Hi Niners fans.
Please be patient and thank you for coming :)))
Meanwhile here is an article I got from San Francisco Examiner. It is about a diary of a kicker (an NFL kicker that is).
I'm sure you will enjoy the article. The article also tells you the fundamental of San Francisco FortyNiners and their mentality.
It is funny yet so informative. Especially to Niners fan. Well here it is:
[RayRatto]
Ray Ratto's Odd Home Page Gate Sports
Examiner Sports
The Gate Home Page
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Wednesday, Dec. 4, 1996 · Page B 1 © 1996 San Francisco Examiner
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[Wanna Party?]
Sometimes life can be just a kick
RAY RATTO
(Excerpts from "THE RIGHT SHOE DIARIES: A KICKER'S TRIUMPH
AMID THE SCORN," by Jeff Allan Wilkins, Nothing Better To Do
Press, copyright 1996).
ROCKLIN, JULY 28: Ahh, another year here in Satan's tanning
booth, and I'm pretty sure I'm the happiest guy here. Said
hi to Coach Seifert, and he autographed my shirt and said,
"Good luck in high school this year, son." Then he said the
same thing to a 13-year-old about 20 feet down. Maybe he
still thinks Doug Brien's on the team.
*ROCKLIN, AUG. 11: Inspirational talk from Coach Seifert, in
which the part that concerned me included this sentence:
"And remember, every time the kicker goes in the game, you
as an offense have failed yourselves, your families, your
friends and our nation."
*SAN FRANCISCO, SEPT. 1: Big day for me, two 29-yard field
goals and we beat the Saints. Steve Young walked by after
the game and said, "You should never have been on the field
today, I hope you know that."
*SAN FRANCISCO, SEPT. 8: Two more field goals without a
miss, and we beat the Rams, 34-0. None of my teammates
talked to me, but Chip Lohmiller, the St. Louis kicker, said
after the game, "Don't worry about it, man. Ray Wersching
went YEARS without anyone talking to him. That's just the
way it is over here."
*SAN FRANCISCO, SEPT. 29: Biggest day of my career, six
without a miss. I'm 11-for-11, and a couple of writers came
over to me after the game and said, "Man, the offensive guys
are really honked off." "At me?" "Not entirely," one of them
said. Hmmm . . .
*ST. LOUIS, OCT. 6: Crud. Missed one from 46. No perfect
season for me, but we scored four touchdowns. In the
postgame euphoria, Harris Barton came up to me and spit on
my shoe. I was barefoot at the time.
*GREEN BAY, OCT. 14: We lost, and everyone is all p.o.'d at
the offense for not getting the ball in the end zone, and
for George letting me kick a 28-yarder near the end of the
game. Tim McDonald came up to me afterward and said, "Don't
speak. You hear me? Not one single word the whole flight
home." I didn't speak again until Thursday. I have seen Tim
McDonald angry before.
*SANTA CLARA, OCT. 16: I'm starting to understand the
mentality around here now. When I go in the game it means
the offense didn't get a touchdown, which means the players
didn't do their jobs to their usual standard, which means
that Marc Trestman gets ragged on, which means I represent
all that is evil about our society. At least that's the way
Coach Walsh explained it to me.
"Son, you're making us all look bad," he said with his arm
around me after one practice. "Now don't take this
personally, because it's not you per se. We know you went to
Youngstown State, which is in Mister DeBartolo's hometown,
we know you didn't suck up to get the job or anything, and
you're a nice enough young man, but frankly, you stand for
every single thing we have always hated. We've hated field
goals around here since 1981, and I had a lot do with that.
Oh, and one more thing. I never talked to you, all right? I
was never here. I have a reputation to protect, after all."
I called my folks that night and relayed the whole
conversation, and my dad told me, "You know, son, you can
still work with me here at the store."
*HOUSTON, OCT. 27: It's gotten kind of quiet. I haven't had
a whole lot to do lately, but I can tell the guys still
don't like it when I go in the game. Every time one of the
offensive guys talks about how much trouble we're having in
the red zone, he gives me a dirty look. Plus I saw Jerry
Rice take the Halloween party invitation out of my locker
and burn it. Tommy Thompson, the punter and my best (well,
only) friend on the entire team, said, "Just play it safe.
Never engage them in conversation. I mean, how do you think
they feel about me?"
*NEW ORLEANS, NOV. 3: Three more for me, we beat the Saints,
and Jesse Sapolu offered to punch me right in the eye.
"You're making us look bad," he said. Steve Young blew his
nose into my shirt pocket. I'm handling it well. I only
slammed my head into the steering wheel six times on the
drive home.
*SAN FRANCISCO, NOV. 10: We lost to Dallas in overtime.
Chris Boniol kicked a 29-yard field goal. Dana Stubblefield
walked by me and said, "Why didn't you do that?" "But we
never got the ball, Dana," I tried to explain, then he hit
me in the face with a hunk of sod.
*SANTA CLARA, NOV. 20: I'm 19-for-21, but I'm keeping a real
low profile now. Most of the time I come to the practice
complex about 5:30 in the morning, wearing a disguise. Derek
Loville busted me this morning, though. "I know it's you,
Mister Happy Foot. Don't think I don't know." Later, Coach
Seifert caught me looking at a stat sheet and said, "Yeah,
thanks loads."
*WASHINGTON, NOV. 24: A big win, and I really did well. I
kicked the game-winner in overtime, and all the guys came
around to congratulate me. Brent Jones even said, "You know,
if you'd made that 46-yarder in the third quarter, we'd
already be on the plane."
*SANTA CLARA, NOV. 26: Walked by Elvis Grbac's locker and
saw him counting by sevens. "Whatcha doin', pal?" I said,
and he glared up at me and said, "Oh, just counting all the
points we didn't get when you went into the game. I'm up to
104." "Didn't I tell you about that?" Tommy said. I had to
agree.
*ATLANTA, DEC. 2: Four more against the Falcons, and we
cruised. I'm 12-for-12 against them, and I have the best
percentage of any field-goal kicker in the league. Plus,
there's only three guys who have had more attempts than me,
but I know now that people here don't think much of that
last stat. I saw Mr. Policy after the game and said I hoped
we could get together in the offseason and talk about next
year. He said, "And you would be . . . " "Jeff Wilkins, sir.
The kicker." "Oh, yes, yes. Well, we normally handle you and
Thompson with the rest of the clerical staff. Have your
parents call me."
*SANTA CLARA, DEC. 3: Picked up the newspaper, and Harris
Barton said, "When we get the ball in the red zone, we have
to start scoring touchdowns. We're not going to be able to
kick field goals the rest of our lives." And Brent Jones
said, "Field goals are bad. I mean, look at our guys coming
off the field. We like our field-goal kicker, but . . . "
I think I may cry.
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