43
Stadium opening awaits Niners
Photo
From left, former Cleveland Browns Reggie Rucker and Jim Brown attended the Edward J. DeBartolo Memorial Scholarship Foundation’s dinner with Phantoms Fireworks CEO Bruce Zoldan at Stambaugh Auditorium.
By Tom Williams
YOUNGSTOWN
The start of summer usually kicks off the final opportunity for NFL personnel to relax before training camps open.
However, relaxation is not exactly in the cards this summer for San Francisco 49ers CEO Jed York as the final touches on the team’s new stadium in Santa Clara, Calif., are applied.
“Our training facility is literally 15 feet across the street from Levi’s Stadium, so having everything in one facility is going to be fantastic,” York said Monday at Stambaugh Auditorium where 49ers executives and players participated in the Edward J. DeBartolo Memorial Scholarship Foundation’s annual celebrity dinner-auction.
The new stadium, which is about 35 miles south of San Francisco, replaces Candlestick Park, the team’s home for 43 seasons.
“We can’t wait to open Levi’s Stadium and show everybody all the hard work that went into it,” said York, a Cardinal Mooney High School graduate.
The new stadium, which will seat 68,500 (more than Heinz Field, fewer than Cleveland’s FirstEnergy Stadium), will have a ribbon-cutting ceremony on July 17. The first event will be on Aug. 2 when the San Jose Earthquakes host the Seattle Sounders in a MLS game.
“It’s kind of a takeoff on the Seahawks-Niners rivalry,” York said. “Anything that is Bay Area against Seattle is a highly contested match.”
The Niners’ first game in their new home will be on Aug. 14 in a preseason game against the Denver Broncos.
“The anticipation of playing there is pretty high,” said safety Bubba Ventrone, who played for the Browns for four seasons before joining the Niners in 2013. “I took a tour of it and it just looks incredible.”
The marquee home game will be on Thanksgiving Night (Nov. 27) when the Niners play Super Bowl champion Seattle in a rematch of last year’s NFC Championship Game won by the Seahawks, 23-17.
“There is a little bit of bad blood between the teams, a bit of a rivalry,” York said. “I don’t think there will be anything better, after a great day of football, to have the Seahawks-49ers for your dessert.”
Safety Eric Reid agreed.
“It’s a huge rivalry for us,” Reid said. “If we want to get to our ultimate goal — the Super Bowl — we have to go through them.”
A veteran of the AFC North, Ventrone said he wouldn’t go so far to say it’s hatred between the Niners and Seahawks.
“We both respect each other in a sense,” said the Pittsburgh native who was recruited by Jim Tressel to play at Youngstown State University. “It’s more like you just want to beat that team so bad.”
Because Tressel took the Ohio State University job, Ventrone ended up at Villanova where he roomed with Canfield High graduate Brian Hulea.
In 2011 and 2012, the Niners trained for a week at Youngstown State. York said that won’t happen this season because the team has no back-to-back East Coast games,.
Among the guests at the dinner was Hall of Famer Jim Brown who said he has no problem with Browns rookie quarterback Johnny Manziel’s jet-set lifestyle.
“As long as he doesn’t get in trouble, as long as he takes care of himself,” Brown said. “I like Johnny. He’s a really fine talent. He brings a lot of spirit to the city. I think we’re going to be very surprised at how well he does.
“I don’t know how much fun he’s been having,” Brown said. “He’s a free spirit, he’s a great talent and I’m looking forward to meeting him. Then I’ll give you a better assessment.”