It’s the offseason, but that doesn’t mean that there isn’t anything going on in the Stanford Footballsphere. Here are some things you might not have heard this offseason:
- Former Cardinal linebacker, and current San Francisco 49er, Chase Thomas has torn his ACL. This is as a particularly devastating blow for Thomas, who went undrafted in 2013, and bounced around a few NFL teams before landing a spot with the 49ers. Thomas had a real shot to make an impact this year with the recent retirement of Patrick Willis and Chris Borland, NaVorro Bowman’s continued rehab, and the constant question marks surrounding Aldon Smith.
- The San Francisco 49ers have released former Stanford offensive lineman Jonathan Martin. This isn’t a surprise since Martin didn’t have a great season, plus many (many = me) assumed that the Martin pickup was a Jim Harbaugh move and the 49ers don’t want anything to do with anything that touched Jim Harbaugh. Martin has been claimed by the Carolina Panthers.
- Cornerback Wayne Lyons is taking his talents to Ann Arbor. Is this a result of the ‘Jim Harbaugh Effect’ we all feared when he accepted the Michigan Head Coach job? Actually, not exactly. As it turns out, Lyons’ mother Gwendolyn Bush is the Director of Player Development at Michigan.
- As it turns out, Lyons isn’t the only Cardinal saying “Bye Felicia” to Palo Alto. It’s likely that backup Quarterback Evan Crower is transferring to another school. The destination hasn’t been confirmed, but Crower is not on the roster for the cardinal and white spring game. This isn’t really a surprise in light of Kevin Hogan’s decision to return for his final Stanford season, and the hot backup competition between Keller Chryst and Ryan Burns. May the best man win.
- Stanford has scheduled upcoming series against TCU and Vanderbilt, but don’t get too excited season ticket holders, it’s not for a few years. Both teams will come to the Farm in 2024.
- Ryan Devlin has been promoted to Coordinator of Player Personnel and Callie Seidman has been promoted to Assistant Director of Football Operations.
- Stanford continues to have a productive offseason of recruiting, and they scored big when quarterback K.J. Costello announced his commitment . According to ESPN, he is the only quarterback prospect to receive an offer from the Cardinal this offseason. His final decision was between Stanford, USC, and Michigan.
- Los Angeles Sanitation honored Richard Sherman’s father for all his years of service.
- File this under Things I Didn’t Know And Shame on Me: Toby Gerhart’s given name is Tobinbo Gunnar Gerhart. What? No, seriously, what? I must rewrite the All Name Team article to include this glorious moniker. At first I thought someone on Wikipedia was having a laugh, but it appears to be legit. Kudos Stanford University, this was a cover-up job that rivals anything the U.S. Government has ever pulled off.
I normally try to end my articles with a short paragraph summarizing my main points. However, I’m so stunned by what I just learned that I don’t think I can write about anything else. Just imagine that I’m writing a semi-coherent summary paragraph about Stanford Football News, Tidbits, and Miscellany. You can’t can you? You’re totally thinking about Tobinbo Gunnar Gerhart. I don’t blame you. What a name.
Main Photo by Stephen Dunn/Getty Images
