The 49ers' 2009 draft class is got their first taste of Mike Singletary NFL football this morning, as drills and workouts are underway at 49ers headquarters in Santa Clara. The seven newly-drafted 49ers met the media yesterday, and 12 other undrafted rookies were added to the roster.
The rookie minicamp is always an exciting development -- because none of them are holding out yet. The Chronicle has a rundown of the new guys' media powwow yesterday, but the players were also meeting with their position coaches and being fitted for their new unforms. It's a voluntary minicamp, and intended primarily for the rookies. Veterans are not required to particpicate until the June 5-7 minicamp a month from now.
There are now 19 new rookie 49ers -- the seven we drafted last weekend, plus the twelve undrafted rookies signed yesterday. Niners Nation has your most definitive rundown of these undrafted rooks, and Cal fans will surely be stoked to hear that middle linebacker Worrell Williams will be there as well. Rob Colange at The Examiner reports that the Sactown native is there on a tryout basis, and may be offered a contract.
The most celebrated new rookie, first round pick Michael Crabtree, is present but not participating in drills. He's still recovering from off-season stress fracture surgery, and the team is being particularly cautious with him. Crabtree appears to be on schedule, though, telling 49ers.com, "Everything is healing right; I should be ready to go soon."
One intriguing guy we're rooting for is quarteback Nate "The Great" Davis, a fifth round selection from Ball State. Davis gave several teams the jits, because he was diagnosed with dyslexia and has trouble reading playbooks. All Davis did was lead his team to an undefeated 9-0 record last year, in the tiny, inconsequential Mid-American Conference. The same tiny, inconsequential Mid-American Conference that produced Ben Roethlisberger, Chad Pennington, and Byron Leftwich.
All the new guys seem to have great attitudes, and seem to be enjoying their experience with the 49ers. Or at least, they will be enjoying it until Singletary starts making them run that dirt hill.
Joe Kukura is a freelance writer who would not even make it one time up the dirt hill.
