Debartolo: 49Er Owner Is Envy Of League

SAN FRANCISCO - In locker rooms all across the National Football League, stories have been told of how San Francisco 49ers' owner Edward DeBartolo Jr. has created the closest thing to paradise on earth for professional football players. Stories of all-expense-paid vacations, first-class travel and training accommodations and thoughtful gifts for wives and children. Stories of top salaries and an owner who wants to win and damn the expense. Stories, in short, that seem too good to be true.

So, what about those stories? Fact or fiction? Permitting himself a small smile, defensive end Pierce Holt answered, ``It's all true; it's not hype.''

The lifestyle of the Team of the '80s is just what players on the outside looking in have imagined. Some find themselves wishing the 49ers' golden gates would open for them. ``I've had players from other teams say during games, `Hey, man, ask Eddie to trade for me,' '' 49ers' tackle Harris Barton said. ``Eddie runs this team different than other owners. He's more of a players' owner. He gives you everything you need to be competitive.''

DeBartolo was 31 when he purchased the 49ers for $17 million in 1977 and made the renovation of the franchise his passion. He is the son of 81-year-old Edward DeBartolo Sr., the largest shopping-center developer in the world with an estimated net worth of at least $1.4 billion. Of all the edifices constructed by the DeBartolo Corporation, the 49ers are the showpiece.

The 49ers' cachet has grown not simply because they have won four Super Bowl trophies in the past decade, including the last two in a row. Their allure is related to the style in which their victories have been achieved. In diamonds, the word is Tiffany's. In professional football, it's DeBartolo.

San Francisco has come to be viewed as the Riviera of the NFL, a destination resort. But it's not just an expression of material wealth. ``It's like a big family,'' Holt said. ``They don't just say it; they show it in the way you're treated. I get a feeling of sincere interest not only in the performance of the club but in the individual off the field.''

Team vacations top the list of perks. Joe Montana's last-minute touchdown pass to John Taylor two seasons ago in Super Bowl XXIII beat the Cincinnati Bengals and won the 49ers a trip to Youngstown, Ohio, which may not rank as a garden spot but is the home office of the DeBartolo Corp. The team stayed in a DeBartolo-owned hotel and was treated to a lavish party at which they received their championship rings.

``Everything was taken care of,'' Barton said. ``The room service guys wouldn't even take tips. You felt like you were being waited on hand and foot. It was almost like everybody was Joe Montana.''

The Niners' 55-10 Super Bowl XXIV blowout of Denver last January earned them a five-day trip to Hawaii, where they stayed in a resort hotel on the island of Kauai. ``All the wives and dates received 49ers' watches,'' Barton said. ``All the week's activities were paid for - golf, scuba diving, fishing trips. You had access to cars to go around the island. If you wanted to sit by the pool, you were wasting your time. There were lunch buffets and luaus for dinner. It was like going to Club Med, but you didn't have to trade in your beads at the end.''

The San Francisco-based rock group Huey Lewis and the News played for three hours at the ring ceremony, and some of the players got on stage to sing with Lewis. The celebration probably cost DeBartolo close to $1 million, but that's the kind of guy he is.

``First of all, I think the family and company always have done things that way,'' Eddie Jr. explained. ``It's not dollars and cents so much as just a way of doing things. This is what I was used to. I didn't just say, `I'm going to do this with the 49ers because it's going to help us.' A lot of people don't realize I was doing this when we were 2-14 (in 1978 and '79).

``I think people perceive when there's something that starts from the beginning that there's a care and willingness to want you to be a part of something. It didn't just happen. We went through some tough times, but I never changed my style. The only thing that changed was the players and the way things were perceived and people getting used to being part of our organization.''

It seems nothing is too good for his 49ers. When they fly cross-country to games, each player has his own row of seats and is served two first-class meals. The majority of players get single hotel rooms instead of doubling up, as most NFL teams do on the road. At home, the 49ers' two-year-old training complex is as well-manicured and well-appointed as any country club. Last Christmas, each player received a $500 gift certificate to Neiman-Marcus for his wife or girlfriend. The list goes on.

As nice as the perks are, DeBartolo's most important expenditures go to provide the best coaches and players for his team. In 1985, George Seifert stayed as defensive coordinator rather than accept the Indianapolis Colts' head coaching job. Mike Holmgren had a chance to take the New York Jets' job this year but chose to remain as offensive coordinator when DeBartolo raised his salary to the $350,000-$400,000 range.

Throughout the past decade, the 49ers never have hesitated to sign key veteran free agents, such as defensive linemen Fred Dean and Gary ``Big Hands'' Johnson, linebacker Jack ``Hacksaw'' Reynolds and running back Wendell Tyler. They picked up New York Giants nose tackle Jim Burt as a Plan B free agent last year and paid premium prices for Bills nose tackle Fred Smerlas ($750,000 for one year) and New Orleans Saints' defensive back Dave Waymer ($1.8 million for three years) to fill roles this season.

Of course, the 49ers' $20-million payroll led the NFL last season, and DeBartolo recently made Montana the league's highest-paid player with a four-year contract believed to be worth at least $14 million, including a salary this year of $4 million. Is it any wonder players on other teams dream of being traded to the 49ers?

Over the course of the 49ers' first three Super Bowl titles, most of the credit went to the coaching and organizational expertise of Bill Walsh along with the quarterbacking of Montana. There is no question Walsh developed an offensive system that is regarded as state-of-the-art and he picked excellent assistant coaches and shaped the football operation. He deserves recognition as coach of the decade.

But when Walsh retired from coaching after the 1988 season and the 49ers, under Seifert's direction, went on to win a second straight championship, it demonstrated there was much more to the 49ers' success than the controlling influence of Walsh. Winning without Walsh last season was a driving force for everyone from DeBartolo down to the water boys.

``What it proves is we have a pretty damn good organization,'' said DeBartolo, who rewarded Seifert with a gift of a fishing boat. ``It goes without saying our talent level is exceptional. We have a great coaching staff, and George is handling the job as well as I ever could have expected in my wildest dreams.

``Bill Walsh did a great job. He started things rolling and won three Super Bowls. But honest to God, I think the organization is bigger than all of us. It becomes sort of self-sustaining. This is the type of mental atmosphere I've tried to create over the years.''

The level of support DeBartolo always has provided reflects a deep competitive urge that has been appreciated by his players and 49ers fans. An NFL franchise is a highly profitable investment that becomes less so the more a team wins because of increased salaries, player development costs and playoff expenses. Some owners prefer to guard their bottom line at the expense of fielding a quality team, but cost hasn't been a drawback with DeBartolo.

``If there's a need that has to be filled, Eddie allows you to get it filled,'' linebacker Matt Millen said. ``That's how you judge an owner's commitment.''

In the past few months, DeBartolo has come under investigation by Commissioner Paul Tagliabue since it was learned he transferred ownership of the 49ers to the DeBartolo Corp. on Dec. 30, 1986, in violation of league rules that prohibit corporate ownership. Several owners and general managers criticized DeBartolo for gaining what they consider an unfair competitive advantage because the corporation can use the 49ers' losses as tax deductions.

A Forbes magazine article last May said some owners put the 49ers' losses at $15 million last season and $30 million over the past three years. Other reports have said the 49ers lost closer to $7 million last year. Team executive vice president Carmen Policy, who also serves as team counsel, declined to verify those figures, but he admitted the 49ers have lost more money than any other team in the league two of the past three years. The Washington Redskins and the Houston Oilers also are under corporate ownership, but they have either turned a profit or kept losses to a minimum.

``I made the statement to the commissioner, `The wealth of the corporation is the wealth of the family and vice versa,' '' Policy said. ``It's one pair of trousers. You may be talking about a different pocket, that's all.''