Spartan Daily

49ers' Historic Season Started at Spartan Stadium

Derik Irvin

Before their improbable 13-3 season and appearance in the NFC Championship at famed Candlestick Park, the San Francisco 49ers players found themselves in a much smaller setting — Spartan Stadium.

Before their improbable 13-3 season and appearance in the NFC Championship at famed Candlestick Park, the San Francisco 49ers players found themselves in a much smaller setting — Spartan Stadium.

The 49ers found a home away from home at SJSU during the 2011 NFL lockout and rekindled a partnership between the two programs in the process.

Since 2004, the San Francisco 49ers and SJSU Athletics have gone hand-in-hand.

Bill Walsh, an SJSU alumnus and 49ers coaching legend, sought out Tom Bowen, the executive director of the 49ers Foundation at the time, and the two agreed Bowen would become the athletic director at SJSU in December 2004, replacing Chuck Bell.

“Bill Walsh ran a search and asked me to become athletic director after my time with the 49ers,” said SJSU athletic director Tom Bowen.

Since then, several professional football teams with ties to Bowen, including the New England Patriots and Dallas Cowboys, have practiced and worked out at Spartan Stadium and used its facilities.

The venue was also home to the New Orleans Saints after Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast during the summer of 2005.

In March 2011, the 49ers started practicing and working out at Spartan Stadium in what became known as Camp Alex, a training camp-like series of practices coordinated by 49ers’ quarterback Alex Smith.

“Our relationship with the 49ers has been continuous since 2004 when I became the athletic director,” Bowen said.

Chris Holder, the director of strength and conditioning at SJSU, said the amount of players that live in the San Jose area made it all that much easier for the 49ers to practice at Spartan Stadium.

“For years we have had professional players in the area train here,” he said.  “Once the lockout happened, they brought everyone over here.”

By March 2011, over 20 players connected to the 49ers team participated in the workouts during the NFL lockout that brought the NFL offseason to a halt and prevented players from any contact to their respective coaches or team facilities.

“We tried to give it a mini-camp feel,” Holder said.

Smith organized the series of practices to better familiarize the players with the playbook during the lockout and better prepare themselves for the shortened NFL offseason.

“They wanted a place to workout, and we had no problem letting them do that,” Bowen said.  “It was a quiet, unassuming place for Camp Alex to come and practice.”

Spartan Stadium and its facilities house the Koret Athletic Training Center, a 10,000 square-foot state-of-the-art workout area that the 49ers players used in the afternoons during the NFL lockout, in addition to the football field throughout the day.

“Our place is big,” Holder said.  “It is very similar to professional facilities.”

He said having that professional feel and similarity to the 49ers’ facility in Santa Clara was part of what drew Camp Alex to practice at Spartan Stadium.

Bowen said he worked directly with Smith and all players during the 49ers’ time at SJSU, which started in March 2011 and ended in June 2011.

Smith also made a donation to the Spartan Foundation to finalize the deal in return for using SJSU’s facilities, according to Bowen.

The Spartan Foundation provides scholarships for student-athletes at SJSU based solely off of donations received from SJSU alumni, family and friends.

Bowen said those participating alongside the 49ers players were recent SJSU alumni, as well as current and former professional football players with ties to the area, including Jarron Gilbert and Carl Ihenacho.

“Everyone liked our facilities,” Bowen said.  “It’s a good football area.”

He said the players were very grateful for allowing them to use the Spartans’ facilities, and they showed support for the SJSU football team and the upcoming 2011 season.

“They’re wonderful men and very grateful,” Bowen said.  “They were excited for the SJSU season.”

Holder was surprised at how to down to earth the 49ers were.

“They were extremely humble,” he said.  “There was no star stuff going on.”

Holder said it was nice for the Spartan football players and other SJSU student-athletes to see how the 49ers practiced and worked out, and to learn from them.

Bowen, who just completed his seventh year as a part of SJSU Athletics, was very happy with his former employer during its improbable NFL regular season and success in the NFL Playoffs.

“I have great admiration for Jed York and company,” Bowen said.  “I am proud of Alex (Smith) and the season he had, and I was very pleased with the 49ers’ season and the way it went.”

As for seeing SJSU as a starting point for San Francisco’s 13-3 regular season and eventual playoff run to the NFC Championship, Bowen agreed.

“I’m glad we did it,” he said.  “I’m proud to say that this was a starting point for them and their season.”