Nolan Coyly Speaks On Subject of 'Throwback' Unis

From The Press Democrat,

Every once in a while the head coach will lead us to believe he knows more than he's letting on. Coach Mike Nolan gave us one of those moments after practice today when he was asked about the possibility of the 49ers changing permanently back to the distinguished uniforms the club fashioned back in the 1980s.

"We're in the process of looking at our uniform. But I'd rather leave it at that for now," Nolan said. "We haven't game-planned our comments on that, yet."

When I asked if the permanent change in uniforms is something that could possibly happen this season, Nolan said coyly, "I don't know. We haven't game-planned our comments on that." The 49ers have announced that they will wear their 1980s-style uniforms for the regular-season opener Monday, Sept. 10, against the Cardinals as a way to pay tribute to Bill Walsh, who died July 30 after a three-year battle with leukemia. The team has said that the league is allowing them to wear those uniforms twice this season.

Some fans have stated they plan to wear suits to the Monday night game, as a sign of support for Nolan. The folks at Reebok and the NFL are allowing him to wear a suit on the sideline for all 49ers home games. Nolan would like to wear a suit for every game - home and away. When asked what he would think if he sees fans wearing suits, Nolan replied, "I hope they're comfortable."

He said fans coming to the game in suits might be akin to the fans wearing their team colors and jerseys to a game. Then, he spoke about his motivation.

"What I'm doing it for is from the standpoint of respect," Nolan said. "I don't want to make it more than that."