Yesterday "may be remembered as Black Monday for the 49ers, the day the team’s most important leaders -- its heart and soul -- left the building, while the bad news kept pouring in," according to Ann Killion of the S.F. CHRONICLE. RB Frank Gore will "leave the team" as a free agent, while DE Justin Smith and LB Patrick Willis are retiring, and it was reported yesterday that FB Bruce Miller "was arrested for domestic spousal abuse last week." The "wrath from 49ers fans" directed at CEO Jed York and GM Trent Baalke on social media has "gone from ugly to uglier." It is "astonishing how a team a year removed from a third straight NFC championship game and poised to open a new stadium could devolve so quickly in the public’s eye" (S.F. CHRONICLE, 3/10). In San Jose, Mark Purdy calls yesterday "one of the worst offseason days in 49ers franchise history." York and Baalke "need to get out in front of their customers as soon as possible, to explain what's happening" (SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS, 3/10).
TALK OF THE TOWN: ESPN’s Tony Kornheiser said, “Their team appears to be dissolving” (“PTI,” ESPN, 3/9). L.A. Times columnist Bill Plaschke said, “One moment three straight NFC Championship games, the next moment it’s a dumpster up there. Trent Baalke and Jed York better know what they’re doing. They got a new stadium and a lot of people paid a lot of money to watch this team that suddenly isn’t this team anymore” (“Around The Horn,” ESPN, 3/9). NFL Network’s Eric Davis: “It’s in complete disarray. It’s a changing of the guard” (“NFL AM,” NFL Network, 3/10). But the ESPN's Marcellus Wiley defended the 49ers, noting the “top four teams are saying, ‘Look, the way to win in this game ... is to create a team atmosphere, not individual fingers pointing out but one collective fist.’ That’s what the NFL is about and now the 49ers are applying that” (“SportsNation,” ESPN2, 3/9). CSNBAYAREA.com’s Andy Dolich said the 49ers losing several high-profile players is a “benefit, as crazy as it sounds, to the fans because you really have to reach out, you have to rebuild that brand, especially in this market" (“Yahoo Sports Talk Live,” CSN Bay Area, 3/9).
