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Niners: Five things to know | 
Freeman
SAN FRANCISCO -- It's not just that the San Francisco 49ers might be on the verge of winning big. It is how the 49ers are going about rebuilding themselves, transforming from a broken-down has-been living off the fumes of Walsh, Montana and Rice to a progressive, hungry power.
They are doing it by having fun along the way. They are doing it with guys like kicker Joe Nedney.
| Community Focus | |
 One man vs. One fan | |
Bigfoot Ninja: "The playoffs are an optimistic, but reasonable expectation of this Niners team." |
Nedney is one of many likeable players in a tight knit 49ers locker room. He is also responsible for one of the more entertaining pranks in recent memory.
Flash back to 1998 when prank prone Nedney was with the Arizona Cardinals. Nedney dreams of his next tomfoolery the way Hefner dreams of his next Playmate. In one notorious prank Nedney obtained a fine, crystalline powder normally used to help catch bank robbers. It is usually sprinkled onto bills and when touched, the sweat on the hand turns the powder blue, marking the thief with a hard-to-remove stain.
Nedney decided to sprinkle the powder into the shoes and gloves of the Cardinals rookies, turning extremities blue. For days. Everyone got a good guffaw.
Players and coaches got an even heartier laugh when Nedney tried the trick again but this time some fans in the locker room accidentally blew the dust awry, causing hundreds of thousands particles to get all over clothing, helmets, everything. A trail of blue footprints eventually dotted the locker room.
| Out of Nowhere Man |
| TE Delanie Walker |
 The 49ers could have a darn good tight end corps. Vernon Davis is excellent, but one guy you might not know is Delanie Walker. He's in his second year out of Central Missouri State and presents a danger to defenses because he is as quick as some wide receivers. In their first preseason game he had four catches for 35 yards. |
| '06 Rewind: TE Delanie Walker Nowhere fast: Last season Freeman noted that Walker, yes, the same Delanie Walker named above, would come out of nowhere to shock the league. He noted this after watching the TE haul in five balls one preseason game. That total was, oh, just three more than he had all season. Try again, bud. |
| Who is your Out of Nowhere Man? |
Fast forward to the 49ers and this past offseason. Nedney and backup quarterback Trent Dilfer compared prank notes and decided star young quarterback Alex Smith needed the old blue powder treatment. So they sprinkled the stuff ... in Smith's jockstrap. The prank worked, giving new meaning to the phrase blue ... oh, never mind.
(Interestingly this week on the New York Giants someone placed the same dust inside the gloves of tight end Jeremy Shockey, who unlike Smith has no sense of humor, and was not amused.)
The jokes sound too good to be true, but Nedney swears they are and there is a point to this prank madness. While the San Francisco locker room is slowly filling with superb talents like Smith and the redoubtable Frank Gore, the biggest star on the 49ers might the chemistry of this team.
In a league and sports world where locker rooms and club houses are sometimes fractured places with dopes like Terrell Owens single-handedly ruining team chemistry as he did in Philadelphia, the 49ers are buoyed by the simple fact that most of the team really likes one another.
"San Francisco is the 10th team I've suited up for," said Nedney, an 11-year veteran. "I've been around the block. I've seen the upside and downside of this league and you become very cynical after a certain point. Since I arrived in San Francisco, that cynicism has faded. It's been fun to watch us grow. It's renewed my enthusiasm for the game.
| Fantasy Focus |
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| QB Alex Smith |
 Dave Richard's take: Smith's first two seasons have been mostly forgettable, posting zero 300-yard games and four multi-TD efforts in 25 games. The Niners can't be blamed for Smith's lack of firepower anymore as the club acquired Darrell Jackson and Ashley Lelie to shore up its receiving corps. Moreover, the Niners boast one of the most versatile rushers in the league in Frank Gore and a superstar in the making in TE Vernon Davis. Considering these upgrades, Smith should be able to throw for close to 250 yards per week with his eyes closed, but the stigma of him being a cautious and inaccurate passer keeps him from being anything more that a top-end backup QB, albeit one with potential to be a Fantasy savior if he can make the best out of his situation. |
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"This is one of the more unified teams I've ever been on. We have depth, talent, character, cohesiveness. We also have fun. And it's also been fun because you can see the face of this organization changing for the better."
Over the next few years, expect big things from the 49ers. They have one of the most underrated coaches in football in Mike Nolan. Smith so far this year looks like a different player -- more poise, more accuracy, less fumbling. Vernon Davis is a dangerous young tight end and Gore is a top 10 running back. The defense is not great but it's solid.
The 49ers are probably a year away from challenging for the Super Bowl but this is likely a 10-win team this year.
Of course there are huge egos in the San Francisco locker room and potential landmines in their season. That's the case with every NFL team.
Yet these guys seem to genuinely like each other and that might count for something extra.
The players had just better watch out for Nedney.
"Keep your head on a swivel," Nedney warned, "because you never know what's next."