The re-vote on the #2 wide receiver has resulted in an even bigger percentage lead for John Taylor.  The ballot will remain open, but I think we've reached a point where we can call it for JT.  Today we move on to another offensive position, running back.  Last go-around Roger Craig ran away with the race, even over a Hall of Famer like Hugh McElhenny.  Given the apparent age of many of our readers, it's not too surprising that even Frank Gore finished with more votes than McElhenny.

When we had the first vote on running back I made a point to mention a couple of things: First, Joe Perry is in the fullback balloting, even though he is currently the franchise leader in career rushing yards.  The offense ran a bit differently back in those days, but for simplicity's sake, I went with him at fullback.  Second, Frank Gore is still a youngster, but I felt he has done enough in is brief career to merit recognition on the ballot.  I have to admit, I was heartbroken though that I held off Kevan Barlow.  I don't know if I'll ever forgive myself.

Roger Craig (1983-1990): Not a whole lot needs to be said about the man who is #2 in rushing yards and rushing touchdowns, #3 in receptions and #9 in receiving yards.  Before Marshall Faulk, there was Roger Craig.  In 1985, Craig became the first running back to finished with 1,000 rushing AND receiving yards.  The previous season he became the first player ever to score three touchdowns in a Super Bowl.  Roger Craig went to 4 Pro Bowls and was the NFL Offensive Player of the Year in 1988 as he finished with 2,036 total yards.  Craig still stands as the only running back to ever lead the NFL in receptions in a season.  He finished his career with 13,143 total yards and 73 total touchdowns.

Hugh McElhenny (1952-1960): McElhenny was the 49ers first round pick in 1952 and was immediately a hit on the field.  He won Rookie of the Year, along with back to back Pro Bowl and 1st Team All Pro appearances his first two seasons.  Over the course of his career, McElhenny went to six Pro Bowls and finished his 49ers career with 4,288 rushing yards, 2,666 receiving yards and 50 total touchdowns.

Garrison Hearst (1997-2003): I don't know of anybody who doesn't like Garrison Hearst.  One big reason is this short little run.  Hearst finished his time with the 49ers with 5,535 rushing yards.  That number would have likely been quite a bit higher if not for the nasty broken ankle he suffered against Atlanta on the first play from scrimmage in the Divisional playoffs.  He developed the necrosis condition that led to Bo Jackson's retirement and seemed finished, although the 49ers kept him on the roster.  Two years later, Hearst came back and rushed for 1,206 yards, winning his second Comeback Player of the Year award.  The next two years saw him slowly phased out of the offense, replaced by the immortal Kevan Barlow.

Frank Gore (2005-present): Gore has only been a 49er for four years, a starting running back for three of them.  In that time he has set the 49ers single season rushing record and twice led the team in receptions.  His most impressive stat might be the fact that he became the first 49ers running back with three straight 1,000 yard seasons.  Gore currently stands #5 in the 49ers all-time rushing list.  Considering he's 4,248 yards out of first place, Frank the tank is definitely getting within striking distance of the #1 spot.  A decent season by Gore will move him past Garrison Hearst, while a 1,500 yard season would move him into third place all time.  I'm guessing he won't reach Roger Craig's receptions by a running back number, but considering how active he has been in the passing game, Gore could easily finish his career challenging Roger Craig as the best running back in team history.

The headline is really awkward, but from here on out I'll be dropping the first half of it.  This is just to get folks on the same page with the balloting.

In restarting the voting on our list of all-time 49ers, I thought we should start with a position that a year ago created quite a bit of controversy in the end result: the 49ers #2 wide receiver.  The #1 wide receiver is as obvious as you're going to get with this team: Jerry Rice.  Rather than replay the automatic selections, we're sticking with the ones where voting actually took place.  Also, depending on how many votes we accumulate in the next couple days, I'd like to try and post two of these per week: one Monday and one Thursday.  We'll give it a test run this week.

After a neck and neck race, John Taylor pulled away from Terrell Owens to win by 25 votes, or 7%.  The comments went back and forth between those two drawing on both on and off the field issues.  Two of the main schools of thought to emerge were: 1) TO was a phenomenally talented wide receiver and simply better than JT, and 2) even if he was talented, he was a jackass.

This is one of the positions that inspired me to bring back the all-time team ballot.  We had 377 total votes for the #2 wide receiver position, which is a number I know we can surpass this time around.  And more votes increases the sample size, hopefully providing a clearer answer.  So, below I've copied over the brief write-ups on each of the receivers on the ballot.

Terrell Owens (1996-2003): Oh TO, TO, TO.  If we were just considering stats and natural ability, I personally think Terrell Owens would be the hands down #2 guy in 49ers history.  He's #2 in franchise history in receptions, yards and touchdowns behind Jerry Rice and made one of the more well known catches in team history against the Packers in the playoffs.  He had issues with drops, but unlike a guy like Randy Moss, he didn't take plays off and busted his ass.  Of course, there is that other part of TO.  That would be the fact that when he left he was despised by many 49ers fans, including yours truly.  My hatred has tempered with time and it's gotten to the point where I can separate the talented WR from the troubled individual.  I'm not saying you have to in making this vote because this is somewhat a popularity contest.  Rather, consider whatever you like in making your vote.

Dwight Clark (1979-1987): Clark made probably the most famous Catch in 49ers history, and in fact it probably ranks pretty high in NFL history.  Clark was drafted the same year as Joe Montana and was a key part of the resurgence of the 49ers.  He stands 4th in team in history in receptions, 3rd in yards and 6th in touchdowns.

John Taylor (1987-1995): Taylor made arguably the second most famous catch in 49ers history, the game-winner against the Bengals in Super Bowl XXIII.  Taylor currently stands 8th or better in franchise history in receptions, yards and touchdowns.  And, of course, he holds the pre-eminent spot as second banana to Jerry Rice.

Billy Wilson (1951-1960): Wilson stands 6th in receptions, 5th in yards and 5th in touchdowns.  Wilson was a 6-time Pro Bowler waaaaay back in the day and stands as the first great receiver in 49ers history.  In fact, a look at comparable NFL receivers in the NFL opens the argument that Wilson should in fact be a Hall of Famer.

Gene Washington (1969-1977): Today's fans might recognize Gene Washington as the man who introduces draft choices after the first round, as Director of Football Operations for the NFL.  Before entering the league office, Washington was a four-time Pro Bowler and three-time All Pro with the 49ers.  He finished his time with the 49ers 7th in team history in receptions, 4th in yards and 3rd in touchdowns.

After months of balloting, we finally filled out our Niners Nation All-Time Team.  One of the drawbacks to balloting for the 49ers All-Time Team is that several of the positions really could not be voted on.  There was going to be no question that Bill Walsh would coach the squad, Jerry Rice would be the #1 receiver or Ronnie Lott would be the first safety on the team.  In spite of the automatic selections, we had some spirited balloting at other positions.

For those who are relatively new to the site, I developed short lists of 4 or 5 individuals at each position and opened it up to voting.  Terrell Owens seems like the second best receiver in 49ers history, but it's not surprising John Taylor won the vote.  Such is the life of a popular vote.  You can see the roster at the bottom of this post.

However, now that we're finished, it's time to move on to a roster I thought would be even more fun to develop.  The Niners Nation All-Crap team.  However, before we get started, I wanted to open this up for discussion on ground rules for the roster because I'm not sure of the best way to do it.  Given the number of positions I don't think it'd be a good idea to do an entire roster.  However, if you guys think there are enough possibilities to fill the roster, we could work on it.

Maybe we come up with the ten most hated 49ers?  Or the biggest draft busts in 49ers history?  Or the truly awful players in 49ers history.  If we come up with several different options, nothing is stopping us from compiling numerous such teams, so get creative.  Consider this an open thread to come up with some options for these sorts of teams.

While we're discussing that, feel free to check out the various members of our All-Time Team.

Coach - Bill Walsh

Offense
QB #1 - Joe Montana
QB #2 - Steve Young
T - Bob St. Clair
G - Guy McIntyre
C - Jesse Sapolu
G - Randy Cross
T - Harris Barton
RB - Roger Craig
FB - Tom Rathman
TE - Brent Jones
WR #1 - Jerry Rice
WR #2 - John Taylor

Defense
DE - Fred Dean
DT - Leo Nomellini
DT - Bryant Young
DE - Cedrick Hardman
OLB - Charles Haley
ILB - Ken Norton, Jr.
ILB - Gary Plummer
OLB - Dave Wilcox
CB - Jimmy Johnson
CB - Eric Wright
S - Ronnie Lott
S - Merton Hanks

Special Teams
K - Ray Wersching
P - Andy Lee

Was there ever really a question?  One of the "drawbacks" to having such great folks in 49ers history is that it takes away some of the vote-able options.  In the case of the head coach, I don't see how anybody could really make any sort of argument that it should be somebody other than Bill Walsh.  George Seifert won two Super Bowls but will always fall in Walsh's shadow.  We could point to Dick Nolan, Buck Shaw (first coach in team history), Steve Mariucci and Mike Nolan but obviously none of them measure up (some more than others) to the great Bill Walsh.

Rather than regurgitate the man's career, I thought I'd address some of the highlights and important points.  He took over a franchise that had been mediocre and never been able to reach the promised land.  It was fitting that he came in and took over with Joe Montana.  Together they turned the franchise around and dominated the 80s.

During his time with the team he not only was a great coach, but also a master of the personnel game.  He dealt a second and fourth round pick to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for Steve Young, which might go down as one of the all-time great steals in NFL history.  Then there was the 1981 draft in which the 49ers scored Ronnie Lott, Eric Wright and Carlton Williamson.  The personnel side of things was an all-encompassing effort, but Walsh was a key figure.  This is the same man who wanted the team to draft Jake Plummer over Jim Druckenmiller.

We all know about Bill Walsh's fame in developing the West Coast offense.  However, I thought I'd talk a little bit more about his famed coaching tree.  A fitting tribute to that tree is the fact that three of the four coaches in the conference title games have fallen from that tree.  There are other coaches that have developed trees, but none quite compare to Walsh.

The one area that has gotten quality publicity lately is the Minority Coaching Fellowship Program.  The league renamed their fellowship program so that it's now the Bill Walsh NFL Minority Coaches Internship Program.  Walsh first developed the program in 1987 when he brought in various minority coaches to the 49ers training camp.  Four current head coaches actually went through that program: Marvin Lewis, Lovie Smith, Mike Tomlin and Raheem Morris (new TB head coach).

Bill Walsh is a man that 49ers fans will always hold in the highest regard.  The 49ers have had some solid head coaches pass through their ranks.  However, I honestly can't imagine any of them reaching the level of impact that Bill Walsh had on the franchise, the league and the game itself. 

It's rather fitting that Mike Singletary is running things now.  Singletary did not graduate from the fellowship program, but when he was first considering entering the coaching ranks, he sat down with Bill Walsh to learn about being a coach.  It'd be hard for anybody to reach the level of Bill Walsh.  We can only hope Singletary can bring a little bit of what Walsh did for this team.

First off, congratulations to Merton Hanks for winning our #2 safety vote rather handily.  Hanks took home 55% of the vote with Tim McDonald coming in second at 25%.  I'm a big McDonald fan, but the numbers don't lie when it comes to the man with the awesome neck.

That brings us to our #1 safety.  As with our #1 wide receiver, there was never any doubt who it would be.  Sure I could have opened it to a vote, but I honestly can't think of a single argument for anybody BUT Ronnie Lott.  The man was Mr. Everything for the 49ers and now sits rightfully enshrined in the Hall of Fame.

Lott was the 8th overall pick in the 1981 draft, a draft that netted the 49ers Lott, Eric Wright and Carlton Williamson.  In 1984, all three of those guys made the Pro Bowl. 'Nuff said.  Lott actually started his career as an All-Pro cornerback, before moving over to free safety five seasons into his career.  I think that move worked out ok.

The story that personifies Ronnie Lott is the amputated pinky finger.  in 1985, during the season finale against Dallas, Lott collided with Cowboys RB Tim Newsome and crushed much of his left pinky finger.  He came off the field but did get back on.  Originally I thought the pinky was amputated right there on the sideline, but as Lott himself clarified, that happened in the offseason.  In their first round playoff game the following week, Lott had his fingers taped up and played through the pain of the crushed finger.  Either way, that's quite the bad-ass.

Even if the pinky story had never occurred, the stats and accolades are sufficient to back up this selection.  Lott was 10-time Pro Bowler, 6-time first team All-Pro and was named to the Hall of Fames 1980s all-decade team.  He's the 49ers all-time leader in interceptions, and ranks sixth on the all-tiem NFL INT list.  He's also first in postseason interceptions.  His 10 interceptions in 1986 ranks first in the 49ers single season record book.

The free safety position has joined wide receiver and quarterback as positions that have generated numerous headaches recently.  That is due to the truly all-world level of talent at those positions.  I don't think anybody will argue that Mark Roman is getting a bad rap simply because he is playing a position held by one of the true greats.  However, I do imagine it makes it easier to jump to criticism of anybody in that spot that isn't performing well.  It's been a blessing to have such great players, but obviously it creates a burden as well.  While Taylor Mays apparently won't be the next great safety for the 49ers, let's hope we can find him somewhere in this offseason.

The voting is in and people seem to prefer we go with two general safety positions, instead of a free safety and a strong safety.  We all know who the #1 all-time safety will be.  However, I'm a big fan of voting so we'll hold off on naming him and let you guys vote on the #2 safety.  Given that we're almost finished with the roster (two safeties, coach, any other suggestions?), might as well get some voting in.

The 49ers have had a strong history of quality safeties, particularly in the last thirty years.  I know a lot of people would have liked to see Taylor Mays drafted and join that group, but that won't be happening this season.  Here's hoping that Dashon Goldson could be that guy, because Mark Roman certainly is not.

Merton Hanks (1991-1998): I'd like to think everyone remembers his "funky chicken dance."  Unfortunately I couldn't find video on YouTube, so you'll have to settle for a picture.  If you can find video, please post it.  Hanks was primarily known for that, but in reality he was a phenomenal safety, finishing 5th on the 49ers all-time INT list, and second among safeties.  Equally important was that Hanks knew he was the man at that position.  Hanks didn't have an especially long career, but from 1994-1997, he was one of the best free safeties in the NFL, going to the Pro Bowl all four seasons, earning all Pro honors once and finishing with 22 interceptions in that stretch.

Tim McDonald (1993-1999): McDonald combined with Merton Hanks to form a veteran duo in the defensive secondary, that was as good as any in the league.  McDonald was in his prime when the 49ers signed him away from the Cardinals and in his seven seasons with th 49ers he finished with 20 interceptions, good for 13th all time.  That's especially impressive given that he was a strong safety, a position that doesn't always end up with the high INT numbers and often slightly less athletic than the free safety.  McDonald was named to three Pro Bowl squads during his time with the 49ers.  One interesting note unrelated to his 49ers career is that he was one of six safeties named to the 1999 Walter Camp All-Century college football team (along with Ronnie Lott, among others).

Dwight Hicks (1979-1985): Hicks sits right behind Merton Hanks as sixth all-time on the 49ers INT list.  Although I was only two at the time, many people might remember him for a key early interception against the Bengals in Super Bowl XVI after the 49ers had already turned over the ball.  In seven season with the 49ers, Hicks returned three of his 30 interceptions for a touchdown.  And oddly enough (or maybe not?), he's even got a MySpace page.  I'd imagine it's real, since how many people would imitate Hicks on the Internet?  Since the end of his NFL career, Hicks has actually developed into quite the character actor.

Mel Phillips (1966-1977): Consider this the old-timers division.  Phillips spent 12 seasons with the 49ers and now is the secondary coach of the Dolphins.  He is listed as having 12 interceptions, but some of those older numbers are a little less reliable.

Tony Parrish (2002-2006): Parrish only spent 4+ seasons with the 49ers, but it's easy to forget how much of a badass he was in that limited time.  In his four full season with the 49ers, Parrish had 22 interceptions, enough to put him eighth on the all-time list.  He actually had 16 interceptions in his first two seasons, along with a pair of forced fumbles and 125 total tackles.  I was actually quite excited when the 49ers signed Parrish and for the first couple of seasons, he paid huge dividends.

Now that the 49ers offseason is in full swing, it seemed like a great time to start back up with the NIners Nation All-Time Team.  We added one position midseason, WR #2.  Congratulations to John Taylor who pulled away from Terrell Owens to make the team.  Now that we're in the offseason we'll fill up the rest of the team and also get to our Niners Nation All-Time Bums team (name to be determined).

Rather than open with a vote, I figued we'd start with a position that requires absolutely no vote.  If you think a vote is necessary for this position, then I'm guessing you either are not a 49ers fan or really think democracy is awesome.

Yes, we're talking about the Niners Nation all-time team #1 wide receiver, G.O.A.T. himself, Jerry Rice.  As far as I'm concerned, Jerry Rice is not just the greatest wide receiver of all time, but the greatest football player of all time.  He shredded the record books in a way that could only be compared to someone like Wayne Gretzky.  Just consider the fact that if you eliminate the four seasons he played outside of San Francisco, he'd still easily hold every receiving record in the books.  He holds NFL career records for receptions, receiving yards, total touchdowns, consecutive games with a reception and most points by a non-kicker.  And that's just the tip of the iceberg.

We all know the story of Jerry Rice coming out of unheralded Mississippi Valley State and proceeded to just torch the NFL.  The most amazing part is how nobody really wanted him coming out of high school even though he was All-State as a defensive back, not even Ole Miss or nearby Mississippi State.  Rice says the MVSU coach was the only head coach to come see him in person.

What I find most amazing about Jerry Rice is that while he was certainly a talented player, he was never the fastest or biggest guy out there.  He willed himself to become the greatest and that's seen in his legendary offseason hill runs.  Guys like Randy Moss and Terrell Owens bring outrageous size and speed to the wide receiver position and are appropriately recognized as great receivers.  While it might be easy to say, well imagine the records Rice would have broken with the speed and jump of Moss or the raw physicality of TO.  However, I think Rice willed himself to greatness because of the lack of size or so-called 40 speed.  He was not quite along the lines of Larry Bird (too slow, can't jump, can't shoot, etc.), but he was underestimated coming out of college (two wide receivers went ahead of him).

One knock on Rice was his ego.  However, to be the greatest, you have to think you're the greatest.  Jerry Rice believed he was the greatest and the stats back him up.  Furthermore, his teams obviously won Super Bowls and spent most of their time in the playoffs.  So even if his teammates hated him (not saying that's the case), it didn't affect the on-field team product.

I'll close with a brief story about why I'm more than a little more than biased towards Jerry Rice.  In April of 2007 I was fortunate enough to attend Rice's induction ceremony into the Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame.  Thanks to where I worked at the time, I was able to get up into the pre-ceremony VIP reception.  All the inductees came in and were milling around with their handlers.  At one point Rice was separated from his handler and standing by myself.  I quickly pounced and struck up a conversation with him.  Someone interrupted our conversation and it looked he was going to guide Rice somewhere else.  I started to back away and Rice put a hand on my shoulder and told me to hang on one second.  After he finished talking to that person we continued our conversation for a couple more minutes.

I realize it's not the biggest thing in the world, but given the size of the crowd and the event in question, the fact that he was willing to take a couple minutes to talk to some fan meant a lot.  It leaves me a little more biased towards his greatness, but I don't see anything wrong with that.  It wasn't even that he could have just been a complete prick.  If he'd gone off to talk to everybody else I would not have been surprised given the circumstances.  Even as a 20-something sports fan that recognizes the reality of how athletes can be, having a positive encounter like this still makes me feel like a kid.

EDITOR'S NOTE ELECTION DAY 8:05AM: Seeing as it's election day and things could come down to the wire, it seemed appropriate to throw out one last appeal for votes on our #2 Wide Receiver.  As of this re-posting, Taylor leads TO by a mere 2 votes.  I feel it's your civic duty to vote on this position!  I had thoughts on an election-related post but thought of it too recently and ran out of time.  So, vote for your #2 wide receiver, and of course, try and vote in real life.

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It's been quite some time since we voted on the Niners Nation All-Time Team.  The last vote was August 20 for the #2 inside linebacker.  Speaking of which, the winner of that was Gary Plummer.  For those who have joined the site more recently, we started putting together a starting lineup of all-time 49ers, as voted on by all of us.  On the front page of the site, the currently voted on roster is on the left side of the screen.  Since we've got a bye this week, I thought now was a perfect time to start this back up.

Today, I thought we'd move on to our #2 all-time wide receiver.  We all know who will be the #1 receiver and I wanted to start back up with something people could vote on.  There are some very qualified nominees, and of course, one particularly controversial option.  Some very deserving nominees (Freddie Solomon among others) were left off the ballot, but we really can't have everybody.

Terrell Owens (1996-2003): Oh TO, TO, TO.  If we were just considering stats and natural ability, I personally think Terrell Owens would be the hands down #2 guy in 49ers history.  He's #2 in franchise history in receptions, yards and touchdowns behind Jerry Rice and made one of the more well known catches in team history against the Packers in the playoffs.  He had issues with drops, but unlike a guy like Randy Moss, he didn't take plays off and busted his ass.  Of course, there is that other part of TO.  That would be the fact that when he left he was despised by many 49ers fans, including yours truly.  My hatred has tempered with time and it's gotten to the point where I can separate the talented WR from the troubled individual.  I'm not saying you have to in making this vote because this is somewhat a popularity contest.  Rather, consider whatever you like in making your vote.

Dwight Clark (1979-1987): Clark made probably the most famous Catch in 49ers history, and in fact it probably ranks pretty high in NFL history.  Clark was drafted the same year as Joe Montana and was a key part of the resurgence of the 49ers.  He stands 4th in team in history in receptions, 3rd in yards and 6th in touchdowns.

John Taylor (1987-1995): Taylor made arguably the second most famous catch in 49ers history, the game-winner against the Bengals in Super Bowl XXIII.  Taylor currently stands 8th or better in franchise history in receptions, yards and touchdowns.  And, of course, he holds the pre-eminent spot as second banana to Jerry Rice.

Billy Wilson (1951-1960): Wilson stands 6th in receptions, 5th in yards and 5th in touchdowns.  Wilson was a 6-time Pro Bowler waaaaay back in the day and stands as the first great receiver in 49ers history.  In fact, a look at comparable NFL receivers in the NFL opens the argument that Wilson should in fact be a Hall of Famer.

Gene Washington (1969-1977): Today's fans might recognize Gene Washington as the man who introduces draft choices after the first round, as Director of Football Operations for the NFL.  Before entering the league office, Washington was a four-time Pro Bowler and three-time All Pro with the 49ers.  He finished his time with the 49ers 7th in team history in receptions, 4th in yards and 3rd in touchdowns.