The San Francisco 49ers have had Hall of Fame pass rusher Charles Haley in camp working the pass rushers, and he has joined the team in Denver. He’s been around dating back to the Monday after the Hall of Fame ceremony, and it seems like he won’t be leaving anytime soon.
Head coach Chip Kelly chatted with the media on Thursday, and he was asked about Haley. Specifically, if Haley would be around just for training camp. Kelly’s answer cracked me up:
“Charles can do whatever he wants. I’m serious because I’m not telling him he’s got to leave. I think he’s really been an invaluable tool for us just because of the experience he has. He has a unique way of presenting it where he’s kind of funny, but I think when he gets really serious about pass rush there’s some tremendous amount of knowledge in what he has in his success in this league, his ability, that everybody recognizes, which is why he’s in the Hall of Fame. If he can impart some of that on some of our young guys, we want to have him around as long as Charles wants to be around.”
The 49ers pass rush has a lot of work in front of it, but having an all-time great like Haley is tremendously valuable. The players still have to execute during games, but I’m down for a learning experience with a player like Haley!