Sports

49ers Lose Final Home Game To Bears

Published

5 years ago

December 23, 2018

Santa Clara, CA – A melee, three ejections and a defensive battle is how the 49ers ended their season at Levi’s stadium. The Chicago Bears came into this game as a favorite, but San Francisco gave them a challenge until the very end.
The 49ers ended their final home game with a 14-9 loss. With one game left in the season and the countless injuries, San Francisco has nothing to feel bad about. They got better toward the end of the season despite the injuries to many key players.
“I think we’ve had a lot more continuity the last month and guys have stayed healthier,” said head coach Kyle Shanahan. “We’ve been a little bit more consistent with the guys who have been out there. We’ve been playing with the same two inside linebackers, the same safeties, for the most part, the corners. They’ve played well. They’ve gotten better as it’s gone, and it was nice to get some turnovers today.”
Today the team lost Matt Breida, Dante Pettis, Garrett Celek and Marquise Goodwin had an Achilles injury at the end of the game. Breida left the game with an ankle injury to start the second and did not return. Pettis injured his knee and Celek left the game with a head injury. Pettis needed help off the field after he was tackled by both Leonard Floyd and Prince Amukamara.
Late in the fourth, things got testy after Marcell Harris used his body to hit Mitchell Trubisky as he was sliding on a scramble near Chicago’s sideline. Chaos erupted which quickly turned into a melee. Three players were ejected, 49ers’ Richard Sherman, Bears’ Anthony Miller and Joshua Bellamy.
Bellamy explained what happened:

Harris explained his hit on Trubisky that led to the skirmish in the fourth.
“Definitely. I wasn’t going out for him. I knew what comes with penalties, and I wasn’t trying to give my team a big penalty in that moment of the game. Obviously, you can see what happened. I felt like I laid up on him.”
On fourth and one, Chicago used Trubisky to scramble for 1-yard and he got the first down. At the two-minute warning, the Bears were in control. Trubisky connected with Allen Robinson II but Tarvarius Moore snuck up behind and punched the ball out of Robinson’s hands. That led to another turnover and it became San Francisco’s ball.
“Sometimes the ball is not in our favor, but today one of the biggest things was getting turnovers,” said Harris. We went for the ball, ripping it out and trying to get picks. We had a lot of balls that were actually on the ground and a lot of balls that were on our hands that we could have challenged the game on, but we came out and did a great job as a defense.”
Nick Mullens and his offense took over after Chicago’s fumble with 1:52 left to play. After two incomplete passes, Mullens went deep with a pass, rather than scrambling for the first down on fourth-and-four – a terrible decision, especially since there was enough time on the clock.
“Yeah, it was fourth-and-four,” Mullens explained. “I mean, I’ve just got to handle the situation better. I should have ran. I didn’t run. In the heat of battle, a lot of things are happening fast, split-second decisions. Saw [WR Marquise Goodwin] ‘Quise down the field. Tried to give him a chance, instead of making the simple play. I didn’t make the simple play.”
There’s no doubt the 49ers’ defense got better over the last three weeks. They’ve been able to contain playoff caliber teams, including the playoff bound Bears, but they couldn’t capitalize off the turnovers with a smothering Chicago defense that highlights Khalil Mack.
Mack returned to the Bay Area for the first time since his explosive trade from the Oakland Raiders, the only team he’s known since his rookie year, Mack continues to dominate on defense. He will be heading to the playoffs for the first time in his career, as the Bears clinched the NFC North last week. The closest he’s gotten was the Wild Card game in 2016, but the Raiders lost 27-14 to the Houston Texans.
Mack on his return to the Bay Area:

The 49ers’ kicker, Robbie Gould, kicked three field goals for 33, 30 and 23 yards, leading in the first half. San Francisco did a great job of keeping Chicago off the board until late in the second. At the two-minute warning, a few penalties helped the Bears with good field position. That setup Trubisky’s 4-yard touchdown pass to Anthony Miller giving the Bears a 7-6 lead.
Mullens reacted quickly and found Goodwin for 17 yards, Trent Taylor for 23 yards and Kendrick Bourne for 8 yards before stopping the clock. Opting for another field goal instead, Gould kicked a 23-yard field goal 23 yards to end the half with the 9-7 lead.
By the third, the 49ers kept forcing Chicago to turn over the ball. But a face mask penalty on DeForrest Buckner gave the Bears a first down and set up Jordan Howard’s rushing 4-yard touchdown, making it a 14-9 game. Then Mullens’ pass, intended for Goodwin, was intercepted by Danny Trevathan.
“I am never happy about losing,” said Joe Staley. “I am happy about there is no quit in this locker room. It is very easy when you are not competing for a playoff spot or anything for guys in the locker room to be like ‘just mail it in and look forward to the offseason’. I think everybody feels what we are building here is going to be special. I think a lot of guys believe in what we are doing in the front office. We love coming into work every single day. We are really going to give our best effort and going down the stretch. I think we surprised the Seahawks that way last week, and I think they thought we were going to be whatever. I think that we did that same thing today. Obviously, we wanted to come up with a couple more big plays and thought we were going to come away with a victory in the end.”

Malaika Bobino

Posts by Malaika Bobino

Up Next

Raiders farewell to the Coliseum was perfect for the fans

Don't Miss

CCSF Football Star Continues to U of Tennessee, Inspires Others Along the Way

Malaika Bobino

Click to comment

Community

Oakland WNBA Player to be Inducted Into Hall of Fame

The Multi-Ethnic Sports Hall of Fame (MESHOF) announced that it will induct Dr. Alexis Gray-Lawson, a former WNBA player and Oakland Technical High School graduate at its inaugural Curt Flood Platinum Award Ceremony in February. Gray-Lawson’s Platinum Award is part of the Hall of Fame’s 24th Annual Bay Area induction and award ceremony, where four other retired professional athletes will be honored.

Published

5 days ago

April 20, 2024

Oakland Post

Photo Courtesy of Alexis Gray Lawson.

By Post staff

The Multi-Ethnic Sports Hall of Fame (MESHOF) announced that it will induct Dr. Alexis Gray-Lawson, a former WNBA player and Oakland Technical High School graduate at its inaugural Curt Flood Platinum Award Ceremony in February.

Gray-Lawson’s Platinum Award is part of the Hall of Fame’s 24th Annual Bay Area induction and award ceremony, where four other retired professional athletes will be honored.

The banquet and ceremony will be held from 5:45 to 10 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 24, at the George P. Scotlan Convention Center at Oakland’s Marriott Civic Center Hotel.

“I am truly honored to receive this incredible nomination,” said Dr. Alexis Gray-Lawson, who, along with college teammate Devanei Hampton, lead Oakland Tech to its second consecutive state title in 2005. “It took a village to raise me and get me here, and I truly am excited to continue the legacy.”

Gray-Lawson, a “second team” Parade All-American and an All-State honoree, as a senior in ’05, was chosen for the California Interscholastic Federation sportsmanship award. She only lost one game throughout her four-year career in high school. Her jersey was retired at Oakland Tech and placed in the National High School Hall of Fame as a four-time All-City recipient, averaging 17.2 points per game during her career.

Gray-Lawson received scholarships in volleyball, softball, and basketball before deciding to travel up College Avenue to the University of California, Berkeley. There, she played in more basketball games (143) than any other player in Golden Bears’ history. She finished her career as the Bears all-time 3-point leader (211), and she is ranked third in scoring with 1,982 points.

An All-Pac 10 and honorable mention All-American in 2010, Gray-Lawson also was the top player at 5’8” or under for the Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award. Later that year, she was a third-round pick of the Washington Mystics in 2010 and played with the Phoenix Mercury of the Women’s National Basketball Association in 2011 and 2012. She also played professionally overseas in Turkey and Israel.

Other inductees are Clifford Ray (Basketball); Lee Lacy (Baseball); Spencer Haywood (Basketball); and Mohinder Singh Gil (Track & Field).

Organizers say the event promises to be a “historic and celebratory evening,” and iconic personalities from across the professional sports industry and its various disciplines will attend.

The no-host cocktail hour begins at 5:45 p.m.; dinner at 6:45 p.m.; and the ceremony at 7:45 p.m. All times are prompt. General tickets are $250.00; Seniors (65 and older) $150.00, and students $50. This includes dinner and the ceremony. Tables of 10 are available as well, and early purchase is recommended.

MESHOF is a 501(c) (3) nonprofit organization dedicated to honoring athletes from all corners of the globe who have made significant contributions to the world of sports and broadening the public’s understanding of the contributions people of color have made to professional sports; and to provide educational life skills and mentorship opportunities for deserving youth. Proceeds will help maintain the City of Oakland’s Curt Flood Field, Oakland Parks & Recreation, and MESHOF’s after school and mental health initiatives.

Tickets can be purchased online at www.multiethnicsportshof.com. For additional information, please contact: Arif Khatlib @ afrosportshall@aol.com or India Alston @ india@beamcreativehouse.com

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post

Entertainment

O.J. Simpson, 76, Dies of Prostate Cancer

Orenthal James (O.J.) Simpson, who rose to fame as a college football player who went on to the NFL and parlayed his talents in acting and sportscasting, succumbed to prostate cancer on April 10, his family announced.

Published

1 week ago

April 17, 2024

Oakland Post

Orenthal James (O.J.) Simpson. Wikipedia photo

By Post Staff

Born and raised in San Francisco, the Galileo High School graduate was recruited by the University of Southern California after he was on a winning Junior College All-American team.

At USC, he gained wide acclaim as a running back leading to him becoming the No. 1 pick in the AFL-NFL draft in 1969 and joining the Buffalo Bills, where he had demanded – and received — the largest contract in professional sports history: $650,000 over five years. In 1978, the Bills traded Simpson to his hometown team, the San Francisco 49ers, retiring from the game in 1979.

Simpson’s acting career had begun before his pro football career with small parts in 1960s TV (“Dragnet”) before “Roots” and film (“The Klansman,” “The Towering Inferno,” Capricorn One”).

He was also a commentator for “Monday Night Football,” and “The NFL on NBC,” and in the mid-1970s Simpson’s good looks and amiability made him, according to People magazine, “the first b\Black athlete to become a bona fide lovable media superstar.”

The Hertz rent-a-car commercials raised his recognition factor while raising Hertz’s profit by than 50%, making him critical to the company’s bottom line.

It could be said that even more than his success as a football star, the commercials of his running through airports endeared him to the Black community at a time when it was still unusual for a Black person to represent a national, mainstream company.

He remained on Hertz team into the 1990s while also getting income endorsing Pioneer Chicken, Honey Baked Ham and Calistoga water company products and running O.J. Simpson Enterprises, which owned hotels and restaurants.

He married childhood sweetheart Marguerite Whitley when he was 19 and became the father of three children. Before he divorced in 1979, he met waitress and beauty queen Nicole Brown, who he would marry in 1985. A stormy relationship before, during and after their marriage ended, it would lead to a highway car chase as police sought to arrest Simpson for the murder by stabbing of Brown and her friend Ron Goldman in 1994.

The pursuit, arrest, and trial of Simpson were among the most widely publicized events in American history, Wikipedia reported.

Characterized as the “Trial of the Century,” he was acquitted by a jury in 1995 but found liable in the amount of $33 million in a civil action filed by the victims’ families three years later.

Simpson would be ensnared in the criminal justice system 12 years later when he was arrested after forcing his way into a Las Vegas hotel room to recover sports memorabilia he believed belonged to him.

In 2008, he received a sentence of 33 years and was paroled nine years later in 2017.

When his death was announced, Simpson’s accomplishments and downfalls were acknowledged.

Sports analyst Christine Brennan said: “… Even if you didn’t love football, you knew O.J. because of his ability to transcend sports and of course become the businessman and the pitchman that he was.

“And then the trial, and the civil trial, the civil case he lost, and the fall from grace that was extraordinary and well-deserved, absolutely self-induced, and a man that would never be seen the same again,” she added.

“OJ Simpson played an important role in exposing the racial divisions in America,” attorney Alan Dershowitz, an adviser on Simpson’s legal “dream team” told the Associated Press by telephone. “His trial also exposed police corruption among some officials in the Los Angeles Police Department. He will leave a mixed legacy. Great athlete. Many people think he was guilty. Some think he was innocent.”

“Cookie and I are praying for O.J. Simpson’s children … and his grandchildren following his passing. I know this is a difficult time,” Magic Johnson said on X.

“I feel that the system failed Nicole Brown Simpson and failed battered women everywhere,” attorney Gloria Allred, who once represented Nicole’s family, told ABC News. “I don’t mourn for O.J. Simpson. I do mourn for Nicole Brown Simpson and her family, and they should be remembered.”

Simpson was diagnosed with prostate cancer about a year ago and was undergoing chemotherapy treatment, according to Pro Football Hall of Fame President Jim Porter. He died in his Las Vegas, Nevada, home with his family at his side.

He is survived by four children: Arnelle and Jason from his first marriage and Sydney and Justin from his second marriage. He was predeceased son, Aaren, who drowned in a family swimming pool in 1979.

Sources for this report include Wikipedia, ABC News, Associated Press, and X.

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post

Arts and Culture

Gov. Newsom and First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom Host 2024 Hall of Fame Ceremony

Former Assembly Speaker and San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown and three other African Americans were among 10 luminaries inducted into the 2024 Class of the California Hall of Fame on Feb. 8. The 17th Annual California Hall of Fame ceremony was held at the California Museum.

Published

2 months ago

February 24, 2024

Oakland Post

Willie Brown, Former California Assembly Speaker and San Francisco Mayor, was proud to be among the Hall of Fame inductees. CBM photo by Antonio Ray Harvey.

By California Black Media

Former Assembly Speaker and San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown and three other African Americans were among 10 luminaries inducted into the 2024 Class of the California Hall of Fame on Feb. 8.

The 17^th Annual California Hall of Fame ceremony was held at the California Museum.

“The California Hall of Fame is one of our families’ favorite traditions as it is a time to come together to celebrate remarkable Californians as well as their loved ones because we know that it is about partnerships,” Siebel Newsom said. “The governor likes to say that California is a dream factory because it doesn’t matter what zip code or background you come from, the California dream is alive and well to everyone who calls this state home.”

The other Black honorees were filmmaker Ava DuVernay; Federal Judge and civil rights leader, the Hon. Thelton Henderson; and basketball Hall of Fame player and broadcaster Cheryl Miller.

“It’s what I’ve been waiting for and to be among a great group of individuals that also deserve the honor,” Brown told California Black Media on the event’s red carpet before the ceremony began. “No, I never thought someone from Texas would be recognized this way. But here I am, and it all happened in the great state of California. It’s a fantastic feeling.”

Other 2024 inductees are: master chef and “mother of fusion cuisine” Helene An; computer scientist and “father of the internet” Vincent A. Cerf; all-female pop punk band The Go-Gos; Chicano Rock band Los Lobos; former U.S. Secretary of Defense and Congressman Leon E. Panetta; and artistic director and choreographer Brenda Way.

This year’s honorees join a history-making club with over 150 inspirational Californians previously inducted for their groundbreaking achievements and personifying the state’s innovative spirit.

“It’s just a humbling experience. I want to thank the Governor and First Partner. Who would have thought 100 years ago (that I would be inducted?) It’s incredible,” Miller said after her induction. “I want to thank the governor and First Partner for an incredible event.”

During his acceptance speech, Henderson said he was deeply honored.

“You know, it really would have been a really big deal to be inducted into the Hall of Fame in the area where I grew up, for example, South Central Hall of Fame, or the Watts Hall of Fame, or the Straight Out of Compton Hall of Fame,” he said. “But being inducted into the California Hall of Fame, Hall of Fame of the greatest state in the country in this great nation is something else.”