There were no instant results from an inspirational 49ers’ meeting on Saturday night.
Former 49ers standouts John Taylor, Brent Jones and Steve Wallace – members of the Super Bowl-winning 1994 team – spoke to the current team in Santa Clara on the eve of the game against the Los Angeles Rams. They shared their thoughts about that experience on The 49ers Insider Podcast.
On Sunday, the Rams crushed the 49ers, 39-10, but the messages Taylor, Jones and Wallace delivered focused on a bigger picture.
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“I wanted to encourage them to keep fighting,” said Jones, a four-time Pro Bowl performer and three-time Super Bowl champion. “Sometimes people on the outside can look at your record and say, ‘Gosh, you guys are struggling' or whatever. But I said, ‘This team is so close.’ We talked about the variables. The difference between winning and losing in the NFL is so minute. It’s attention to detail and the small things.
“I wanted these guys to know from an outsider’s perspective and a guy that played the game, I can see that they’re building something special. You can feel it. I know that there’s something great going on in that locker room, and these guys have to keep at it. They’re a young team but they’re absolutely heading in the right direction.”
Wallace, who played left tackle, was flattered that coach Kyle Shanahan and general manager John Lynch would ask him speak to the team.
“For a former player, that was like a dream to go back and speak to the guys and let them know we’re all for one,” Wallace said. “You try to inspire the guys, that when you come here to play, you can’t just do what the coaches tell you to do.
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“Jerry Rice and the leaders like that, they go get on the treadmill extra, StairMaster extra. They’re lifting. Joe Montana is doing the extra film work. That’s what sets you at a different level. If you just do what the coaches tell you to do, you’ll only be as good as everyone else.”
Taylor was one of the best receivers in the game. But rather than insisting on going somewhere else to be featured, he said he did not mind being the No. 2 receiver behind Rice because his focus was on winning championships with the 49ers. He was also a member of three Super Bowl winners.
Taylor provided one of the great moments in 49ers history with a 10-yard touchdown catch of a Montana pass in the final minute of Super Bowl XXIII for the game-winning points against the Cincinnati Bengals. Taylor came through with the kind of career moment that should be a goal for every player in the room.
“Remember growing up and playing football in the streets,” Taylor said. “Everyone says, ‘If I make this throw we win the Super Bowl’ or ‘If I make this catch, we win the Super Bowl.’ I can honestly say I lived that part. It’s amazing.”