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00:00The positive feelings you have about yourself and the team should come from the team.
00:20Because believe me, no one suffers but us when we lose.
00:26No one.
00:27Some people delighted. You know the newspaper in San Francisco delighted when you lose.
00:33So we're in this thing alone. You don't have any friends outside this room and your families.
00:38And these are the people that are going to make a difference in your life for the next couple of months.
00:42You know, he videoed every meeting he had and kept it as a document.
00:47He wanted to know if he was being effective or not.
00:50It honed his skill and made him more of an effective communicator.
00:53Any word that came out of his mouth, you're like, oh my God, wow.
00:59You're ready to go do battle. You're ready to go run through a wall.
01:03I heard he was like a grandpa, but also tough and didn't take any shit.
01:11We've got to correct the problem.
01:13Yeah, he could be your best friend. He could be your worst enemy.
01:16I get unraveled. Ronnie gets unraveled. There's nothing personal. That's just part of it.
01:21Because we're right on the edge all the time.
01:22That's all this man thought about, trying to have a competitive advantage.
01:29When you take a loss, you shake it off and come back ready to play the next day.
01:34That's professional. And that's what it takes.
01:36He is the godfather of the modern NFL.
01:40You wondered why, why all this?
01:43And what he was doing was he was collecting it so that he could hand it to his assistant coaches.
01:49Especially his minority coaches, he wanted to see them get jobs in the NFL.
01:53He wanted to help them be successful.
01:56And we play our style of football. And we don't want it any other way.
02:00And so at the height of his genius, he collected it all and handed it out.
02:06We have a standard of play on this particular football team.
02:10You play full board, all out, every play until the game's over.
02:16So you have a standard of excellence every play.
02:19In the face!
02:30First and foremost, it was the game right before the NFL players went on strike.
02:41So there was a lot of tension in the league. There was a lot of tension in locker rooms.
02:44We had the lead at the end of the game.
02:47Bill Walsh and company now have to look for a little bit of help from the almighty.
02:52I don't think anybody thought that we were going to win that football game.
02:55Eddie DiBarlo already had left the field to go to the locker room to chew everybody out.
03:02I wasn't always Mr. Nice Guy.
03:06Not with the team or not with Bill.
03:09My Youngstown roots came out from time to time.
03:12But that's the way I was brought up.
03:16And Montana will get one throw.
03:18Rice to the near side.
03:20And they decide that they're going to line up as if they're going to throw a Hail Mary down the left side.
03:24And instead, they had Jerry Rice on the right side of the field with a rookie cornerback.
03:28Had to go against, you know, Jerry Rice with Joe Montana throwers to him.
03:32Here's Montana throwing for the end zone.
03:35It was like slow motion.
03:37The ball slowed down. You could see the rotation of the front.
03:40And as receivers, we always taught to go up and catch the ball at his highest peak.
03:45So I go up, I attack the football, and we win that game.
03:50He's got it! Touchdown 49ers!
03:53It just looks so easy.
03:55The 49ers have won it on the final play.
03:59That's an incredible ball game, my friend.
04:02Boy, that was the most ecstatic moment we've had in a long time.
04:06I think Roger Craig and I skipped off the field.
04:10He handled Victory great for about 20 minutes, then he was back to work.
04:17As I've gotten older, I've realized, you know, how much my dad really cared.
04:24At their 49er offices, there were photos lining all the halls, and my dad would walk down the hall.
04:31If they weren't quite straight, he would straighten them.
04:33If your desk wasn't clean, you heard about it. I mean, he was one of those kind of dudes.
04:38This time of year, right now, every detail counts.
04:43He was chasing perfection. He thought it was possible. He was frustrated when it didn't happen.
04:49We're going to do the presentation of the Vince Lombardi trophy.
04:52My dad was always after the perfect game.
04:55I can even think of a Super Bowl we won that could have been a perfect game if I'd have made two different calls.
05:00I always played off the negative.
05:02But I think that, in a sense, drives a person into being totally mobilized to do the very best they can.
05:07Two plays. That's how we thought.
05:09Now they'd won the game big. Everybody loved it, but he was beating himself over two calls in the game that he didn't think he should have made.
05:17Bill was, they called him the genius.
05:20Good or bad.
05:21The tricky part for Bill was to find the balance.
05:27If perfection is unattainable, and that's the goal, then what do you do with what's left?
05:36It's an obsession for a coach to lay in bed at midnight on a Wednesday night thinking about,
05:41how do I get this guy open on third down?
05:44That's why you're successful.
05:47Because if it's not great, man, you want to pull your hair out.
05:49Because it's so frustrating that you're not getting the results that you think you should get.
05:54The high expectations are what it should be.
05:57You should reach for perfection and settle for excellence.
06:02Bill Walsh, he's trying to be perfect.
06:05That's the goal.
06:06We played Cincinnati on Sunday.
06:12Had a great comeback.
06:14Bill was very pointed.
06:16He goes, look, I'm not going to lie to you and tell you I don't care what you're going to do.
06:20But whatever you do, do it as a team.
06:24The strike football fans have been dreading is on.
06:27The NFL's announced plan to keep the season going using players who had been cut by the teams in the preseason was attacked by union officials.
06:38Nothing doing as far as progress in the NFL strike.
06:41Plenty of replacement players to go around as the Niners made public the names of some 60 players who will play in the interim.
06:49I think we'll be able to field a good team.
06:51Obviously, it's not going to be the same product that was here a couple of weeks ago.
06:55Welcome to Giants Stadium, where two teams representing the San Francisco 49ers and the New York Giants play.
07:01And I'll remind you that these games do count.
07:04The whole thing was insane.
07:05I remember all of us laughing at Bill.
07:07He decided, the only way I can do this is if they run the wishbone triple option.
07:13Walsh last coached the wishbone when he was a high school coach.
07:16Here comes the bone.
07:19And when's the last time you've seen that in the NFL?
07:21It was crazy.
07:25And Bill's.
07:27You've got to be able to deal with adversity.
07:30There's your final.
07:3141-21 San Francisco.
07:33When things are tough, how do you deal with it as a team?
07:37Bill had said, if you're going to stay, do it as a team.
07:41If you're going to go out, do it as a team.
07:44And initially, we did do it as a team.
07:48And we'd have practices just to stay focused on football.
07:52And then guys started going back.
07:56Joe Montana is not a member of the union and is being mentioned among the possible strike breakers.
08:02I have certain things that I have to do, and the decision has to be mine.
08:05I didn't agree with what we were arguing and fighting about.
08:10I want a better bargaining agreement like everyone else, but what we're fighting for, they're not going to give us.
08:16You're not going to get it right now.
08:17You could never get that across because everybody was too concerned that you went back in.
08:22This is the scene outside Atlanta Stadium.
08:25Falcons man the picket lines.
08:27The complexion of this game changed dramatically last Wednesday when Joe Montana walked back into camp for the 49ers.
08:33And Bill Walsh and the 49ers get another win.
08:37I don't know if I could lift these guys in the eye down the road when I got to play with them again.
08:40There is Joe Montana. He's 12 of 13.
08:46Success.
08:48So the 49ers went 3-0 in replacement call.
08:54National Football League players went back to work today on orders from their union without achieving any of the goals they struck for.
09:01The 49ers can't ignore the last three weeks, the strike and its ramifications.
09:05But now it's time for the players to get reacquainted.
09:08There were a lot of really heated, heated opinions.
09:14I had a chance to at least explain to the guys what I was doing and why I was doing it.
09:21It was just hard to get that point across to the other players.
09:25Guys had some strong reactions. I think you said something in the heat of the moment.
09:29I don't want to get into that. I don't want to go there. I don't want to go there. Okay?
09:34Don't want to go there.
09:35That's way old news. Okay?
09:38Eventually, people started saying, let's go play. Let's just go play and win.
09:46Regardless of what went on the last three or four weeks, the ultimate goal is to get the Super Bowl ring.
09:51Just want to get serious for a minute.
09:54We've won the previous games, not the sky that I'd like to have seen.
09:58We've got to start demonstrating the poise of a champion.
10:02The San Francisco 49ers, a team with perhaps the best organization in all of football, and it has paid off in dividends.
10:13San Francisco has been not only winning, but playing wide open, exciting football.
10:17And a big reason is the fabulous wide receivers.
10:19He's going to throw long.
10:20And I think just about everyone around this league would agree that the 49ers are the best team in football.
10:25Price is there. He's got it. Touchdown, 49ers.
10:28The year of the strike, I played 12 games. And in those 12 games, I think I had 23 touchdowns.
10:35It's crazy.
10:38Jerry Rice was the ultimate. I called him Jesus and colleagues.
10:41Now, what about his nickname?
10:43He folds a towel up and puts Flash 80 on him.
10:46It was like Flash, like Flash Gordon. And it just caught on.
10:51That took a lot of time because I had to get to the stadium early.
10:54Hey, man, that's not white, man. That's white.
10:57Why did they wear a lot of white stuff on, man?
11:00Bronco, come on, bro.
11:02I had to have the new shoes. The pants had to fit a certain way.
11:06The jersey had to be nice and tapered.
11:08Because I feel it makes a statement.
11:11If you look a certain way, you're going to play a certain way.
11:14Rice is currently the main thrust in the high-powered 49er offense
11:17and seems totally relaxed with his role as Joe Montana's favorite target.
11:23He's just running by people.
11:26I would tell my safety if I'm playing him,
11:29you back up.
11:30And if Jerry Rice gets behind you,
11:32you just keep running and go straight into the locker room and go home.
11:36When you've got the greatest quarterback ever, like Montana,
11:40you know he's going to put the ball in an area where you can do something with it.
11:45You know, the longer you play with somebody, the better fuel you get.
11:47And he's been having a great year, and you just got to keep going to him.
11:50Jerry's running a post.
11:51Did you call a post? No.
11:53How do you know he's going to the post?
11:55I could just tell.
11:56He could look at me, and I could look at him,
11:58and I knew exactly what he was thinking.
12:01He knew what I was thinking.
12:02The hero today, Jerry Rice,
12:04with three touchdowns for the third time in his career.
12:07That's why I always tell him,
12:08I said, you came way too late in my career.
12:10What the hell's wrong with you?
12:14Here we are at the Walsh residence.
12:18Lifestyles of the rich and famous.
12:20Comments about Johnny Cat?
12:22You know, in our house,
12:22we had just a regular phone,
12:24and then we had, like, the office phone,
12:26and it was red, which was really funny.
12:29One time I picked up the phone,
12:30and it was Sean Connery calling
12:33to tell us that he couldn't make it to the game.
12:36When that phone rang,
12:39I didn't mind answering the phone.
12:45We had a candlestick luxury box,
12:47and people would call and want to come in,
12:48and Willie Nelson was one.
12:50Clint Eastwood, Priscilla Presley,
12:52and I didn't even have to invite him.
12:54Tom Seller.
12:55MC Hammer.
12:56I remember him being there.
12:58Great for that,
12:58and all those guys were all around, too.
13:00Peter Frampton.
13:02You're my team, you know.
13:03You've been my team for a long, long time, man.
13:05What's your prediction?
13:07There is no prediction.
13:08What do you mean?
13:08The Niners are going to go to the Super Bowl.
13:10Yeah, journey was around.
13:12Absolutely.
13:14I don't know who had that jersey.
13:17The players got really, really close
13:19to a lot of them,
13:20especially Huey Lewis.
13:23Huey Lewis was huge at that time.
13:27We played Pittsburgh last night,
13:28and I was an hour away,
13:29and Dwight called me,
13:30so I couldn't move.
13:31The 49ers started to happen.
13:33Eddie and Bill understood
13:35what they meant to the community.
13:37They encouraged this camaraderie
13:39between artists and the players
13:40and the community
13:41and all that sort of stuff.
13:42Huey was there singing all the time.
13:44We did anthems.
13:45We did halftime concerts.
13:47We wrote the song,
13:48If to be square.
13:49If to be square.
13:51And got the idea
13:51of having them shout here, there, and everywhere.
13:54If, if, and everywhere.
13:57If, if, so if to be square.
13:59As long as I didn't have to sing
14:00by myself, I'd be okay.
14:02Ha, ha, ha.
14:05Your gold record's in the mail.
14:09There might have been celebrities
14:11suddenly showing up,
14:12but the real celebrities
14:13were the players.
14:15Everywhere we went,
14:16we were the story.
14:18We were Aerosmith and Rolling Stones
14:19putting together.
14:21There'd be hundreds of people.
14:23We had special security
14:24that would shield the players.
14:27Joe Montana was all of a sudden
14:29one of the hottest names in America.
14:31I'm wanted.
14:32What for, Sheriff?
14:33I'm just a 49er.
14:34Looking for a little gold.
14:35Even though we're from New Jersey
14:36and all our friends
14:37are mad at us for going for 49ers,
14:40we want them to win
14:41and go all the way to Super Bowl.
14:42I mean, you would have never known it
14:43as a teammate.
14:44He was pretty down to earth.
14:46He didn't feel like he was special.
14:51I mean, he knew what his job was
14:53and, you know,
14:54he had the skill set
14:55to get it done
14:57and put the ball in his hands
14:59and, you know,
15:01here we are.
15:05From the 12,
15:06Montana trips.
15:07Down he goes.
15:08Back at the 20,
15:09clutching his knee.
15:11And Candlestick Bark
15:12becomes silent.
15:17What's it like for a team
15:18bound for the playoffs
15:19to lose not only
15:20its best player
15:21but perhaps the most valuable player
15:22in the National Football League?
15:25Well, the San Francisco 49ers
15:26will find out right away.
15:31Joe Montana is down on the ground.
15:34Hurt.
15:35On the sidelines
15:36there'll be Steve Young
15:37getting a word for Bill Waltz.
15:39I think it was interesting
15:40from a fan standpoint
15:41because there was two
15:43totally contrasting styles
15:45of quarterbacking.
15:46Joe Montana helped off the field.
15:49A right-handed, prototypical passer.
15:52The most beautiful spiral
15:53you've ever seen in your life.
15:55The coolest.
15:57So many big wins.
15:59And there is Montana
16:01being taken back
16:02to the dressing room.
16:05Here he is,
16:06the left-hander.
16:07And then here comes Steve,
16:09left-handed scrambler.
16:11Second and 18
16:12and it's Young rolling left.
16:16Getting inside the 20,
16:18inside the 10,
16:19the 5,
16:20and Young barrels
16:21down to the 1.
16:22Ball will be coming out
16:23sideways.
16:24Pass to Rice.
16:26Caught for the touchdown.
16:27Tom, I had never caught
16:28a ball from a lefty.
16:30And I got to try to get used
16:31to the different spin.
16:33And the crowd chanting
16:34Joe, Joe, Joe.
16:36Everything that I learned
16:37with Joe,
16:38now I had to make
16:39Steve Young
16:40the best that he could be.
16:42And the 49ers
16:43have dominated
16:44the first half
16:44despite losing
16:45Joe Montana.
16:47People ask me,
16:48what was it like
16:48to play with Joe Montana
16:49or Steve Young?
16:50I said, you know,
16:51I pretty much put
16:52both of those guys
16:53in the Pro Football
16:53Hall of Fame.
16:54All it had to do
16:55was throw me the football.
17:00Young for Rice.
17:03Touchdown.
17:05Wow.
17:06I think about
17:07all the athletes
17:07in the world
17:08that compete in a sport
17:10that you run down
17:11a runway, flip up
17:12and land
17:13and then you either
17:14win or lose.
17:15Like, that is
17:17incredibly difficult.
17:19Me throwing a ball
17:20in a general vicinity
17:21and have Jerry Rice
17:22catch it for a touchdown,
17:23that's the job you want.
17:26Career best,
17:27four touchdown passes.
17:28I know, Steve,
17:29when you saw Joe go down,
17:30you had to be concerned
17:31but also excited
17:32to go into the game.
17:33Obviously, we're best
17:35when Joe's in the game
17:36and I just kind of
17:37get ready the best
17:38that I can.
17:3913 and 2
17:41and a brilliant
17:42regular season campaign.
17:44Joe Montana,
17:45did he say,
17:45hey, I can come back
17:46later in a couple of weeks?
17:48No, I didn't really
17:49talk to him about that.
17:49I just, we've built up
17:51a good relationship
17:51over the six months
17:52and I just wish
17:53that he could get better
17:54real fast.
17:55You feel pretty nimble
17:56nowadays?
17:57Yeah, I feel pretty good.
17:58The 49ers,
17:59the favored team
18:00in the race
18:01to the Super Bowl.
18:02Minnesota,
18:03the ball club
18:03that surprised
18:04the New Orleans Saints,
18:05the first chance
18:06to upset the 49ers.
18:08Saints go marching in.
18:09They didn't even
18:10concern themselves
18:11with who they were playing.
18:13And we've got to make
18:13this a personal vendetta
18:15against the Minnesota Vikings.
18:17It was not a great day.
18:20Drizzly,
18:21the field was wet.
18:23What happens,
18:24the water table
18:25is so high here
18:26that it doesn't drain.
18:27Once it starts raining,
18:29this becomes a quagmire.
18:33They are favored
18:34in this game
18:35by 11 points right now.
18:37They are the pick
18:38to go on
18:38and capture Super Bowl XXII.
18:40And if the 49ers
18:41accomplish that,
18:42it certainly will stamp them
18:43as the team
18:44of this decade.
18:46Yeah, we were supposed
18:47to win that game.
18:48our defense.
18:50Boom this on the run!
18:53Everybody had picked us
18:54to win.
18:55We were moving on.
18:56Vikings couldn't handle this.
18:59For the 49ers,
19:00they've had two weeks
19:00to get Joe Montana healthy.
19:02Does have a bit
19:03of a sore hamstring,
19:04but they've got
19:04a dandy on the bench.
19:05Montana's had
19:06a good, solid year.
19:07There are times
19:08when you like
19:09Young's moving.
19:10Will he come in
19:11in a certain situation?
19:12Well, you flirt with it.
19:13I'm not sure.
19:14You don't want to take
19:16the continuity away
19:16from your quarterback
19:17who's taking you already
19:18to two world championships.
19:19I could tell from the beginning
19:25of that game,
19:26it just wasn't right.
19:32Touchdown!
19:33We couldn't stop
19:33their pass game.
19:35And the 49ers,
19:36certainly a little
19:37confused defensively.
19:39It's one of those
19:42things of sports
19:43that you can't
19:44really explain.
19:45You know,
19:46you got everything
19:46going for you,
19:47you're right there,
19:49and then it just
19:49falls apart.
19:50going deep for Rice.
19:55Incomplete.
19:56Gary Rice has been
19:57shut down today.
20:00Sideliner for Clark.
20:02Picked off!
20:05Touchdown!
20:07Minnesota has San Francisco
20:10in deep trouble.
20:14Sack.
20:15Second sack.
20:17Play action,
20:18and a sack.
20:20Bill would always do
20:23what he thought
20:23was best
20:24to get the W.
20:25And if Joe
20:27couldn't run
20:28and Steve could run,
20:30I would have made
20:31the same decision
20:32if I was him.
20:33A rare occurrence
20:34where you see
20:34Joe Montana
20:35lifted from the game.
20:38I didn't know
20:38where it was going
20:39from that point.
20:40Was he making a change
20:41for good or what?
20:44Or, I don't know.
20:46And I'm sure
20:47he was trying
20:48to find a spark
20:49for the team
20:51at that point,
20:52but I think
20:53that was probably
20:53the most disappointing
20:54part is that
20:55he took an opportunity
20:57away.
20:59Not like I'd never
20:59been behind before.
21:01That's a very frustrated
21:02quarterback right there.
21:04Some players just
21:05looked and it was like,
21:06oh,
21:06and we've been here.
21:08We all know
21:09this situation.
21:10You're making
21:11the wrong choice.
21:12In the middle
21:13of a playoff game,
21:15to suddenly have
21:16greatest quarterback
21:16to ever play the game
21:17get yanked
21:19for his backup?
21:21I'm looking around
21:22like,
21:23if he can mess
21:24with Joe,
21:26who on this team
21:27isn't replaceable?
21:30Play action pass
21:32and wide open
21:33Roger Craig
21:34inside the five.
21:36It boiled down to this.
21:37I knew that
21:38Steve Young's running
21:39would make up
21:40for our lack
21:41of pass protection.
21:43Long touchdown!
21:45I had a job to do.
21:46It was my role.
21:48I'd be letting
21:48the team down
21:49and my profession down
21:51and I wouldn't be
21:52honest with myself
21:53unless I made that change.
21:54Steve Young
21:55obviously made
21:56an instant difference.
21:57Joe was a great runner,
21:58but Steve was the greatest.
21:59And it happened.
22:00Steve went in
22:01and ran with the ball
22:02and threw
22:02and we scored
22:02a couple of touchdowns.
22:03Young for John Taylor
22:07intercepted
22:08the Minnesota Vikings
22:10with an absolutely
22:11startling upset
22:12of the team
22:13with the best record
22:14in football this year.
22:17We weren't ready.
22:19It was my fault.
22:20Our team wasn't ready.
22:24It was devastation
22:25in the Bay Area.
22:26We felt like
22:27we had let the fans down.
22:30I didn't like losing.
22:31It would stay with you
22:34until training camp.
22:35I think, too,
22:36you have Hall of Fame
22:37quarterback,
22:38Hall of Fame receiver,
22:39Hall of Fame head coach.
22:41It's like
22:42the expectations
22:43for yourself
22:44because you knew
22:45what you had.
22:47The 87 year
22:48was the one
22:49where people started
22:50to grumble
22:50because they all thought
22:52that they were better
22:53than the Vikings.
22:55It really started
22:56to eat at Eddie
22:57and it really started
22:58to eat at Walsh.
22:59He wanted a replacement
23:00for Montana
23:01because he was big
23:03on the old
23:03Paul Brown notion
23:04let great players
23:06go a year
23:06before they're done.
23:08You'd never like
23:08to be taken out
23:09of the game
23:10but he talked about it
23:12right at the end
23:12of the game
23:13and I understand
23:14why he did it.
23:15I think our relationship
23:16changed a little bit
23:16from that point on
23:17in that
23:18it wasn't quite
23:20as jokey
23:21and as fun.
23:24It became more business
23:25between Bill and I
23:26which I didn't really like.
23:29I do all the work
23:30and I'm serious
23:30but I'm not serious.
23:32I'm out there
23:33to have fun
23:33and the way you have fun
23:35is when you play well
23:37and you perform
23:37and add an extra stress
23:42to that stupid game
23:44it's not necessary.
23:46Bill always believed
23:51that creative tension
23:52was positive.
23:53Toxic tension
23:54was terrible
23:55and it's a fine line.
23:58In the end
23:58Bill authored it
24:00right
24:01so
24:01there was going to be
24:03a lot of drama about it.
24:04This is a great photo
24:16of Bill and I.
24:17This was the NFC Championship.
24:20You can tell
24:21how elated
24:21Bill Walsh was.
24:23He wore his
24:25you know
24:26his emotions
24:26on his shoulder.
24:28I mean at times
24:29you'd have to sort of
24:30hold Eddie off
24:30if he'd be so emotional.
24:32He wanted to win
24:32so so badly
24:34especially after
24:36we'd won
24:36say two Super Bowls
24:38after we'd become
24:39a dynasty
24:40then he wanted to
24:42and expected to win
24:43every week.
24:44That made it
24:45very very difficult.
24:47Bill took things
24:48super hard.
24:49He and Eddie
24:50had this love-hate
24:51relationship.
24:52It teetered on
24:53creative and toxic
24:54tension
24:54you know what I mean?
24:55It was like teetering.
24:57Ed DuBarlow and I
24:57have gotten along
24:58beautifully.
25:00I've really
25:01treasured
25:02the opportunity
25:02to work for him.
25:03Eddie probably
25:04fired Bill
25:05three times.
25:06Eddie fired him
25:06like six or seven times.
25:08Eddie told me
25:08to fire Bill
25:08twelve times at least.
25:10At least twelve times.
25:11He gets frustrated
25:12when we lose
25:13and so do I.
25:14I do think
25:14my dad might have
25:15been fired on a
25:16flight home
25:17from a game.
25:18And I think
25:19we've worked well
25:19together for many years.
25:21I think I fired him
25:22in New Orleans
25:23after a game
25:24but
25:25you know
25:26this too
25:28shall
25:28be mended.
25:30You know
25:30you have
25:31these couples
25:33that can't live
25:34with each other
25:34can't live
25:35without each other.
25:36These two photos
25:38sum it all up.
25:40It could be
25:40as emotional
25:41and sad
25:42as you could imagine
25:43where you package in
25:44years of stress
25:46and turmoil
25:47and being the best
25:48only the best.
25:50And then there
25:50were the moments
25:51where you realize
25:52what you really had
25:53in the relationship
25:54and what you really
25:55were able to do
25:55together.
25:57I'd like to say
25:57we don't have
25:58a Bill Walsh
25:59in the NFL
25:59without Eddie DeBarlo.
26:01And Eddie DeBarlo
26:02maybe never has
26:03a trophy
26:03without Bill.
26:04Who knows?
26:05They gave each other
26:06what they needed
26:07and so long as
26:09nothing went
26:10too terribly wrong
26:11then you had
26:13a shot at winning.
26:14The morning after
26:15every picture
26:16does tell a story
26:17and the faces here
26:18pretty much
26:19fit the mood.
26:21The Viking loss
26:22changed a bunch
26:24of dynamics there.
26:25That loss
26:25was devastating.
26:27It almost
26:27in a sense
26:28cost me my job.
26:30My problem
26:31was I had served
26:31as president,
26:32general manager
26:33and head coach
26:34and offensive coordinator
26:35at the same time.
26:36Had so many things
26:37to think about.
26:38I'll be back
26:38if they come by
26:39I'll be here.
26:41He was taking on
26:42absolutely way
26:43too much responsibility
26:43because he was
26:45running the offense
26:46overseeing the defense.
26:47He would sit there
26:48with a projector
26:49till 2 in the morning
26:50looking at the plays.
26:52He did the team travel
26:53to the marketing
26:55department.
26:56We have some company.
26:58These are 49er players.
26:59I'm the coach.
27:00I'm Bill Walsh.
27:01Welcome to our locker room
27:02and welcome to your suites.
27:04You know, back in those days
27:05we had like one marketing
27:07person in the building
27:08so for sure he was
27:09involved in all aspects
27:11probably making the decision.
27:12These are the kind of things
27:13he was being pushed around
27:14with instead of just
27:15coaching football
27:16which was his bread and butter.
27:17So he needed a break.
27:18My dad found out
27:21kind of a roundabout way
27:22that he'd been demoted.
27:24Now obviously
27:24my dad's ego
27:25maybe could fit in here.
27:27He took out the lights
27:28maybe he could fit
27:28his ego could fit in here
27:29in that time of his life.
27:31So he took that
27:32as a personal attack.
27:36I think the pressure
27:37that 87 ratcheted up
27:39on him
27:40in particular in 88
27:41made him miserable.
27:43And because he wore
27:45his agonies on his sleeve
27:47he did the one thing
27:48a coach should never do.
27:49There's a quarterback
27:50controversy developing.
27:51We're going to have to select
27:52between Steve Young
27:53and Joe Montana.
27:54That's a critical area for us.
27:56Now it came out
27:57in his own words.
27:58Not in my words.
27:59Not in any other
27:59columnist's words.
28:00I was really mystified.
28:02It is tossing red meat
28:03to the sports media.
28:04It's instant headlines.
28:06People like controversy
28:07period.
28:08I think they're going to
28:08have to kick me out.
28:10If I can still take the beating
28:11I still want to play.
28:11And if I can still
28:13do the job.
28:14In my own mind
28:15I try to beat Joe.
28:15I'm going to be better
28:16than Joe.
28:17And now obviously
28:18that's not going to happen
28:19for a little while.
28:20But that's my goal.
28:20And I think it's
28:21a great challenge.
28:22And I think I thrive on that.
28:23I think it's a lot of fun.
28:28Bill Walsh.
28:29He remembers the last time
28:30that they played
28:31the Giants here.
28:32It was a nightmare
28:33for the 49ers.
28:34It was a nightmare
28:35for Joe Montana.
28:36And I really feel
28:37that he would like to see
28:38how Steve Young
28:39can do against them.
28:40We can't guarantee
28:42that everybody's feelings
28:43are going to be treated
28:44perfectly.
28:46But in the spirit
28:47of what we're doing
28:47we've all got one thing
28:49in mind.
28:50That's to bring this team
28:51as close together
28:52as we can get it
28:52and perform the play.
28:54Steve Young comes on
28:55for his first start
28:56of the year.
28:57There's Joe Montana
28:58there in the cap.
28:59He's disappointed
29:00that he didn't get
29:01the start today.
29:02Was I mad at Bob?
29:04I'm pretty sure
29:04I probably was.
29:06If I wasn't
29:07something was wrong
29:08with me.
29:10Young, four-man rush.
29:13Here's where he is
29:14so dangerous.
29:16Whoa!
29:17Fumble!
29:18Fumble!
29:20Young.
29:21He fumbled that ball
29:22before the whistle blew.
29:24I didn't feel like
29:25Bill pitted us
29:27against each other.
29:28He didn't look for us
29:29to, you know,
29:30have a dog fight.
29:32It really wasn't that way
29:33but it was,
29:34that's where
29:35the awkwardness was.
29:38It's a funny thing
29:39because there's like
29:40a fine line.
29:41You want the team to win
29:42but you still want to play.
29:44And this is where
29:45Joe Montana is so strong.
29:47There's no one
29:47that operates
29:48with their offense
29:49better than Montana.
29:51People will say,
29:52ma, you're not a team player.
29:54Well, I am a team player.
29:56And so it's this
29:57space that you're in
29:59trying to figure out
30:01how to navigate it.
30:04Steve Young stays
30:06on the bench
30:07and here comes Joe Montana.
30:09I know I'm better than that
30:11and I know I can play
30:12with that team
30:13and make that team better.
30:141.21 to go
30:15and the 49ers
30:17have fallen behind
30:18by four.
30:19It was one of those things
30:20I was always ready
30:22for an opportunity.
30:23Montana to throw.
30:25Throws long
30:26for Rice
30:26down the sideline.
30:29He's fouled!
30:30I just remember
30:31looking back
30:32I could see my
30:33entire team
30:34like chasing me
30:35to the end zone.
30:36A 77-yard
30:38touchdown pass
30:39to Jerry Rice.
30:41Man, it's just like
30:42you just never know.
30:44And Rice erases
30:45a nightmare
30:46of three years making.
30:48I was always ready
30:49to play.
30:49My gracious.
30:51I don't think
30:51the 49ers are ready
30:53to put Joe Montana
30:54on the shelf yet.
30:55The 59ers are ready
30:57to play.
30:58Hey, Ryan,
30:59you can look at me
30:59and not the camera
31:00if you will.
31:00A couple of questions
31:01I'm sure you've answered
31:02a million times
31:03you're tired of hearing.
31:03How much did the
31:04quarterback controversy
31:05affect the team?
31:05Okay, the quarterback
31:06controversy.
31:07We've had a quarterback
31:08controversy.
31:08A quarterback controversy.
31:09A quarterback controversy.
31:10A quarterback controversy
31:11developing.
31:12Did I ask you about that?
31:13About the controversy?
31:14No, you didn't.
31:15I'm glad you didn't.
31:15can you believe that someone in san francisco is questioning the play of joe montana now joe's
31:22having to look over his shoulder and they're waiting for him is steve young we have two
31:28quarterbacks and we may go to more of a system where both of them play can you rotate quarterbacks
31:33and be effective well right now in this position i'd like to think we could rotate a little bit
31:36i'm sure steve's being a little diplomatic and i'm sure he'd like to play full-time too
31:41you have to here's a quarterback controversy in san francisco oh it seems like it i'm surprised
31:51that joe montana's not in there i can't believe that they would take him out now if there's nothing
31:57wrong with him not sure what bill was trying to accomplish i don't know if it was simply that
32:03he thought it was time for joe and it was time to you know get younger or stronger i think a lot of
32:08guys fell well he's just trying to light a fire under joe when you make a mistake you know and
32:14you see the other guy there and maybe you start to warm it up and then things start going through
32:17your mind you know you're going oh guy if i make another one am i coming out and joe already is a
32:22self-starter he didn't need a fire lit under him but it certainly brought a lot of unwanted attention
32:30questions and questions and now joe montana is coming back in again this doesn't make any sense
32:36now you've got a coach who constantly doubts himself and is you know trying to reinvent the
32:42wheel that he built it's a lot of psychoanalytical angst running wild the team had to get used to it too
32:50right how do we deal with this joe will come up or steve come up they've got their quarterback and
32:55zero you don't want to keep dropping after the face joe or steve you weren't really quite sure of
33:01what was going on which it was unsettled in my mind it must have been a little unsettling in the guys
33:06that were participating particularly to joe montana i don't think any more or less than steve young
33:11steve you satisfied with this kind of role like a relief pitcher
33:14um i'm satisfied to play for the 49ers and we'll take it from there you know i've talked about
33:21wanting to play i mean if you want to talk to someone who wants to play come talk to me
33:24wow just handle it you just handle it that was grittier than i thought i was back then i'm kind of
33:31excited that i was that gritty i i i wasn't trouble and i wasn't going to be trouble but don't ask me
33:38what i want to do welcome to soldier field in chicago
33:43the 49ers dropped two games behind the saints if they lose tonight to the bears
33:48the fan dropped from behind by haley charles haley got hurt so i went down to the locker room
33:57and there was a television that he was watching the game on and it was a close game well just about
34:05every game this year walsh at one point or another has gone to the bench for steve young
34:10bill was trying to win the game but uh when he put steve in got bad at the end
34:15haley jumped up and i took this tv and i threw it and it went right by his head and it smashed
34:30against the wall he said you're crazier than i am the 49ers they have really put themselves
34:37in a hole we are back live at candlestick park in san francisco the niners have a big one against
34:43the vikings there was a line of not understanding who was going to play and who wasn't going to play
34:48so it will be steve young and he says he is ready bill was remember what he told me when i first was
34:54recruiting me your legs are a superpower and i believe that you're going to be great because of it
34:59but the part that he made clear right when i got there was you need to learn the job of quarterback
35:05it's not running around you need to run the play and get the most out of the play i can't have you
35:11bailing early because you're not willing to stand in there and make the throw and if you're going to
35:15be great if those legs are ever going to be valuable vikings lead by four points it's going to be because
35:21you were an amazing quarterback in the pocket
35:25and so when i did that against the vikings it was kind of oh no oh no oh good
35:38and bill was never one that like nice run great job you know
35:51any compliment was backhanded steve is a frustrating guy but on the other hand he makes
35:57a big play like this that wins the game you might think that bill loved you you better check
36:02tomorrow you see that picture right there guys that's what my father would look like when i
36:08showed him my report card i think he kind of honed his skills with me and the family getting the
36:15most out of people i never could get praise from him everybody in this world wants praise from
36:20anywhere they can get us white people have dogs for god's sakes and i think he picked up on that
36:24and and realized that if he kept me wanting praise i'd have to work harder and harder to get it and then
36:30he would never then quite give it so you were always wondering gosh am i doing a good job but i had to
36:37work that much harder just like you know joe if you had a great game a lot of times you didn't get
36:43the game ball because that's what he expected from you i had a game and i had over 10 receptions
36:50three touchdowns he sent someone down to the locker room to tell me to come upstairs so i'm thinking
36:56okay bill is going to just pet me on my back and say great job and stuff like that and he looks at me
37:02with a straight face and he said i i need more from you and so i'm walking back downstairs and i see joe
37:09going upstairs i see runny i said i said good luck that was him to a t i mean he didn't demand
37:16perfection just of you he wanted it of himself too what about pressure do you think to be a successful
37:21head coach where you have to enjoy pressure no you don't enjoy pressure unless you are a little
37:26thicker or strange you don't necessarily enjoy that but that becomes part of it for coach walsh
37:33the urgency is there every day and you can never let your foot off the gas pedal it's a very hard
37:41unsustainable career choice and that's why i don't think many coaches last for more than
37:47eight to ten years
37:52it's not often that the bay area and most of its major news services get caught up in what
37:56most believe to be a sports story but tonight it is and we are the front page story
38:03on today's san francisco chronicle joe montana smells a trade montana was sidelined last week
38:12when his backup steve young turned in a sterling performance and a game-saving 49-yard run for a
38:18touchdown coach bill walsh said young would again start next sunday
38:25joe may be available in a limited way but i i'm not sure that he's going to be a hundred percent
38:30i'm sure i was mad as hell by him starting the next week joe's been saying he's played less than
38:37a hundred percent before why the change now well as time passes i make judgments i thought that okay
38:44so he's he's gonna he's trying to replace me at that point
38:53montana is quoted as saying he thinks the coach wants to trade it
38:56it was intense um and that created more drama not your average day at the office for the 49ers
39:13scads of reporters on the scent of scandal the media refusing to budge from the quarterback
39:18controversy it's like where are we going what are we doing and we're all wondering i i'm you know i'm
39:23i'm in the middle of it again bill was the one that was orchestrating it steve young is going to get
39:31his second start for the 49ers in place of joe montana joe will dress for the game today bill had
39:38made it pretty clear that if we won this game i'd continue to play and steve young brings out the
39:4349ers and i know that i have to play or i'll i'll go crazy young finally lets it fly touchdown to the
39:5149ers now with a commanding lead here and there is a quarterback discussion over there a lot of people
39:57just assume there must be a sharp rivalry between young and montana we never had an argument we never
40:03had words you know i mean like it never was that way it was just there we were he was the best in the
40:11game and i was trying to be they might have not been the best friends but you know you're not gonna
40:17like everyone i haven't met too many superheroes they get along batman or superman it didn't matter to
40:26me there was a lot of talk about joe montana not only being traded yeah steve young starting joe montana
40:34being through i knew i'd get another opportunity still time in the fourth for them to make something
40:43happen lomax going deep to the corner and it is a touchdown against uh phoenix we forgot to come out
40:51the second half and play football the last thing i ever thought would happen to the 49ers is to have
41:07a lead like that and lose it i thought we did that to other people and uh it happened to us
41:14one thing we can't do as an organization is begin to blame each other for what went wrong
41:19because it's so easy to start saying if we don't this guy had only done this if that one only done
41:24this we'd only made this call we don't want it and that's true there will be some teams that if they
41:31take one more loss they go in the tank and we've taken one more loss others will keep battling so
41:37let's concentrate on the raiders and take it from there joe montana back at quarterback this week
41:43montana at the controls on first down here delivers the strike complete to rice who then
41:52fumbles the football and the raiders have it 49ers give it to roger craig the nfc's leading rusher
41:58fumble and what does that do to your team's confidence going into the locker room at halftime
42:03so i'm in the locker room and i am really not happy at all and we had a large glass coke it wasn't
42:15just coke it was water everything else and i went over to it and i and i kicked it in
42:23and it went everywhere and team came in and looked at me
42:28what i remember about that time was just the feeling that you know the team was going to get
42:35gutted mr d was getting rid of everybody it was doomsday the standard was the standard
42:45and we had won in 84 we had failed in 85 we had failed in 86
42:53nobody expected that they would lose to minnesota here today i think that was to a large degree
43:04kind of enough is enough you're searching for answers
43:08this play that play this person that person fourth and one this is the ball game
43:17we lose to the raiders and we're six and five and at six and five you're not close to being eliminated
43:33but you can smell it you know it'll all come back around you know if we give up then it won't but we
43:40we can't afford to give up the 49er standard was to win the super bowl but the spirit of football is
43:48adversity is coming it's going to happen every season it's never going to be smooth sailing
43:55and i think caring about losing that's what draws out great character we knew we were good enough that
44:02wasn't the issue look at that roster but from what we've seen of late we're playing for our jobs our
44:10futures every team has moments like that when you lose when something goes wrong the players are always
44:21sitting there going what can we do to change this the team meeting was called it was players only right
44:28it was it was one of those meetings where let's get together let's figure out what we're going to do
44:33the theme of that meeting in ada was hey if you got something to say say it
44:38don't keep holding it in say it we had never had that kind of an airing of feelings
44:44ronnie well as far as being a hall of famer an all-time great player was one of the best
44:51natural leaders i've ever been around and you know a natural leader doesn't have to say things
44:58all the time but when it came you listened ronnie got up in front of the whole team and told every
45:07guy we don't have coaches we don't have media we don't have families we don't have an owner for
45:16the rest of this season we have the guys in this group the guys in this circle you didn't want to let
45:24the other guy down and the most important thing that could happen to us at that time was to have
45:29that kind of meeting get our collective heads out of our butts and start playing the way we're supposed
45:36to play no one suffers but us when we lose no one so we're in this thing alone you don't have any
45:45friends outside this room and your families just so we all understand that and what happens is we get
45:51tighter and tighter as a group there's something out there for us there's a reason for all this
45:57this could be it this could be my last game
46:11this is serious stuff it's all on the line i want to play i don't want to end my career sitting here
46:17on the bench if there's a job that you want then be the greatest in the world of the job you have
46:22in spite of everything you got to find a way to do it together you only get one shot we all won the
46:29super bowl that night
46:59we'll see you next time
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