In this Wednesday edition of Niners Daily, we highlight a new player, take a trip around the NFL and catch you up on our documentary series.
49ers Fans-turned-49ers Players
Desmond Bishop, the inside linebacker signed on Tuesday to back up presumed starter Nick Moody, was picked in the same 2007 NFL Draft as new teammate Joe Staley.
"I have been watching him ever since," Bishop, a sixth-round pick of the Green Bay Packers said on Tuesday. "I know the whole defense just from watching."
But Bishop has been watching the 49ers for more than a few years.
A Cal product by way of San Francisco Community College, Bishop has his heroes.
"William Floyd was one of my favorites," the Fairfield, Calif. native said. "I played fullback at that time, so I wanted to be like him."
Bishop joined a roster that has two more fans-turned-players.
From our Dec. 3 story on reserve quarterback and Oakland native Josh Johnson:
Johnson said his loyalty to the 49ers has been consistent since the 1990s. Even when Pro Football Hall of Famer Jerry Rice switched sides from the 49ers to Raiders in 2001, Johnson maintained his allegiance.
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"At first, I was kind of upset, but I understood why he left," Johnson said of the most famous player to don both Bay Area uniforms. "He wanted to keep playing, and they had moved on here. It was too bad (the Raiders) had all that success with him."
**From our May 13 story on veteran wideout and San Francisco native Stevie Johnson:
He has goals of following in the footsteps of the players he watched as a young boy.
- "With me being a receiver, of course you watch Jerry Rice, but when I first got into football it was when T.O. (Terrell Owens) was making his breakout year," Johnson said. "So that was the guy I watched. T.O., and Deion (Sanders), when he came in that one year, he turned it up."*
Around the NFL
The Vault
There are only two episodes left in season one of 49ers Studios' "The Faithful."
The show's pilot episode will get you started if you want to catch up and see them all.
