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00:00The River Islands guest line. All guests on 95.7 The Game appear on the River Islands
00:04guest line. Isn't it time for you to discover the islands? River Islands in Lathrop. Let's
00:09welcome in Jesse Sapolu, four-time Super Bowl champion, Pro Bowl guard, Pro Bowl center.
00:15Jesse, thank you so much for joining us. Really appreciate it.
00:20No problem. Thanks, guys.
00:22Absolutely. There's some panic among 49er fans, Jesse. Obviously, the team's five and five.
00:30Let me just start out by asking you your overall thoughts on why has this
00:36season so far been disappointing and underwhelming? Well, we're not in riddle.
00:43It's not from lack of trying. Just like this past game, we had nine penalties.
00:51I think four or five of those penalties were long plays that put us into the red zone.
00:56And you think about it, once you're in the red zone, you're really looking at three points.
01:01So it's just we haven't, things haven't bounced our way. And the games that we lost,
01:08you know, we lost in L.A. We had no business losing that game. We lost by one to Arizona,
01:15I believe. And in this game, we should have won this game. So it's not that lack of design.
01:23It's, you know, you can't have penalties when you have big plays. It's just a lack of execution.
01:28And, you know, when you perform at a high level, you know, these teams, these Niner teams have
01:36gone to at least four NFC championship games in the last five years in the Super Bowl.
01:43Well, I know what that feels like because I played in eight NFC championship games, you know,
01:48to get my four Super Bowls. It's taxing. I mean, it works on your body. And I just hope that
01:56our guys, you know, the great thing about it is we're in a division that gives us a real good
02:02chance. So we're just going to take it one game at a time. Jesse, I'm the captain of the Monday
02:07morning quarterback club. So I've got a few questions for you. You know, the offensive
02:12line as a whole, we've seen Brock Purdy run more than he ever has. And we're like, is that what he
02:18wants to do? Or is that just he has to do it? What have you made of this offensive line,
02:25including Trent Williams? Because Jesse, it just seems like they're not winning their battles.
02:31Well, you know, absolutely. And the thing that I talked about, even the great Trent Williams,
02:37when you hold out, and I'm saying this from experience, I held out for a month
02:42and I held out twice in my career. It takes a good three weeks for you to return back your legs. No
02:49matter how much workouts you do, there's nothing that can replace training camp and football type
02:56of shape. It's a shame that Brandon Ayuk, he struggled the first couple of games. He was
03:01just starting to come into his own. And then he blew ACL, you know. So that kind of knocked us
03:09off rhythm a little bit. The line, I think the line for the most part has been playing pretty
03:14good. You know, anytime that Brock Purdy doesn't throw in rhythm and pulls it down,
03:20that means the line is doing their job. Now, is he running more? Yeah, yeah, he is. And it's
03:25made a difference in some of the games, like in Seattle. I wish he ran a little bit more
03:30in the Super Bowl, because if you think back to the Detroit game, the NFC championship game,
03:35it was his running that kind of brought us back in the second half. So, you know, football,
03:41it's not a machine where you can press the button and things happen exactly the way you want it to
03:46be. You know, the ring that I wear the most out of my four rings is the ring the team that started
03:53six and five, you know, because when I'm lecturing kids and I'm trying to motivate kids, that is the
04:00season that made me grow as a man more than any other season. And I played on the team that won
04:0618 and one. I'm the first team to ever play 18 and one. I played on the team that I believe
04:11is the best 49er team that won 17 and two and beat up Denver 55 to 10. So I've been on both
04:20sides of the spectrum. I understand what it doesn't work out the way you want it all the time.
04:25Like that six and five team, we must have had three or four players only meetings.
04:29And that's why that ring is so dear to me, because, you know, a lot of people thank God
04:35there was no social media, but a lot of people gave up on us. A lot of people gave up on us.
04:41And we came back, put it together and went on to get to the Super Bowl.
04:46Jesse Sapolu joining us on 95.7, the game four time Super Bowl champion with the San Francisco
04:5149ers. Jesse, you played till you were 36 years old. And, you know, Trent Williams is is 36 right
04:58now is and, you know, the the word is I'm not I'm no offensive line expert, but, you know,
05:04he's not quite living up to his Hall of Fame standards when when you get to be 35, 36. What
05:12what what do you notice that you can't do that may not be a big deal, but but you can notice
05:19it as an offensive lineman when you watch a player like Trent Williams.
05:25I think I'm the wrong person. I'm the wrong person to ask that, but I felt like I could
05:30have played when I'm 37, 38. So you didn't lose you didn't lose anything at 36.
05:36Well, you know, if you're a competitor, right, you know, and we all know, you know, Trent is
05:43one of the best competitors out there. You know, you don't you know, you never admit that to
05:47yourself. But here's the here's the thing that picks up though. My experience and how the game
05:53has slowed down, you know, for me compared to when I was a fresh rookie and my second,
06:00third year, fourth, fifth when I was in my prime. Yeah, once I understood the game and
06:07self-correct myself anticipate things that before they happen, the game slows down for you a lot.
06:14So, you know, I know Trent is getting up there and there's nobody on that team that I want
06:20the 49ers to win a Super Bowl for than Trent, you know, but I guarantee you one thing. He's
06:26seen a lot of things happen over his career and that he can anticipate things before it happens.
06:32That's how you make up when you get up there in age, you know, we I always make fun of the kids
06:36now because they always talk about all my 40, you know, I know this guy that runs a 4-4-4-5,
06:42he plays linebacker. I said, but if the plane's going to the right and he false step to the left,
06:46he just became a five black guy. Wow. You know, I mean, and that's the reality of the game. So
06:53you're asking me as a player, you know, I get it, but I guarantee you Trent, the game has slowed
06:59down for him out of anticipating things before they happen. That's how you make up for the age
07:04thing. But, but I get where people is coming from because, you know, it's hard to play a career that
07:11long. And like I said, I think we have time to, to, to put this thing together because we're only
07:18one game back, to be honest with you. No facts, Jesse. And I've been one of the guys like, you
07:23know what, when McCaffrey gets back, it'll pop the offense will pop and it hasn't popped. And Debo
07:29Samuel, I can remember Jesse when he was the offense. I remember what he's done in the playoffs,
07:35but this season, it seems like he's just been rendered ineffective. And we're hearing whispers
07:40of have defensive caught up with this Niner offense and Kyle scheme. When you hear that,
07:45how, how, how do you respond to that? Well, you remember when Kyle was the Atlanta
07:53offensive coordinator, right? I mean, everybody thought that offense was unstoppable. They had a
07:59lead in the Superbowl and they had a good chance to win that Superbowl. So they've been, you know,
08:06so he has tweaked his office for that long, you know, and for him to keep going back
08:13to the NFC championship games time and time again, I truly believe that the only way we're going to
08:18win a Superbowl is we keep taking our shots. I sit here at home thinking I should have six
08:23Superbowl rings, but you know, we ran into the Dallas Cowboys in the nineties, you know?
08:28Uh, so it's just the ebb and flow of life. Now, I think I want to say to the Niner fans,
08:35you want to bring back chip Kelly? Do you want to bring back Erickson? Do you want to bring back?
08:40What, what, what are you, what are you willing to live with? Do you, are you willing to live with
08:44like the Raider fans? We're halfway through the year. They're already looking to 225,
08:492025, or do you want to be a team that, yeah, we haven't won the Superbowl, but we've got a coach
08:56under 50 years old that has taken us to two Superbowls and fall for NFC championship games.
09:03You know, whether we want it or not, I guarantee you, I proud, I wear my 49er shirt with pride,
09:09knowing that we're one of the best in the league and he's young enough. He's young enough to where
09:14once he breaks through, you know, I'm thinking watch out, you know, it's just one of those
09:19deals. I mean, you know, coach Reed, when he was with Philadelphia, he was in his fifties,
09:26you know, and now he's, he's starting to win some in, you know, in his sixties. So
09:31it's really up to what the fans want, you know, but for me, I know what we got. I know the general
09:38manager that we got that people criticize with no experience. Now we all know it's one of the
09:43best right now. So we just gotta, we gotta tweak a few things, you know, like you're right. You
09:49know, Debo hasn't showed the results that he has showed in the past, but you look at the play that,
09:54that they, they use Debo in, you have to block, you have to block for him to get through some of
10:02those things. And, and like I said, it's just us not in, in sync right now as a team, because I
10:09think four of our five losses were, you know, almost sure wins for us. We just lost the league
10:15late. Correct some of those things and, and keep, you know, that season while we started
10:20off six and five, I'm telling you, we had four, four players only meetings. And after the first
10:26three, it didn't work out the way we wanted. We kept meeting and all of a sudden the tide
10:30started turning and that's where I get my experience from. And that's where I get my hope from.
10:36Jesse Sapolu joining us on 95.7, the game four times Superbowl champion. How,
10:42how is it possible to even, how do you assess Brock Purdy when McCaffrey's missed eight games?
10:50I, you came in what wasn't great and then got hurt. Pierce all comes in halfway through the
10:55season after his unfortunate incident, Kittle, Jennings and Debo have each missed a game or two.
11:01Like, is it, can you get an accurate read on Brock Purdy with all the stuff that's happening around
11:07him? There's no question about pretty quarterback of the future. I mean,
11:14he was a kid. If you remember a couple of years ago when, when Jimmy G got hurt, you know, and
11:20against Miami, I mean, you could, you could, you could feel everybody's heart in Levi's stadium
11:27drop a little bit because you know, we, we, we, we, we thought that our chances are out the window
11:34and, and, and this kid brought us and took us in the brink of getting to the Superbowl
11:40when he tore the ligament of his, of his elbow. Now, and then last year he took us to the Superbowl.
11:46So technically he had a shot of taking us to two Superbowls in a row. There's no question. Now,
11:53the thing that I see him do sometimes is he's pressing a little bit, you know, this year.
12:00Now, is that from injuries? Maybe, you know, but I think the game we lost against the Rams,
12:06he played a great game, you know? Uh, uh, you know, this is his contract year,
12:14is that in the back of his mind, you know? Uh, but hey, this is a no excuse league. You gotta
12:20find a way to get your rhythm. I think we, we, we show a lot of flashes of in a real good team,
12:28you know? Uh, but at the same time, you know, like this past game is frustrating.
12:33You know, every time we had a big play into the red zone, we had a penalty, a holding call or
12:38something like that. And that takes points off the board. And then you end up losing by three
12:42with 12 seconds left. You know, those are the things I look at as a, as a former player.
12:47Uh, uh, and those are the things that are very correctable. And, and the only way I know how
12:53to correct those things is keep putting your head down, keep studying and keep focusing on
12:58executing, uh, uh, in a better way where you don't get call for penalties that, that kill our momentum.
13:04Jesse, you kind of hit me just a second ago when you said it's a no excuse league. And I'm a guy,
13:09Jesse, that thought Steve Wilkes got a raw deal, but it was funny. There was venom early on for
13:14him and now he's gone and sourcing is here, but Hargrave is, is gone for the season. Looks like
13:21Bosa might not play this Sunday. So Jesse fans are calling for the defensive coordinator to
13:26make something happen, but without his best players, is that realistic? Or are you saying,
13:33no, Nick, you got to dial something up this Sunday in green Bay.
13:38Well, you gotta, you gotta take what you got and, and, and play the best you can. Cause ain't
13:44nobody going to feel sorry. You know, I want to feel sorry for you. Uh, you know, some of the
13:51rules that, that we had as an office, but if you look at the offices I played on, you know,
13:56I think the lowest rank we've ever had was third in the league. You know, we're always first or
14:01second. But if you look at the points that the defense are playing with, they're very reasonable
14:09for us to win games. You know, now the thing that was a little alarming is,
14:16you know, the, the, the, the scenario was, was perfect for us for the defense to win this fast
14:22game. And we didn't do it. You know, again, like I said, it's an execution. It's all 11 guys
14:29that'll be able to do their job, you know, because, uh, Gino's scrambled a couple of times
14:35for key big first downs and a touchdown. You know, you got to stay in your lane,
14:39you know, little things like that, you know, and if you look at the D line for the most part,
14:44you know, considering, uh, the, the defense of tacos, I thought put some pressure on, on Gino,
14:49you know, and both have played a great game until he, he got hurt. But at the same time,
14:54you know, the game is 60 minutes. You can't be undisciplined and get out of your lane.
14:59So the quarterback can run for a touchdown. You know, that's where I say it's a, it's a no
15:04excuse link, you know, because you still gotta be responsible for that stuff. But, but for me,
15:10as a fan of these guys, and as a former player, I see a lot of bright spots that if we can just,
15:16you know, keep putting our heads down and focus on executing cut down on the penalties and things
15:21like that. I think we've got a shot to turn this thing around. All right, Jesse, I'm going to let
15:26you out of here on this one. One of the things we've been asking this week, and you know, we're
15:30radio guys. So we, we say, I said to my partner, if you had to bet a thousand dollars, a thousand,
15:36if you have to, but since you're Jesse Sipolo, I'm going to use a hundred thousand. If you had
15:42to bet a hundred thousand dollars, what team would you pick to win the NFC West right now?
15:49The 49ers, man. All right, so you're still there. You don't, you don't, you don't bet against the
15:55defending, you know, division champion unless, you know, and, and if we were three games behind,
16:02I would change my, my opinion. But we got seven, it's a seven game season now and everybody's
16:08got a shot. I'm going to bet on us. All right, well, we may, hopefully we won't have to revisit
16:14this next week at five and six, but Hey, thank you so much, Jesse,
16:19you're a class act and we love having you on. Thank you so much.
16:23Thank you guys. Have a great day.