On a night when San Francisco's offensive stars sat out, the 49ers got more big plays on the other side of the ball to cap their first unbeaten preseason in 18 years. Manny Lawson and rookie Taylor Mays each had interceptions and rookie Anthony Dixon ran 46 yards for a first-half touchdown in the Niners' 17-14 victory over the San Diego Chargers on Thursday night.

SAN FRANCISCO – Vernon Davis' frustrations with Michael Crabtree finally came to a boiling point, and the San Francisco 49ers' Pro Bowl tight end let his teammate have it — and for everyone to see.

By HANK KURZ Jr. AP Sports Writer

I recently wrote an article about the importance of finding player with not only skill, but heart as well (The San Francisco 49ers Current Draft Class: Skill and Heart).

 

In that article my definition of “heart” might look something like this:

 

Heart: Intestinal fortitude, spirit, courage, earnestness, zeal, or enthusiasm: Patrick Willis played his heart out.

 

With over 40 definitions and idioms listed, I just wanted to make sure that readers understand when I say that Michael Lewis gives a whole new meaning to the word “heart.” What exactly that is, is for the reader to decide.

 

During his sophomore year at the University of Colorado, Lewis was undergoing his annual physical. Doctors discovered that Lewis suffers from a cardiac condition known as atrial fibrillation. His reaction upon learning of his condition,

 

“I was scared. It was something I didn’t know anything about,” Lewis said.

 

“He was well aware of other athletes succumbing to heart conditions and dying on the field.”—From Dean Dennis, The Daily Pennsylvanian.com

 

I believe that a lot of people dismiss this as nothing serious when they read that the condition is “not life threatening.” In Lewis’ case that may be true, but it is only because the condition was found early and is treated with medication.

 

A type of arrhythmia, or tachycardia, atrial fibrillation causes the two upper chambers of the heart to beat uncontrollably fast and out of sync with the two lower chambers. Blood flow is restricted and can pool in the heart. When blood pools like this, there is a danger of clotting.

 

If one of these clots leaves the heart and becomes lodged in an artery of the brain, the resulting outcome is a stroke.

 

Unlike ischemic heart disease which is nearly undetectable, (the condition that killed 49ers offensive linemen, Thomas Herrion, in 2005) atrial fibrillation can be detected fairly easily, sometimes with something as simple as a pulse reading.

 

But it can’t be detected unless you get to the doctor and have a physical examination.

 

That is why Lewis has decided to use his condition and his stature as an NFL player to speak out and raise awareness.

 

As a member of the Philadelphia Eagles, Lewis served as the Honorary Chairman of the American Heart Association’s 2005 Philadelphia Heart Walk.

As part of his duties, Lewis visited local hospital’s cardiac care units to raise awareness of the event.

 

Steven Sabb, a 43 year-old heart transplant recipient was impressed by Lewis’ visit and underscored the importance of the visit by exclaiming that it,

 

“…shed more light on the situation,”—from Dean Dennis, theDP.com

 

 

When Lewis signed with the 49ers in 2007, he brought his “heart” to San Francisco.

 

According to the official website of the San Francisco 49ers, 49ers.com, undetected heart disease is the number one killer of child athletes.

 

Earlier this year, doctors from Stanford challenged the 49ers to a push-up contest in order to raise money for Stanford Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy Center.

 

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is a genetic condition that causes the walls of the heart to thicken and can cause death.

 

Participating in the event were Lewis, Alex Smith, Nate Byham, Chris Maragos, the 49ers Gold Rush Cheerleaders, Team Doctor Dan Garza, Head Athletic Trainer Jeff Ferguson, and Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach, Mark Uyeyama.

 

Following the event, Lewis addressed the crowd,

 

“I’m excited to be back again this year, and take part in this great fund-raising event for cardiac research,” said Lewis a nine-year veteran. “I have a heart condition and it’s important for this research to continue. I hope this event will raise awareness to the issues of heart problems so people can better understand how to handle heart conditions and still live a healthy life.”—from 49ers.com

 

Lewis than went on to educates the audience of the importance of getting regular cardiac checkups.

 

Lewis and the rest of the group also went inside the Stanford Medical Center Cardiac Care Unit to visit with, encourage, and lift the spirits of the many heart patients residing there.

 

When Lewis’s condition was originally made public, his first round draft stock disappeared. The Eagles selected him in the second round at number 58 overall during the 2002 NFL Draft.

 

He was down at first, but he didn’t let the condition stop him or control his life.

He learned more about the condition, how to control it, and became a starting safety for the Eagles the last four games of his rookie year.

 

Lewis’ message is clear. You can still live a normal and healthy life with most types of heart conditions. Eating right and exercising are important.

 

But it can’t be treated if it isn’t diagnosed.

 

Writers note: Nearly 2.2 million Americans suffer from atrial fibrillation putting them at risk of clots and stroke. To learn more about the condition, or to learn how you can help, contact the American Heart Association at http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/

 

 

 

 

 

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Vernon Davis is a captain for the San Francisco 49ers, but the tight end's prolonged shouting match Wednesday with wide receiver Michael Crabtree crossed the line with coach Mike Singletary. As the Niners prepared for Thursday's exhibition finale, Singletary separated his receivers and eventually ushered both players off the field and into the locker room, according to the San Jose Mercury News. Crabtree has yet to play in this summer's exhibitions because of a neck injury, and the Mercury News suggests Davis was chewing out his second-year…

Mike Singletary had to separate tight end Vernon Davis and wide receiver Michael Crabtree after the players got into a heated discussion at practice Wednesday.

 

Coming out of the University of Utah in 2005, Alex Smith was a quarterback destined for supposed greatness.

He was a quarterback that lost only one game as a starter in college, finished fourth in the Heisman voting (USC’s Matt Leinart won) and graduated from college with a 3.74 GPA, mind you a football player graduating from his university before entering the draft is nearly unheard of today. 

Of course, Smith was drafted by the San Francisco 49ers, thrown into the pro game way too early, suffered greatly, was benched, got injured and is now currently trying to work himself back into this country’s spotlight. 

This season, Smith is the starter in San Francisco and has been given one of the better opportunities in football.

The 49ers play in currently the worst division in football. Seattle and St. Louis are rebuilding projects, and their only competition, Arizona, is having major major problems at quarterback, going from Kurt Warner to a mash of Matt Leinart/Derek Anderson/Max Hall is like going from driving a Mustang to driving a Honda. 

If the 49ers do not make the playoffs this year, Smith will be dropped and the organization will look to rebuild. Not that Smith can’t do it, but if one looks at his prior professional history, the odds are not in his favor.

All in all, Smith will not be relied too heavily this season. San Francisco has one of the better defenses in the league led by ILB Patrick Willis, DB Nate Clements and S Dashon Goldson. This is a top five defense that holds their opponents to under 18 points-per-game. 

The 49er running game has been very good since they drafted RB Frank Gore out of the University of Miami back in 2005, and although he is a player that has a dirty habit of missing a few games each year, when he’s playing and getting his touches, there are few who are more dominant. 

With the emergence of Tight End Vernon Davis, as well as the play of second-year star wide-out Michael Crabtree, Smith now has a bevy of different weapons to use. Davis is perhaps the best tight end in the NFC (with apologies to Dallas’s Jason Witten and Green Bay’s Jermichael Finley) and it is fantastic news that he has finally gotten out of his head coach’s dog house and into the game.

Crabtree, following in the tradition of diva wide receivers, decided to hold out for nearly half of last season. He got a late jump on his rookie year, but still performed well once he got into the game. San Francisco is also introducing Tedd Ginn Jr. this season. Ginn Jr. is a good player who was drafted by the Miami Dolphins way too early in the 2006 draft (ninth overall), and did not live up to those impossible expectations, and was traded over the off-season when Miami picked up WR Brandon Marshall.

But back to Smith, because this season will all depend on his play. 

Smith will live up to his potential this season and lead the 49ers into the post-season. After years of being labeled a “bust” by nearly every NFL talking head, he will prove all of them wrong.

Smith was never a bad player, he was just put into a bad situation. Now he has a team around him that will allow him to use all of his skills, and in return, he will take them to places they’ve never been.

Read more San Francisco 49ers news on BleacherReport.com

As far as we know, Mike Singletary kept his pants on this time. It was at halftime of the game that he banished…

As far as we know, Mike Singletary kept his pants on this time. It was at halftime of the game that he banished…

The Jeff Garcia era had ended just as quickly as it had begun. Garcia’s play was declining, just as his contract was expiring.

 

The 49ers, rightly or wrongly, decided that they needed to once and for all, purge their roster and get out of the salary cap Hell they had found themselves within.

 

Garcia left for the cooler pastures of Detroit, and the San Francisco 49ers haven’t had a winning season since.

 

The 49ers had lost all their key talent. They were a team that was hopelessly outmatched at almost every position.

 

They didn’t have holes in their roster, but rather, their roster was one big hole; with the venerable Bryant Young left like a beached whale, alone on a deserted shore.

 

This talent depletion earned the 49ers the rights to the first overall pick of the 2005 NFL draft. Where they did the most obvious thing a team with the worst record in football should do, draft a quarterback.

 

 

Alex Smith’s football is up in the air

 

Most believe Aaron Rodgers has already demonstrated clearly to be the superior quarterback to Alex Smith.

 

This seems obvious on the surface, when you look at the highlights and the passing statistics. The door on this debate looks like it was shut tight long ago, and justifiably so, it seems.

 

 

However, for Alex Smith fans, a case can be made, that a small beam of light still shines through a tiny crack in the door.

 

Alex Smith will be entering his sixth season with the San Francisco 49ers. But it also happens to be the first season he has been in the same offensive system with the same offensive coordinator for two years in a row.

 

But why should this matter?

 

One has to look a little deeper into the nature of Alex Smith to find the answer.

 

Smith made a name for himself while playing for Urban Meyer at Utah. His final season at Utah is what catapulted him near the top of the NFL draft in many scouts’ eyes.

 

What is most intriguing about Alex Smith, however, comes in the form of a quote from coach Urban Meyer as the 2005 draft was approaching. A quote that has lingered around Smith and the 49ers franchise ever since.

 

To paraphrase Urban Meyer, “Alex Smith is non-functional at first, because he has to learn everything about the offensive system. But once he does learn it all, he plays ‘lights out’.”

 

“Non-functional.”

 

It is a strange thing to say a player is “non-functional” when you are trying your best to sell him in a positive light to the NFL. Urban Meyer might owe Alex Smith much of his successful career, and he certainly respected Alex Smith’s ability on the football field.

 

 

So to hear something like “non-functional” come from his lips, obviously it was something that Urban Meyer thought was profound enough, that he felt he had to use such blunt terminology.

 

Nevertheless, the words came from the “horse’s mouth,” and the implications are clear. The more Smith knows about an offense, the better he can play within it.

 

Just as the 49ers can only go as far as Alex Smith can take them, Alex Smith can only go as far as his grasp of the offense permits; and this is what makes the upcoming season, so intriguing for Smith fans.

 

This coming season, for the first time in his NFL career, Alex Smith has had an entire off-season to grasp and contemplate every last detail of an offensive system.

 

He has had an entire off-season to iron out the “non-functionality” from his game. Could this mean a breakout season is on the horizon for Alex Smith in 2010?

 

Critics might point out that a quarterback in the NFL must possess instincts and react off-the-cuff, and if you can’t do this, then you won’t make it in the NFL.

 

It’s true, many of the better quarterbacks in the league are able to make plays when everything around them breaks down.

 

However, on the other side of that same coin, there have been plenty of good, and even Hall-of-Fame quarterbacks, who were never really known for making miracles happen when placed within a fog of war.

 

 

Quarterbacks like Peyton Manning and Troy Aikman, are and were, pocket passers with great ability, even though they might have lacked those Favre-like heroics, and Harry Houdini wizardry.

 

Does this mean Alex Smith has a chance to really be “the man”?

 

All the current evidence suggests the idea that Smith’s true ability remains hidden, until his understanding becomes certain. In 2010, he finally has a chance to put that hypothesis to the test.

 

Yes, after six seasons, Alex Smith’s football is still up in the air.

 

The question now becomes, where will it fall?

 

 

Near the “end zone”

 

In the NFL, nothing can be taken for granted. It is a cutthroat business, with busted ACLs and broken dreams.

 

Each and every week, you have to perform. If you don’t, the whispers will start, then the talk will begin, then the moves will be made; and before you know it, you’ve reached the end.

 

During this journey, what any player can ever hope for, is a trip to the playoffs and perhaps a Super Bowl championship.

 

But that takes an entire collection of talent. A collection of talent that can play together for a limited amount of time.

 

 

Over the recent years, 49ers have acquired a distinguished collection of talent.

 

Patrick Willis, Frank Gore, Vernon Davis, Justin Smith, Joe Staley, Nate Clements, Michael Lewis, Shawntae Spencer, Manny Lawson, and Eric Heitmann are a few of the key names who have been around for some time now. They are the core group of players who fans recognize and appreciate.

 

This core group of players have given the team a defensive unit which is near the best in the league in points allowed.

 

On offense, Frank Gore and Vernon Davis have already broken out as stars and made a name for themselves; and other young players, such as Michael Crabtree, are ready and eager to do the same.

 

The 49ers offensive line has been solidified at key positions and there is 10 times more talent and depth on the unit now then when Alex Smith came into the league in 2005.

 

Rookies Anthony Davis and Mike Iupati are looking to serve as the final mortar to a completed brick wall, a long time in the making.

 

The 49ers roster has gone from a giant hole, to a slab of Swiss cheese, to a solidified chunk of prime cheddar. There really aren’t any more major areas of deficiency.

 

Every piece of the puzzle is there. It is complete. This is it. This is the team the 49ers have built.

 

 

But why not continue to practice patience? Why not relax, and let the team pack on even more cheddar?

 

Two reasons: Father Time and Mother Cap.

 

Some of the 49ers core group of players are slightly past their prime, and some of them are right now in their prime.

 

Each and every year, the 49ers core group of players is nearing closer and closer to the “end zone.”

 

Sooner or later, they are going to reach the end zone, where they will begin to slow down, and then hand the ball off to someone else.

 

Some players however, might be gone before they even get close to the “end zone.”

 

Dashon Goldson, Manny Lawson, Aubrayo Franklin, Vernon Davis, Frank Gore, Ray McDonald, Takeo Spikes, Eric Heitmann, David Baas, Chilo Rachal, Ahmad Brooks, Josh Morgan, Joe Nedney, Reggie Smith and yes, Alex Smith, are all either in their contract year or within one year of their contract year.

 

Depending on how a future collective bargaining agreement plays out, it might be very difficult to retain all of these players.

 

Despite the 49ers current cap space, many of these players are beginning to demand contracts that will put the team right up to its cap limit.

 

 

If this 49ers team can’t win now, then when?

 

 

Never

 

The end zone is drawing near for the 49ers.

 

The 49ers already have star players on offense. They already have a top defense. They have everything they could want, except for one thing. Time.

 

If the 49ers are not good enough to become contenders in 2010, chances are, they won’t be contenders from 2011–15 either. In 2016 and beyond, all of their core players will either be gone, or entering the “end zone” and slowing down.

 

In the era of free agency, its not easy to find superstars like Frank Gore, Patrick Willis, or Vernon Davis, much less keep them all together on the same team for very long.

 

Each player is arguably the best at their respective positions in the history of the 49ers storied franchise; and their patience, followed closely by their morale, will grow thin, if they do not experience a winning season soon.

 

The 49ers built this hot rod. They spent a lot of money and time. Many of the key parts are top-of-the-line, but they might start losing them if the winning does not happen in 2010.

 

There is no more time for talk, no more time for preaching, no more time for building. Its time to race, and its time to win.

 

The pressure could not be greater. Then again, a little nitrous oxide juice, could be just the thing this hot rod needs, to reach its top speed.

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