Members of the San Francisco 49ers' tight-lipped front office surely must be nodding and laughing after reading bulletin-board material from former general manager Scot McCloughan, now a personnel man for the rival Seattle Seahawks.
"They come to our place Christmas Eve and we're going to beat the hell out of 'em," McCloughan said, according to Mike Silver.
Silver wrote mostly about how McCloughan, the 49ers' former general manager, played a role in putting together the team's current NFC West-winning roster. That should be obvious to anyone following the 49ers closely. But that one quote about beating the hell out of the 49ers will only reinforce perceptions inside the 49ers that McCloughan, though a good football man overall, could be a little too loose in his dealings with reporters, and that he might have been better suited in scouting than out front as GM.
It's tough to say whether comments from a former GM can provide inspiration that manifests itself on the field, but no matter what happens when the Seahawks and 49ers play Saturday, the comments from McCloughan will become part of the narrative. What McCloughan said will command more attention than all he did while helping put together the 49ers' current roster.