When the great Ronnie Lott speaks, it’s worth listening.
The greatest safety of all time joined Murph and Mac on Monday to discuss everything from Stephen Curry’s golfing excellence to Patrick Mahomes and the outlook for the 49ers this season.
On the latter front, Lott loved the addition of Javon Hargrave.
The Hall of Famer thinks the addition of the defensive tackle, who had 11.0 sacks last season, will be massive in the locker room and on the field. He expects Hargrave to lead.
“The young man had been brought in from Philly, obviously, been there, he’s touched it, he’s been around it,” Lott said. “He’s seen it. I think he sets an incredible tone for the opportunity of where they want to go.
“And I think having a guy like that, getting stronger up front — you just have to win up front. I mean, like I look back at the things that we were able to accomplish, but clearly up front we had some guys that were just unbelievable football players.”
Lott likened the signing of Hargrave to three signings that Bill Walsh made from his former team, the Air Coryell Chargers.
San Francisco traded for Hall of Famer Fred Dean in 1981, then signed Louie Kelcher for his final season in 1984 along with Gary “Big Hands” Johnson. Those three had played their entire careers with the Chargers before joining the 49ers for the 1984 Super Bowl-winning season.
“When Bill did what he did by bringing three of those guys from the Chargers to our team to make our team better, that was unbelievable,” Lott said. “So when you think about Louie Kelcher and you think about [Gary] ‘Big Hands’ Johnson and Dean-O, Fred Dean. You bring those three guys. Those three guys were like the guy that they brought from Philly.”
If Hargrave — who spent four years in Pittsburgh, then three with the Eagles — has anywhere near the same impact those three did with the 49ers, he’ll be well worth the four-year, $84 million deal San Francisco doled out.
Listen to the full interview above. You can listen to every KNBR interview on our podcast page at knbr.com/podcasts or wherever you listen to podcasts.
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