Mike Singletary and the 49ers

The NFL Code of Respect

It is said that respect is a two-way street, meaning that it’s not enough for you to GIVE respect, you also have a right to GET it as well. This may be seen in how teams respect one another both on and off the field.

I want to use an example to discuss how even in the National Football League there must be respect. Now, a lot of people talk about how players have to respect coaches, and I agree. The coach is the figure head of the team, and must be the leader. As such, that means that those under his command must respect his authority.

That’s fine, I got that.

But it goes both ways too. Sometimes the coach has to remember that he is not God, and is just as human as the team he coaches. Lots of times the delicate balance of team is broken when players no longer have the absolute respect of their head coach. This happens a lot in sports, but let me use a recent example.

I have the highest respect for current Head Coach Mike Singletary, one of the reasons the Chicago Bears won the Superbowl (along with Walter Payton, Jim McMahon and others). Many of you have seen the turmoil that has happened with the San Francisco 49ers, and how they recently fired their head coach and put Mike Singletary at the helm.

When I saw this, I was very happy for Singletary, and I felt it was LONG overdue. It’s like wondering why Joe Greene never got a shot at a head coaching job in the NFL. And we know Mike Singletary is a very intense player, and we hoped to see that happen with the 49ers.

Many of you know about how Singletary removed Vernon Davis from the game, then sent him to the showers. Singletary made a statement about how he’d rather play with 10 guys and get flagged every time than play with guys that are not with the team.

Now, when I first heard that, I thought that maybe he was right. Sometimes players get a little too emotional in the game and need to be tamed a bit. So maybe Mike Singletary was right in “nipping it in the bud” with this Davis by sending him to the showers. Maybe it was the way to get control of a bad team…and let’s not fool ourselves, this is a bad team.

But then a story comes out how Mike Singletary took his pants off during the halftime of a game to demonstrate how humiliating it was for the beating the 49ers were getting. That made the news all around sports media, and I was then starting to wonder what’s up with Singletary…that kinda seemed extreme…and weird.

Turns out, that info was “leaked” to the media, which now has Mike Singletary upset because as he said, “what happens in the locker room ought to stay there”.

In most cases I am inclined to agree, but I am making an exception, and even saying this about what happened…Singletary made himself fair game…so he needs to take his OWN medicine.

It pains me to say that, because I love Mike Singletary, but in the events of the last week or so, I think the coach has no right to argue about what the media found out. I think the better way to put this is “turnabout is fair game”.

Singletary had no problem throwing Davis under the bus, making his announcements to the media and the sports world. And although I don’t have a problem with the coach telling his players about stuff they don’t want him to do, and EVEN if he has to discipline his players, fine. But the moment you open your mouth to the media about that, you publicly humiliate one of YOUR players.

Where’s the respect in that?

And yet, Singletary gets bent out of shape when somebody leaks out what he says in the locker room. I don’t see how that is any different and it is possible that in what Singletary did, may have caused a severe fraction in the team. Lots of players on the 49ers are actually speaking on behalf of Davis, in support that maybe Mike Singletary should not have opened his big mouth to publicly embarrass one of his players. Perhaps one of those players (or coaches) felt that the respect of the team is not just about respecting the coach alone. It’s about respecting every player as a human being, and when they make a mistake, you correct in in the confines of your team…not to the media.

So maybe the info leaked on Mike Singletary dropping his pants was justified. Heck, if you want to embarrass one of your players, fine, but don’t get upset when you get embarrassed yourself.

I really think if Singletary had just yelled at him and let him be, it would have been cool. Or even if he sent him to the showers, that is fine, just don’t tell the media what that was about. That was only between you and Davis…not the rest of the world. I can imagine the teammates of Davis felt that Singletary was too hard on him. Discipline is fine, I am all for it, but to put his shame out there for the world to judge is not fair to Davis, and I thought Mike should have been a better man than that. So I think he got what he deserved with the “pants dropping” example. It ought to be a sign to the coach that just as you treat your players with little respect, expect the same.

Sometimes coaches need to realize that treating players like inmates in prison does not work. You must treat them like MEN, because they are MEN. Once you get the respect of MEN, then you can lead these MEN, and thus get the respect of these MEN.

It’s like Duke Football several weeks ago. Duke played at home vs. Virginia and won that game, and during that game a Duke player intercepted a pass and ran in the end zone. On the way there, he dove in celebration in the end zone, which by some stupid rule is now considered excessive celebration..

(and don’t get me started on that)

The Duke player got up, was happy and celebratory as the fans were excited and cheering. But the second he got to the sidelines, not one but TWO coaches on that team jumped down his throat trying to tell this guy how stupid it was to do that.

This is a problem with people used to losing, they find the WRONG things to discipline. Yes you talk to him and tell him not to do it again, but tell me this, how many games have Duke won in the last 5 years? This is a team that does not see winning much, so you BETTER enjoy every bit you can get.

Since winning that game vs. Virginia, they lost the next two, and recently beat Vandy in a very low scoring game. Perhaps they learned that chewing out a kid for scoring a touchdown was an issue they didn’t have to treat like a felony.

Mike Singletary can learn from that. Great player he may be, and one of the best defensive linemen of our time…but being a coach means respecting ALL players just as much as you want them to respect you. If he does not learn this soon, there may be a mutiny.