ESPN NFL

Posted by ESPN.com's Mike Sando

Former 49ers president Carmen Policy, writing in the San Francisco Chronicle, says the team should do more to make sure its next stadium is in San Francisco. Easy for him to say, and arguably self-serving. Securing public funds to partially finance a football stadium -- the way business has gotten done in the NFL -- has been virtually impossible in California.

David Chiu of the San Francisco Chronicle says political will and cooperation from the 49ers -- not public financing -- should be enough to keep the 49ers in San Francisco. Chiu: "Now is the time for the 49ers to work with Mayor Gavin Newsom and our Board of Supervisors to complete plans for the proposed site in Bayview-Hunters Point. We need to envision a Super Bowl victory parade on Market Street with red-and-gold banners streaming up that great boulevard to a City Hall celebration rather than a march that would end at the Great America parking lot."

The San Francisco Chronicle provides comments from fans as to what San Francisco must do to keep the team's home games in San Francisco. Tony Daysog of Alameda: "Maybe I am just one of those people who don't get it. But, to me, it's not that big of a deal if the Niners leave the city of San Francisco. They will still be the San Francisco 49ers. Do the New York Giants play in New York? No."

Niners vice president Lisa Lang, writing in the San Francisco Chronicle, explains why she thinks Santa Clara makes more sense than San Francisco for a 49ers stadium. Lang: "1. New freeway interchanges, roads and public transportation needed for the area would be funded from the sale of 10,000 new homes at Candlestick, which made it unclear when the infrastructure would be complete; 2. The developers' plan for game-day parking did not work for our fans; 3. The scale of the new development would have put fans in a construction zone for many years."

San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom, writing in the Chronicle, says it's up to the 49ers to decide whether they want their new stadium in San Francisco. Newsom uses the word "but" four times, generally after indicating a desire to keep the 49ers in San Francisco. He sounded resigned to losing the 49ers to Santa Clara.

John Diaz of the San Francisco Chronicle says influential political consultant Jack Davis could influence the vote for a new stadium in Santa Clara if he chose to get involved.

Mark Purdy of the San Jose Mercury News mocks Newsom and San Francisco, accusing both of "hard drive envy" in their attitude toward Santa Clara's relationship with the 49ers. Purdy: "Ever since the 49ers decided to cast their fate with Santa Clara, the hard drive envy has returned. San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom still sounds completely baffled about why the NFL team would reject his city's fabulous plan for a new 49ers stadium to be built on a former toxic waste site that is almost impossible to reach from the nearest freeway."