49ers release Mirer, plan to start Hearst
Advertiser News Services
Quarterback Rick Mirer, a former No. 2 overall draft pick who has played for five NFL teams, was waived by the San Francisco 49ers yesterday.
The move comes one day after coach Steve Mariucci said second-year pro Tim Rattay, who has thrown one NFL pass, had beaten out Mirer for the 49ers' backup job behind Jeff Garcia.
Mirer was just one of three veteran nonstarters on the 49ers' extremely young roster, and though general manager Terry Donahue said Mirer's release was a football decision, it also gave the 49ers a bit of salary cap room heading into the season.
"Our only option was to take the player who was the furthest down on the depth chart and make the savings there," Donahue said. "The only place we could get any cap room at all was the third-string quarterback."
Donahue said Mirer, who wasn't available for comment, was "very disappointed" by the move. Donahue also left open the possibility that the 49ers could bring back Mirer during the season if he remained unsigned and the team desperately needed another quarterback.
The 49ers signed third-year pro Kevin Daft to be the team's third quarterback.
Meanwhile, coach Steve Mariucci announced that Garrison Hearst will start at running back Sunday against Atlanta.
Hearst, a former Pro Bowler who rushed for 4,509 yards with three teams from 1995-98, hasn't played since a January 1999 playoff game against the Falcons in which he broke his left leg just above the ankle.
"We'll start with Garrison, and we'll use (rookie) Kevan Barlow quite a bit also," Mariucci said. "Our plan is to mix everybody into the lineup."
REDSKINS
• Green makes it official: Darrell Green has always said that his football career is secondary to his family, his church and his community. He admits that he unashamedly built his celebrity status so he could use it to help his non-profit foundation.
It was no surprise, then, when the veteran cornerback launched his farewell tour yesterday on an upbeat note, with more talk about his exciting future than his glorious past.
"I learned a long time ago that this is just a job, a means to an end," Green, 41, said. "Now it's time for the real deal."
Green, once known as the "NFL's fastest man," formally announced that he will retire at the end of the season, his team record 19th with Washington.
Green was the Redskins' first-round draft pick (28th overall) from Texas A&M in 1983. He owns team records for interceptions (53), regular-season games played (263) and regular-season games started (250).
REFEREES
• Negotiations go nowhere: The NFL and its locked-out officials got nowhere in negotiations yesterday, despite facing a midweek deadline to reach a deal or go into the regular season with the replacements who worked last week's exhibition games.
Tom Condon, the chief negotiator for NFL Referees Association, wouldn't even describe yesterday's talks as "negotiations" between two sides that are from 50-75 percent apart in their salary proposals.
"I'm disappointed, but I'm also very pleased with how the officials that are coming in performed this past weekend," said Dallas owner Jerry Jones.
The two sides will meet again today.
