Smiles are all around for 49ers

Associated Press

SANTA CLARA, Calif.

Before David Akers could sneak away to his car unnoticed and under the radar as he prefers it, Jack Harbaugh stopped the kicker for a quick greeting and congratulations.

Years after Harbaugh recruited the dependable Akers to Western Kentucky only to see him choose Louisville instead, Akers converted four field goals and three extra points to help Harbaugh’s son, Jim, win his NFL coaching debut with the San Francisco 49ers in a 33-17 victory over the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday.

For everybody who figured Jim Harbaugh faced a steep learning curve in his high-profile move down the freeway from Stanford to the NFL, his 49ers got it done against the defending NFC West champions. Akers wanted Ted Ginn Jr. to take the glory in this one after his two late kick returns for touchdowns in a 59-second span sealed it.

“It was fun,” Jim Harbaugh said Monday. “You realize you can’t get to win No. 2 without getting win No. 1.”

Leading 19-17 after the Seahawks got back in it on a touchdown by a former Stanford star, Doug Baldwin, Ginn took any Seattle momentum away for good. He returned a kickoff 102 yards for a touchdown and followed that up by scoring on a 55-yard punt return — the first time in franchise history the 49ers got one of each.

Next up in Week 2: a frustrated and determined Dallas team that blew a 14-point fourth-quarter lead in a 27-24 loss to the Jets on Sunday night. Quarterback Tony Romo got home a little after 5 a.m. and was back to work by 10 to start studying up on the 49ers.

The Harbaughs kept their celebrating mellow with a casual dinner in so they could watch the last of the Cowboys-Jets opener.

The soft-spoken Akers headed out after just another solid day’s work. Nailing his kicks through the uprights is what he does and always has done — now with the Niners as the replacement to the retired Joe Nedney.

“Just to win for Coach Harbaugh for the first time and to know the family so well over the years, to be part of it is really something special,” Akers said. “This is a franchise with great history and, obviously, the last some years have been a little on the down side. We are trying our best to change that.”