It's hard being a persona non grata

Alex Smith doesn't like it when someone turns his colleagues against him by spreading false stories.

Well, Alex, your mom, Chula Vista Elementary School board member Pamela Smith, spent hundreds of thousands of public dollars to protect my fellow teachers who were afraid I would expose their wrongdoing, and so they got rid of me by saying that I was going to come to school and shoot everybody. Yes, just like Columbine. And then she refused to ask for an investigation into the allegations.

What was the truth about the situation at Castle Park Elementary? Well, Pam spent hundreds of thousands of school dollars on lawyers to make sure the truth didn't come out.

Why? Apparently, she just didn't think any wrongdoing by the district should be exposed. It might hurt her chances for reelection. She spent big money to protect teacher Robin Donlan, who apparently had millions of her own from stock options fraud.

This is more serious than what Nolan did to you, don't you think? It involves more serious allegations, more public money, and complete disregard for the safety of students and employees.

Nolan never did anything that bad, did he?

MERCURY NEWS EXCLUSIVE
49ers' Smith rips into Nolan for turning team against him
By Dennis Georgatos and Daniel Brown
Mercury News
12/11/2007

Click HERE for original article.

Quarterback Alex Smith is going to have his right shoulder surgically repaired, but repairing his relationship with 49ers Coach Mike Nolan could be more difficult.

In his strongest act of rebellion to date, Smith on Monday said that Nolan has tried to "undermine" his reputation in the locker room. In an exclusive interview with the Mercury News, Smith said Nolan made it clear to teammates that the quarterback was using injuries as an excuse for poor performance, a charge that has left Smith's locker-room reputation in shambles.

Smith, who had long been hinting that an operation was required, said he was frustrated by Nolan's repeated public comments - "the spin," as Smith called it - that questioned the quarterback's toughness. He even suggested that his health status has been left in limbo for so long by the 49ers because "if I had surgery, it would make them look bad."

The 49ers announced late Monday that Smith will have season-ending surgery.

A month ago, after a 24-0 loss to the Seattle Seahawks, the quarterback volunteered that his separated right shoulder was "killing him." Nolan had repeatedly said Smith's health was fine, setting off a brief dust-up between the coach and quarterback.

Smith said Monday that he had no problem with the public controversy, but said Nolan pushed it too far by making it an issue in the locker room.

"He came out and said some things to the team," Smith said. "It was like he was telling his side of it and I didn't want to get into it. . . . That was my biggest concern when he did that: I felt it was trying to undermine me with my teammates."
Blaming poor performance on injury is a cardinal sin of the athlete's code - especially in the ferocious warrior culture of the NFL. 49ers running back Frank Gore runs weekly on a sprained ankle; offensive lineman Justin Smiley made no mention of a torn labrum last season until after the season; Nolan even refused to answer questions about the death of his father, who died a day before the Seattle game, rather than risk it being interpreted as an excuse for a lopsided loss.

Smith, 23, understands.

"I think if (my teammates) would have heard what I actually said out there that day, it wouldn't have been an issue," he said. "But all of a sudden Nolan spins it as if I was making excuses for an injury. What I really felt like was, 'Yeah, I tried to play on it. And that was my decision and obviously I wasn't playing well enough.'

"But at that point my arm wasn't getting any better. In fact, it was getting worse and I was going to go get a second opinion. (Nolan) can spin it however he wants to, but the first thing Dr. Andrews told me when he saw me was 'This is much worse than I thought.' "

Nolan acknowledged at the time that there was a miscommunication, but since said his relationship with Smith had been patched up. He has, however, grown increasingly dismissive of questions about his quarterback's health status and has made no secret of his disdain for Smith's agent, Tom Condon, who interjected himself into the controversy when he suggested the 49ers botched the handling of Smith's injury.

Last week, Nolan said he remains surprised that Smith pulled himself out of action. He has said repeatedly that the diagnosis of Smith's injury, by both an outside doctor and team medical staff, has not deviated from a Grade III separation. And he has further described Smith's separation as "not very severe" for a Grade III.

Nolan also has continued to heap praise on Trent Dilfer not only for his strong play, but also for his toughness and passion. "I believe that Trent, as far as playing quarterback, puts his heart and soul into everything he does," Nolan said after a recent game. "It's evident every time he goes on the field. I admire that, and I think that he's given us the chance to win the games that he's played in."

Smith has all but become a persona non-grata in the 49ers' locker room after his injury controversy. Winning teammates back might be the hardest part of his rehabilitation.

Last week, Nolan was approached by a reporter and asked whether the tougher battle Smith faced was restoring his teammates' trust and confidence.

"You didn't ask me that question," Nolan said. "And I'm not going to answer it. I can't answer it."

No player was willing to go on the record when asked about the quarterback's leadership status, but no player rushed to his defense, either. "I'm not touching that one," one veteran said.

Another player recently refused to discuss the extent of his injury with a reporter because, he said, "I don't want it to be like Alex's interview where I'm blaming my production on it." Another acknowledged that certain members of the team have derisively referred to Smith as "The Lion," as in the one without courage in "The Wizard of Oz."

One assistant coach said Smith "made a mistake" when he went public about his ailing shoulder and now clearly is paying a price for his honesty. Another player said that Smith had to expect that there would be "consequences" for failing to keep his injury-related struggles in house.

Told of the mounting criticism, Smith sounded only mildly surprised.

"Well, no, I haven't noticed it - especially the guys around me - but like I said, Nolan is spinning it toward his direction," he said.

Smith demonstrated more durability a year ago when he became the first quarterback in 49ers history to take every snap over the course of the season. Only four other NFL quarterbacks did that in 2006, including Peyton Manning of the Indianapolis Colts.

Smith's struggles this season began Sept. 30 against Seattle when he suffered a separation of his throwing shoulder on an opening-drive sack. A month later, during his first game back, he clutched at his ailing shoulder so often that the game-day broadcasters repeatedly said the 49ers "had to get him out of there."

Smith finished that game - as well as the next two - and looked woeful, missing open receivers by several yards on errant throws. After his last game, Seahawks linebacker Julian Peterson said Smith was grimacing after every throw and clearly wasn't right.

Told that comment the next day, Nolan quipped, "That might mean something to me if Julian was a doctor."

Mike Nolan and Pamela Smith need to go

Tim Kawakami thinks 49ers head coach Mike Nolan should be fired for fighting with Alex Smith. So do I. I think older people who are being paid to make sure younger people become all they can be should do their job. Twenty-three is very young. Mike should have acted like an adult. I'm sure Alex's mom agrees. But wait, didn't Alex's mom behave worse than Nolan? Yes, indeed. I think Alex's mom, Pamela Smith, board member at CVESD, should resign also, and pay back to the children of Chula Vista her share of the money paid to lawyers to cover-up her own
false allegations about what happened at Castle Park Elementary.

Click HERE for the original article.


Alex Smith vs. Mike Nolan goes nuclear: Will there be any survivors?
By Tim Kawakami
Tuesday, December 11th, 2007 at 7:22 am in 49ers, NFL.

You’ve probably seen or heard about it already, and if you haven’t, and you’re a 49ers fan or care a tiny bit about the NFL or Alex Smith or Mike Nolan, you have got to read Smith’s jaw-dropping quotes slicing at Nolan in the Georgatos/Brown piece today.

The set-up: The 49ers last night announced what we all already knew–Smith will undergo shoulder surgery and is out for the season.

But here’s what Smith told Georgatos yesterday, before the announcement:

-Smith said he feels that Nolan has undermined him to his teammates and that Nolan has been spinning his own side of the story about Smith’s struggles to comeback from the shoulder separation.

That’s more than explosive… it’s basically setting up an either-him-or-me showdown.

I can’t see how Smith ever plays for Nolan after that. I couldn’t really see it a few days ago, but this makes it official. Done. That relationship is done.

There’s really no other option. Either Nolan or Smith… or maybe neither. Do the Yorks know this? Hello?

If the 49ers had active owners or a GM (aw heck, let’s not be naive–Nolan’s the GM and he’s the acting owner, too, as long as the Yorks are afraid to talk)… somebody would fix this.

Nobody has bothered to fix this. Nobody knows how. And Nolan Face of Franchise has agitated to make it worse, which makes him the most to blame.


Nolan has made it clear in his asides and blustering that, dating to about Sept. 30, he doesn’t like Smith any more.

Smith is now going on the record–and I give him total credit for not hiding behind double-talk, at the very least (more credit than I give Nolan)–to say that he really doesn’t like Nolan.

They used to be joined at the hip. Maybe it wasn’t the best tandem, but they were together. Now they’re separated more severely than Smith’s shoulder ever could be.

I’m going to write a column on this and have many more thoughts, but right off the bat, I’m wondering…

* Did Nolan call an NFL “code red” to blackball Smith in the 49er locker room? That’s what Smith is implying, and that’s the feeling I’ve picked up in the locker room the last few weeks.

It sure sounds like Nolan might’ve purposely tried to cut off Smith from his teammates by implicitly or explicitly saying that Smith is too soft to play through pain. Which is bad, no matter what player is in the focus.

Here’s what Smith said: “That was my biggest concern when he did that: I felt it was trying to undermine me with my teammates.”

Wow. And more from the Georgatos interview:

“I think if (my teammates) would have heard what I actually said out there that day, it wouldn’t have been an issue,” Smith said of the day a few weeks ago when he suggested that Nolan had botched the handling of Smith’s comeback.

“But all of a sudden Nolan spins it as I was making excuses for an injury. What I really felt like was, ‘Yeah, I tried to play on it. And that was my decision and obviously I wasn’t playing well enough.”

* If Nolan did that, and I believe he did, that’s not just petty, it’s self-defeating–who else is going to QB this team, Mike?

I mean, we know he loves Trent Dilfer, because Nolan loves inside LBs and, yes, Dilfer throws the football like an inside LB.

Wonderful. And all it did was set back the 49ers about three years.

* If Nolan gets his way and dumps Smith, whether it’s because of performance or personality, do you trust Nolan to pick the next QB?

Remember, he’s the one who picked Smith because Smith was so malleable… and now Nolan has grown to dislike the fact that Smith isn’t tough–well, Mike, how did you not notice that before? Or did you just have no clue what you were doing picking Smith in 2005 and investing $24M?

And Nolan picked Dilfer to be the back-up for the last two years. And Nolan didn’t like Aaron Rodgers because he wouldn’t do the silly drills that Smith all too willingly did for Nolan.

And Nolan didn’t trade for Charlie Frye when he was available. Or any number of other guys, because, a few months ago, he didn’t want anybody to compete with Smith, because Nolan has no clue about the QB position.

* Given his druthers for QBs in 2008, will Nolan go with Dilfer, Dilfer II and Dilfer Jr.?

Yes, Nolan doesn’t understand QBs, shouldn’t be allowed to choose them, and probably should get fired over this.

Not because Smith is a great QB prospect ruined by Nolan. Not because Smith is a towering leader of men.

No and no.

Nolan is at fault because he’s the one who selected Smith over better talents, he’s the one who propped him up and went great lengths to coddle him, and he’s the one who unfathomably decided that Smith’s Grade III shoulder separation was no big deal.

Nolan was also the one who refused to acknowledge that Smith’s play was being affected and Nolan, apparently, is the one who failed to be the bigger man–as a coach must be–in a standoff with his best-paid player.

Unbelievable. Ridiculous. Petty.

* Smith hasn’t covered himself with laurels during this whole thing, but he’s still young. He will be getting paid by the 49ers if they play him or not. He tried his best. His coaching staff failed him, however.

Now Smith is looking out for himself and his own reputation and trying to wound Nolan. I can’t blame Smith for that.

* As I’ve typed for weeks now, if anything was going to get the Yorks stirring and off of their scaredy-frozen-in-place-scaredyness… it’s Nolan messing up the QB.

That’s a huge investment they’ve got in Smith. Nolan is the one who made it for them.

Now Nolan has blown up Smith as much as you can blow up a young QB–with Smith’s help, I concede–and maybe that’s what gets the Yorks thinking… hmm, maybe Nolan isn’t a god among NFL coaches.

* The dumbest, dumbest thing I must keep repeating is the thought that Nolan only needs a strong GM to turn the ship right back to imminent greatness.

Folks, Nolan is proving again that coaching is what he does worst. A coach is supposed to handle his QB, especially if his best QB is fragile.

Nolan has no idea. You can blame Smith for this, and I’d guess that’s where 80% of 49ers fans will fall–he isn’t too tough, he isn’t much of a leader, he hasn’t been much of a QB.

But this is Nolan’s fault, in the big picture. The coach is supposed to stop things like this from happening.

And it should get him fired.