On December 28, 2008, at the ripe age of about 28 years, Jed York was named the President/Owner of the San Francisco 49ers. His parents, Marie Denise DeBartolo York and John York became co-chairmen responsible for providing resources and maintaining their role of interacting the other NFL owners and executives. Even at 28, little York was as experienced as his parents at running an NFL franchise. If he needed any advice, the kid was better off going to his uncle, Eddie DeBartolo, seeing as he was the maniac that oversaw a football dynasty in San Francisco.
Jed York was pushed into the fire. It was certainly a strange ownership structure in San Francisco. Initially, I thought that he was a spoiled little kid with a great new toy. He had some stumbles, as you'd expect, while trying to get the franchise back on track. Hiring Mike Singletary as head coach was a tragic mistake but that decision may not have been his. Once little York gained his footing he's been terrific. I was wrong to jump to any conclusions without giving him a chance. He was wise to leave Trent Baalke alone to make football decisions. Despite his youth, he looked ready for the big time throughout the successful push for a new stadium. Basically, I've been impressed with the kid.
Little York impressed me even more with the way that he handled a situation with Ray Lewis. The retired linebacker tossed out the accusation that someone killed the lights at the Super Bowl because his Baltimore Ravens team was running away with the game. York tweeted "there is no conspiracy. I pulled the plug." Nice. Despite his incredible youth, Jed York has really grown into his role as team leader. His team is playing fantastic and they look like they are built to sustain it. Now, we'll have to see if his team can reach the great success that they reached with his uncle.
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