(Photo by Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images)
Writer's note: This is the second installment of the San Francisco 49ers All “No” Team; the first can be viewed here: The San Francisco 49ers' All-"No" Team, Pt. 1: The Skill Positions.
“To live in this town you must be tough, tough, tough, tough, tough!”
— The Rolling Stones, 1978
Please remember that being bad doesn’t always get you on the team, though it does help. The decision to bring you in, or even to release you, might be the deciding factor for this team.
The Defensive Line
Defensive End: Israel Ifeanyi
The 49ers draft of 1996 was one of anticipation. Having traded their No. 1 pick the previous year for the right to draft wide receiver J.J. Stokes at the No. 10 spot (sound familiar?), the 49ers didn’t have a pick until halfway through the second round.
I remember wondering if ESPN would even get to the pick before they passed the broadcast off to their fledgling sister station—ESPN 2.
The 49ers were in desperate need of pass-rush help after trading Charles Haley to the Dallas Cowboys in 1992 and never adequately replacing him.
Who would be the next pass rush specialist in San Francisco?
The name was in: Israel Ifeanyi.
My reaction: “Who the hell is Israel Ifeanyi?”
Judging from Chris Berman’s non-verbal cues as he read the name, his reaction was about the same.
During the press conference, George Seifert seemed genuinely excited to have landed the defensive end from USC. I remember Seifert saying that Ifeanyi had the quickest hands he had ever seen.
Too bad the 49ers were looking for a pass-rush specialist and not a patty-cake champion.
Considered to be a project, the native of Nigeria just never developed. He played in only three games in 1996 and was credited with zero tackles and zero sacks.
In judging the rookie class of 1996, Bob Glauber of The Sporting News provides an excellent segue for my next defensive lineman:
“The 49ers are hoping Ifeanyi doesn't turn into another Todd Kelly. Looks iffy to me.”
Defensive End: Todd Kelly
Todd Kelly cost the 49ers their first round pick (No. 27 overall) in the 1993 draft. He lasted with the team just two seasons before being jettisoned and landing with the Cincinnati Bengals.
In Kelly’s four-year career, he recorded 5.5 sacks, 3.5 of those coming in his banner year with the 49ers, 1994.
The 49ers did atone for Kelly in the 1994 draft, landing probable Hall of Fame player—and all around class act—Bryant Young.
It is just too bad that in rooming with Young, nothing rubbed off on Kelly.
Defensive Tackle: Reggie McGrew
It seems as if the 49ers have had their share of early-round defensive linemen busts, and Reggie McGrew was no exception.
The 49ers selected the defensive tackle out of Florida, with the No. 27 pick overall in the 1999 draft.
McGrew played two seasons for the 49ers and appeared in two games with the Atlanta Falcons in 2002.
Career stats: Two sacks, nine tackles...’nuff said.
Defensive End: Gabe Wilkins
Rounding out the starting defensive line for the All-"No" Team is free agent acquisition Gabe Wilkins.
Wilkins was viewed as the prize defensive free agent during the offseason of 1998.
Wilkins had spent his first four years with the Green Bay Packers and was seen as the next superstar defensive end. In his last year with the Pack, he registered 5.5 sacks, recorded a 77-yard "pick-six," and recovered three fumbles, returning one of them for a score.
A $4.5 million signing bonus seemed like nothing after luring him away from dreaded division rivals, the St. Louis Rams
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