Mike Singletary Has Missed the Point

Ten more seconds passed.

Added Davis, "They're doing what Coach Sing wants them to do, and before, they were just talking about it. They aren't talking about it anymore, because they don't need to. Which gives me the sense that they get it now, that they have taken on the coach's personality."

He's wrong. Just take it from Eric Davis, a cheap Pro Bowl  jersey cornerback during the backstretch of the 49ers' run to five world championships through the early 1990s. "Before Coach Sing came, these players didn't have a philosophy, and they didn't have an image, and whether Coach Sing wants it to be that way or not, they are taking on his personality," said Davis, who has studied the 49ers up close and personal for the past four years as a member of the San Francisco media.


"I don't put it in my image. I put it in their image, because if it's in my image, it's not going to be what it needs to be. But if it's in their image, it's going to be great. It's going to be special."

"In all honesty, I think the team has enough character, enough great football players to be in its own image, and I don't know what that is yet," Singletary said. "The only thing I'm trying to do is, give them a point of reference in terms of what greatness is and what greatness looks like, and then let them develop it in their own right.

Whether Singletary likes it or not.

There's that man and his image again.

More impressive, Willis, Gore and the rest flashed a pulse by going 5-4 after Singletary was elevated from assistant coach to interim head coach following a 2-5 start in 2008. Then Singletary got the job on a permanent basis, and the 49ers responded to his motivational ways with the promise of last year's 8-8 finish that actually felt better than that.

The offense has efficient running back cheap Frank Gore jersey , and tight end Vernon Davis is a splendid piece along with wide receivers Michael Crabtree and Ted Ginn Jr. There also is an improved offensive line. Plus, wobbly but capable quarterback Alex Smith has the same offensive coordinator (Jimmy Raye) for back-to-back years for the first time since he joined the 49ers as a hot-shot prospect from Utah in 2005.

Instead, he prefers to mention the collective strengths of the 49ers. For instance: they have a stifling defense, and its leader is Patrick Willis, a three-time Pro Bowler who has evolved into this decade's Butkus and Singletary as an inside linebacker.

It's just Singletary won't admit as much.

The 49ers have become the Singletarys, which is to say they are a talented bunch with a striking edge, a thirst for victory and a desire to please the guy with wild eyes at all times.

"I've learned well from them, whether it be coach (Mike) Ditka, Buddy Ryan. Whether it be Dan Reeves, whether it be Pete Carroll, whether it be Grant Teaff, coach Oliver Brown, Corky Nelson, Bill Walsh, Bill Parcells. I am indebted to all of them for the time they took with me in an effort to help me to be the coach that I'm trying to become."

"You have so many people who pour into your life," Singletary continued, with his voice becoming steadier by the syllable. "I was so fortunate to have the coaches that I've had. Every one of them. From high school. To college. To the NFL. I'm a combination of all of them.
Finally, while choking on his words, Singletary said, "It's kind of like the Hall of Fame."

Twenty-four seconds passed. During the silence, with his head still bowed, Singletary's mind raced from his prep days in Houston to his All-America honors at Baylor to his Super Bowl ring with the wholesale Chicago Bears jersey to his role as the Dick Butkus of the 1980s to his bronzed bust in Canton.

He sighed. Ten seconds passed as he sat behind a desk while studying a spot on the floor. Then he said, "I think it's kind of like uh ..."

Image. Every successful team has one, and that image always centers around the head coach. Thus my question: since the 49ers are on the verge of escaping mediocrity for the first time in years, what image does Singletary see when he faces a mirror?

Let's start with this: for the longest time, Singletary was so emotional that he couldn't speak the other day inside a back room of the 49ers' headquarters after I asked him a question. There were no tears, but the lump in his throat was nearly as large as the expectations for his team that is sprinting into the second full season of his regime.

But he is wrong.

Not only does this 51-year-old former linebacker look decades younger, but he is scary when agitated, and he still has those wild eyes.

I wish to keep all of my body parts.

He is wrong. Yes, Mike Singletary is when it comes to something involving his San Francisco 49ers jersey , but you didn't hear it from me.