Former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Jeff Garcia took some shots at the team’s front office in a recent interview with the Times-Standard in Northern California.
Speaking up on everyone from general manager Trent Baalke to embattled CEO Jed York, Garcia had these scathing comments to share.
Most assume that Baalke’s relationship with former head coach Jim Harbaugh played a major role in the divorce, but it’s really York and Harbaugh who butted heads the most. In any event, Baalke has proven himself to be more than capable in the general manager role. Heck, he’s one of the primary reasons San Francisco turned it around under Harbaugh.
But that won’t stop Garcia from continuing a narrative that has seemingly become mainstream during what has been a disastrous offseason for the 49ers.
These comments are interesting for a number of reasons. Garcia recently campaigned for San Francisco’s quarterbacks coach job—a job that was given to former East Carolina head coach Steve Logan. He also wanted to work with Colin Kaepernick, who has spent the past 10 weeks being trained by Kurt Warner in Arizona.
We have to wonder whether the 49ers snubbing of Garcia played a role in these comments.
This doesn’t mean that criticism shouldn’t be thrown York’s way. Once considered one of the top young executives in the professional sports world, the 34-year-old CEO has alienated the team’s fan base. He’s seen as being the source of in-season leaks regarding Harbaugh’s contract status, and has put his foot in his mouth multiple times since the end of an underwhelming 8-8 campaign.
However, Garcia’s attempt to link Baalke to the issues York has had this offseason is ridiculous. It’s a surface-based argument that anyone who knows about the situation should be able to look past.
