San Francisco 49ers: Respect, Class and Professionalism Returning

August 19, 2010   ·   Dan Mori   ·   Jump to comments

In the 80's and 90's, the San Francisco 49ers were one of the elite franchises in all of sports.  They were well known to exude professionalism and class from the top down. This started from Owner Eddie DeBartolo Jr., President Carmen Policy and Head Coach Bill Walsh. George Seifert also carried on the tradition when he took over after Walsh retired.
After Eddie Debartolo Jr. was forced to relinquish his beloved Niners, the entire feeling around the team changed.  Dr. John York was viewed as cheap, and was an absentee owner, as he and wife Denise, (Eddie's sister), lived in Ohio. I'm sure Dr. York is a solid professional in his field of expertise, but running a football team was not something he was good at. 
The 49ers were headed downhill when Terry Donahue was promoted to GM.  Not only did he make some poor personnel decisions, but he seemed more concerned with his real estate interests in the LA area.
Donahue's replacement, Scot McCl...

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