"You Don't Trade Me"

If you read this blog or any 49ers news outlet, you know that RB Kevan Barlow was traded this past Sunday. What you may not have known, however, was his reaction to the trade. Barlow had some pretty pointed remarks about Coach Mike Nolan and the direction of the Niners. Here are some highlights:

[The trade] was dirty. He had no respect for me or the organization. He doesn't know about the 49ers way, and that's too bad because even his Dad [Dick] was coach of the 49ers. Bill Walsh set the standard here, and he ain't living up to it.

That's not even the best one. Check this out:

He walks around with a chip on his shoulder, like he's a dictator, like he's Hitler. People are scared of him. If it ain't Nolan's way, it's the highway.

OK, so Kevan's gripe was that Nolan was too tough, too authoritarian. Ignoring the fact that iron-fist regimes such as Bill Belichick's in New England and Bill Cowher's in Pittsburgh have become the class of the NFL, let's take a look at how the most recent non-demanding Niner coach fared, the player-friendly Dennis Erickson.

• 2003: 7-9. Niners lost numerous winnable games and missed the playoffs. I maintain that Mariucci easily would have guided them there.
• 2004: The 2-14 season that netted Alex Smith.

I tend to try to forget these two seasons because they were two of the worst and most disappointing in the history of the 49ers. The Niners had little sense of an identity, one of the worst characteristics for a football team. They made countless mental errors (paging Cedrick Wilson) and lacked discipline. Basically, they did not reflect any of the previous Niner playoff squads. How do you fix a team with attitude and disciplinary problems? Hire a hard-ass for a coach. He comes in, weeds out the problem childs and tries to impose his image on the team. Bill Parcells has done this. So have Belichick and Cowher. What do those three men have in common? Super Bowl rings and a place in Canton, Ohio when they retire. Nolan has started to do this to right the Niners ship. He won four games last season with far and away the least talented roster in the NFL. Things are getting better, albeit slowly.

Bye-bye baby

But Barlow isn't done, by a long shot. Here is my favorite quote, by far:

He calls all the shots. He needs somebody above his head. He doesn't know what he's doing. I respect [team owner John York] and everything he's done for me. He's made me successful. I'm still in my prime. You don't trade a guy like me.

Kevan, you're really making it too easy for us here at HMB. Everyone attributes John York with the downfall of the 49er dynasty. He fired Steve Mariucci for no reason, hired the incompetent Dennis Erickson, and severed ties with the Niner past. He is reviled by most Niner fans and many rue the day that Eddie DeBartolo lost control of the team. Barlow, by all estimation, has been an enormous disappointment since he became the feature back. Not only did he fail to produce on the field, but his attitude and commitment have always been issues. His clashes with FB Fred Beasley were part of the reason the resident Pro Bowler left the team. Maybe Kevan is right--why would the Niners want to trade a guy who rushed for 581 yards with a 3.3 yards/carry average?


Of course, Barlow has since apologized for his remarks. Big deal. TO did the same thing after Drew Rosenhaus' live rant to try to get back on the field and a year later he published a biography slamming the Eagles organization. Simply put, many NFL players are out of control. The Cincinnatti Bengals have run amok of the law; last year, it was the Vikings' sex boat scandal. These types of distractions can ruin a team's chances and the best bet is to limit them altogether. I hate to keep bringing him up, but Belichick and the Patriots have the best system in place for the present day NFL. As they like to say, the NFL is a copycat league--when one team has success, others will follow their blueprint. Nolan wants to win, and do it his way with his players. Frankly, I'm for it. The Niners play hard under Nolan and it seems like they all care. This team appears to be going in the right direction. And if takes getting rid of players like Barlow who are "still in [their] prime", well good riddance.