49ers Recruit Craig As Mentor

July 26, 1999 / 4:48 PM EDT / AP

Retired running back Roger Craig is taking a special interest in Lawrence Phillips. It's part of his job.

The 49ers recruited Craig, one of the top running backs in the team's history, as a mentor to the newly signed Phillips, who on Tuesday took part in his first NFL practice in a year.

Between the 49ers' two training camp workouts at the University of the Pacific, Phillips and Craig lunched together and walked around the campus, talking quietly.

"I'm just here giving him a little advice," said Craig, who like Phillips played at Nebraska before starring for San Francisco in the 1980s.

"We don't want to clutter his brain with a lot of little things," Craig said. "We don't want to treat him like a little kid. He knows what he has to do. He knows right from wrong. Basically, the main thing I want to see him do is just display some of his talents. The main thing is just taking care of football now."

Phillips said he welcomed the attention from Craig.

"He said he's checking me out. He's representing Nebraska," said Phillips, who was assigned Craig's old number, 33.

General manager Bill Walsh said Phillips, returning to the NFL after problems with the law, alcohol, and weight cost him jobs with the St. Louis Rams and Miami Dolphins, would not receive special treatment.

But the 49ers are doing what they can to help Phillips make the most of his latest chance. They've brought Craig to camp, veterans on the team are encouraging Phillips along with position coach Tom Rathman, also a former Nebraska star, and team personnel consultant sociologist Harry Edwards is available for further support.

"We have a network of people who will work with him," Walsh said. "But we know that lurking out there could be a problem, unforeseen by us or anybody else. We're alert to that and we're doing everything we can to accept him and have him assimilated into the organization."

Phillips resurrected his faltering career by starring this spring for Barcelona of NFL Europe. He was signed Monday by San Francisco and became the front-runner to replace injured Garrison Hearst, who is expected to miss most of the season because of complications in his recovery from a broken ankle.

"I've got the helmet and jersey so I feel like a 49er now," Phillips said. "It's a lot of offense to get in. This is about the fifth offense I've learned in about three years, so it's going to take some time but I look forward to getting it down."

Said coach Steve Mariucci: "His head has got to be swimming. It's a brand new system. There's a lot of things he's got to grab on to. He showed some good speed. He caught the ball well. He did fine."

Walsh said Phillips' initial practice with the team was impressive. The former No. 1 pick has dropped about 20 pounds from his playing weight while with the Rams and Dolphins in 1996-97.

"He lookd super quick today, super explosive and fast," Walsh said. "They say with the Rams, he looked lethargic and out of shape and he stayed that way, so I'm hopeful that he'll continue to dedicate himself to football and stay focused and be able to perform for us.

"We think he's for real. Now, how good he'll be, we just don't know. He might be a great player. He might be a good player. He might be a solid player. He won't be a poor player. He'll be one of those three and we'll take it from there."