2012-GameRelease-Divisional

Goldson evangelizes for safer tackling
By Eric Branch, San Francisco Chronicle
Player Feature Story
In the 49ers‘ locker room Friday, safety Dashon Goldson was demonstrating proper tackling technique to
a reporter, which is not unlike having Warren Buffett explain investing.
With his knees bent, his head raised and his hands at his side, Goldson attacked an invisible ball carrier
by thrusting his arms upward like uppercuts. His knuckles were up, his elbows down and his head, tilted
slightly to the ceiling, shifted to the side.
Then, with Goldson in mid-seminar, a member of the team’s public-relations staff approached the six-year
veteran, who smiled as he hinted this was not the time for intrusion.
“I’m talking about tackling,” he said. “I love this.”
The story of how one of the NFL’s finest form tacklers developed his passion is a remarkable tale whose
first chapter was written 15 years ago in suburban Los Angeles.
Goldson was a fifth-grader playing his second season of Pop Warner football for the Tri-City Falcons.
Bobby Hosea was the junior-midget team’s accidental leader, a father and rookie coach who was more
concerned with safety than on-field success.
The teacher
A former UCLA cornerback, Hosea, 57, whose son was on the team, has since emerged as one of the
nation’s leading voices in injury-preventive tackling. The tackling consultant for USA Football, the
governing body for the sport at the youth and amateur level, he was the subject of a lengthy New York
Times feature in 2010 because of his commitment to helping players avoid concussions and catastrophic
injuries through heads-up tackling.
Hosea doesn’t just instruct youth and high-school players how to avoid tackling with the crown of their
helmet through his camps and videos. He’s also still teaching his most celebrated pupil, Goldson, a Pro
Bowler with whom he maintains a tight bond. Goldson can still expect a pointed message when he strays
from the fundamentals he learned 15 years ago at Harbor City Park.
“He’ll come up and lay out and put his helmet down sometimes and I’ll always text him,” Hosea said. “Oh,
yes, he’ll get a text from Coach Bobby every time. And, you know what, he’ll answer me. He says
sometimes he’ll come back into locker room after the game and have 50 texts and the only one he’ll
respond to is mine. I’ll always watch out for him, making sure he’s tackling right.”
The student
For his part, Goldson welcomes the tutorials from a man who remained in his life beyond Pop Warner.
When he returned home during his career at the University of Washington, Hosea would knock on
Goldson’s bedroom window before dawn, awakening him for grueling workouts at Redondo Beach.
Goldson’s mom, Desrene Williams, began raving about Hosea’s dedication and influence without
prompting during a recent phone interview: “Did Dashon tell you about Coach Bobby?” she began.
Said Goldson: “It’s definitely been a blessing to have Coach Bobby in my life.”
Hosea is quick with encouragement, and his tsk-tsk tackling texts are infrequent, given Goldson’s often
textbook form.
In October, Jim Harbaugh termed Goldson’s takedown of Seattle running back Marshawn Lynch “one of
the best up-front tackles” he’d ever seen. The following week, Harbaugh was wowed by Goldson’s