holmgren, Dennis Green, Sam Wyche, Ray Rhodes and Bruce Coslet all became NFL head coaches after serving on Walsh's San Francisco staffs, and Tony Dungy played for him. Most of his former assistants passed on Walsh's structures and strategies to a new generation of coaches, including Mike Shanahan, Jon Gruden, Brian Billick, Andy Reid, Pete Carroll, Gary Kubiak, Steve Mariucci and Jeff Fisher.

Walsh created the Minority Coaching Fellowship program in 1987, helping minority coaches to get a foothold in a previously lily-white profession. Marvin Lewis and Tyrone Willingham are among the coaches who went through the program, later adopted as a league-wide initiative.

He also helped to establish the World League of American Football -- what was NFL Europe -- in 1994, taking the sport around the globe as a development ground for the NFL.

Walsh was diagnosed with leukemia in 2004 and underwent months of treatment and blood transfusions. He publicly disclosed his illness in November 2006, but appeared at a tribute for retired receiver Jerry Rice two weeks later.

While Walsh recuperated from a round of chemotherapy in late 2006, he received visits from former players and assistant coaches, as well as California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sen. Dianne Feinstein.

Born William Ernest Walsh on Nov. 30, 1931 in Los Angeles, he was a self-described "average" end and a sometime boxer at San Jose State in 1952-53.

Walsh, whose family moved to the Bay Area when he was a teen-ager, married his college sweetheart, Geri Nardini, in 1954 and started his coaching career at Washington High School in Fremont, leading the football and swim teams.

Walsh was coaching in Fremont when he interviewed for an assistant coaching position with Levy, who had just been hired as the head coach at California.

"I was very impressed, individually, by his knowledge, by his intelligence, by his personality and hired him," Levy said.

After Cal, he did a stint at Stanford before beginning his pro coaching career as an assistant with the AFL's Oakland Raiders in 1966, forging a friendship with Al Davis that endured through decades of rivalry. Walsh joined the Cincinnati Bengals in 1968 to work for legendary coach Paul Brown, who gradually gave complete control of the Bengals' offense to his assistant.

Walsh built a scheme based on the teachings of Davis, Brown and Sid Gillman -- and Walsh's own innovations, which included everything from short dropbacks and novel receiving routes to constant repetition of every play in practice.

Though it originated in Cincinnati, it became known many years later as the West Coast offense -- a name Walsh never liked or repeated, but which eventually grew to encompass his offensive philosophy and the many tweaks added by Holmgren, Shanahan and other coaches.

Much of the NFL eventually ran a version of the West Coast in the 1990s, with its fundamental belief that the passing game can set up an effective running attack, rather than the opposite conventional wisdom.

Walsh also is widely credited with inventing or popularizing many of the modern basics of coaching, from the laminated sheets of plays held by coaches on almost every sideline, to the practice of scripting the first 15 offensive plays of a game.

After a bitter falling-out with Brown in 1976, Walsh left for stints with the San Diego Chargers and Stanford before the 49ers chose him to rebuild the franchise in 1979.

The long-suffering 49ers went 2-14 before Walsh's arrival. They repeated the record in his first season. Walsh doubted his abilities to turn around such a miserable situation -- but earlier in 1979, the 49ers drafted quarterback Joe Montana from Notre Dame.

Walsh turned over the starting job to Montana in 1980, when the 49ers improved to 6-10 -- and improbably, San Francisco won its first championship in 1981, only two years after winning two games.

Championships followed in the postseasons of 1984 and 1988 as Walsh built a consistent winner and became an icon with his inventive offense and thinking-man's approach to the game. He also showed considerable acumen in personnel, adding Ronnie Lott, Charles Haley, Roger Craig and Rice to his rosters after he was named the 49ers' general manager in 1982 and the president in 1985.

Walsh left the 49ers with a profound case of burnout after his third Super Bowl victory in January 1989, though he later regretted not coaching longer.

He spent three years as a broadcaster with NBC before returning to Stanford for three seasons. He then took charge of the 49ers' front office in 1999, helping to rebuild the roster over three seasons. But Walsh gradually cut ties with the 49ers after his hand-picked successor as GM, Terry Donahue, took over in 2001.

He is survived by his wife, Geri, and two children, Craig and Elizabeth.

Walsh's son, Steve, an ABC News reporter, died of leukemia at age 46 in 2002.

New York Jets Training Camp Video - Jets Confidential

It's the start of training camp and the first football games of preseason are not far away. While in New York for my CNN appearance, I went to New York Jets Training Camp with my good friend and business buddy Bill Chachkes. In this video we get a glimpse of the Jets passing offense, Chad Pennington, and an interview with Dan Leberfeld of Jets Confidential

Oakland Raiders Broke? JaMarcus Russell Deal May Be Five Years Due To Revenue Problems - Profootballtalk.com

I figured the Oakland Raiders may have problems signing a quaterback on time, even with the new CBA. They're still playing in the Oakland Coliseum, which needs to be re-designed to generate more revenue.

RUSSELL DEAL COULD BE FOR FIVE YEARS - Rumor from Profootballtalk.com

A league source tells us that the negotiation of a contract between the Raiders and No. 1 overall pick JaMarcus Russell has been and will continue to be a difficult process, and that the Raiders might end up signing Russell a five-year deal.

Per the source, there are whispers of cash issues in Oakland that could prevent the team from funding a six-year package. Though we don't know whether that's a certainty, there's definitely some wisdom in scaling the contract back by a year, since no one knows at this point whether Russell will be a Peyton Manning or a Ryan Leaf. If it's the latter, the team has less money at risk.

Russell is represented by the firm of Metz, Lock, and Malinovic. They also represent receiver Dwayne Bowe. The No. 23 overall selection is a holdout in Kansas City. Said the source about the situation in Oakland, "It will be a long holdout unless the agents take a bad deal."