Cornerback Isaiah Oliver has agreed to document his first offseason, training camp and preseason with the San Francisco 49ers after joining the team in free agency. Over the course of the next few weeks, Oliver will share a first-person account of each of his experiences of these big events leading up to the start of the regular season. Below is his first blog entry detailing his arrival to Levi's® Stadium, taking part in the team's offseason programming and settling in with his new teammates and coaches.

It was a goal of mine going into last season to earn a multi-year contract. It was something I wanted to prove to myself, along with everyone else that believed in me, that I was able to come back from my torn ACL and play good football. It was a lot for me, it was a lot for my confidence. I feel like it helped me a lot in football, and just my game in general, being able to see it pay off in that way. I'm excited to be here. I was excited to sign here. I'm ready to get going.

Throughout the whole rehab process, patience is everything. With an ACL injury, everything takes so much time. You want to get going. You feel like you can be ahead of the curve. Everyone wants to get it over with quicker than everyone else has, but that's not how it goes. It's about taking those steps, one at a time, month to month, and that's the same thing coming into this season, just understanding patience. I was excited to get going, excited to get here, excited to play football, but the whole offseason takes steps. Everything comes as it goes, and you have to be patient with it, and I feel like I've been able to do that.

One of the reasons I signed with the 49ers is because they're building something special here. They've been knocking on the door of a Super Bowl since I got into the NFL, and to be a part of this defense is something I think all free agents take into consideration. They've been the best in the league for a while now.

Being a part of this defense is exciting for everyone involved. Especially for myself, just being new and it being different than what I've had in the past. The intensity level, the players around you is different. This 49ers defense, we're really trying to be better than they were last year. I feel like that is the biggest goal. Everyone wants to improve their game individually, and hopefully, collectively that will make us a lot better.

It was a mix of emotions my first time at Levi's® Stadium. Seeing the locker room, seeing my name up there, seeing my number up there, it was just different because it's different from what I've had in the last five years. I was excited and nervous, everything kind of all bunched into one. At the end of the day, getting on the field, getting in the helmet, getting in the shoulder pads, getting in the jersey, it was still football. It's a new logo, new team, new players but the same game. I had to remind myself of that and go out there and play ball.

Here in San Francisco, there are a lot of guys that come to train here during the OTA period when it's not mandatory. It was a lot of the team. It was a very small handful of guys that weren't here, so that was really cool because being new, you're able to meet guys, learn new things and learn the scheme from older veterans. On different teams, you might have to wait until training camp to really do that. Having them here helped me a lot.

This was probably a couple days after I signed, I remember being in the weight room, and Fred Warner came in there probably 20 or 30 minutes after I was in there lifting, and we just chopped it up for a few minutes. I thought that was really cool because being new you don't know anyone. It was cool to meet him, put a face to the name and talk ball. That got the transition started.

Everyone being here for veteran minicamp and seeing the whole team was really cool, and then, being able to go out on the field and compete and crank it up in that period is great. That was my first true experience of 49ers football.

The biggest perception of 49ers football, as a whole on the field, is the physicality. That's the statement that's been made over the last few years. As someone who used to go up against the 49ers, I remember preparing for those weeks. Coach would talk about how physical the game would be, how difficult it would be, this and that, and coming into the system and being out on the field with those guys, I can understand why that was the case. It jumps out at you on the field. I'm trying to fit into that any way I can, whether that is in the run game, the pass game, whatever it may be. You have to be that physical player on this 49ers football team.