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Chris Culliver responds to Alex Boone's comments about Jim Harbaugh, and it's all just nonsense at this point

The 49ers have players, coaches and executives who exaggerate, spout cliches and/or mince their words. We probably should not take them too seriously.

By David Fucillo
Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images

The San Francisco 49ers have been dealing with free agency and draft preparations over the last couple months, but recently Jim Harbaugh stuff was back in the news. HBO's Real Sports produced a segment discussing Jim Harbaugh's departure from the 49ers.

The segment includes quotes from Alex Boone in which Boone talks about Harbaugh kind of wearing down the locker room. Boone says Harbaugh was good for the initial spark, "but after a while, you just want to kick his ass." Naturally that got people buzzing, and the Harbaugh-49ers drama was back in full swing. It event sparked a response from Chris Culliver.

Cully makes a good point. Of course, we also know Boone did have plenty to say to the media. During this past season, Boone was quick to tell the media to stop bothering the coach, that everybody loved him, and everything was great. He later said that people who questioned Harbaugh's future in San Francisco were losers.

This whole ordeal, dating back over the last year has made come to further appreciate how much salt I need to be carrying when listening to players, coaches and executives address the media. This is not a shocking revelation, but rather just another instance of it being confirmed.

Usually I don't think players, coaches and executives are straight up lying to our faces (although I'm sure they do plenty of that). However, they have proven to be prone to exaggeration, great at throwing out bland cliches, or inclined to mince their words. Baalke is part of the last group, although he is good for some cliches. Jim Tomsula is a bit more of the first group, with some cliches mixed in.

However, Boone is solidly in that first group. As BASG pointed out, Boone is prone to exaggeration, and it is hard to give him much credibility. Sure, he might be right in what he says in a given instance, but on the whole, I don't take his comments seriously. In some ways, he sort of reminds me of a more bombastic Vernon Davis. Two years ago, VD was extolling the virtues of wide receiver A.J. Jenkins. That is one reason I am less willing to take his word on Colin Kaepernick's mechanics adjustments. He could be correct, but he has said too much too often to take him too seriously.

This is not to say nobody gets any benefit of the doubt. If Justin Smith were to ever say something of particular note, I would be inclined to believe what he says. He is not one prone to exaggeration, so he has not BS'd in the past. He sticks to a few cliches, but otherwise just does not give much of a crap.

We'll continue to provide a look at the comments of players, coaches and executives, but as always, grains of salt are necessary. I think anything related to the Harbaugh drama in particular, but overall, it's wise to be at least a little bit skeptical. Trent Baalke said himself that he did not want to be transparent with the media. At least he was honest about it!

This might be an exaggeration, but it is frequently kind of how I feel when sports personalities speak to the media:

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