Hanshaw Discovers New Frontier And Ex-Wv Lineman Won’t Find Cheney On San Francisco 49ers’ Schedule

Tim Hanshaw had heard of fantasy football.

This must be it.

“I was in the huddle and I looked up and right across from me was Jerry Rice, and Steve Young was calling the play,” Hanshaw said of a galvanic, but slightly disorienting, moment during training camp. “And I just thought, ‘Whoa, wait a minute, where am I?”’

Certainly not in the Frontier League, in which the San Francisco 49ers rookie prepped while at West Valley High. But Hanshaw’s early performance suggests that he will be spending time in NFL huddles for quite some time.

Although he’s on the second line of the depth chart at left guard, the 6-foot-5, 300-pounder has convinced the 49ers of his potential.

Against the Seahawks in the final preseason game, for instance, Hanshaw pulled to his right, dipped through the line and emphatically pancaked a linebacker.

John Madden, analyzing the game for Fox, called the hit a “de-cleater.”

More importantly, the Niners coaches were impressed.

“We didn’t watch a lot of film of that game, but the offensive coordinator (Marc Trestman) picked out eight plays in the game that he said showed what 49er football was all about, and that play was one of them,” Hanshaw said.

The San Francisco offense is complex and “it’s hard to come in as a new guy and pick up the system, but I’ve worked hard at it and the coaches seem to be pleased with my progression, so hopefully I can keep them happy,” he said.

The pressure of their expectations is not as great as that which Hanshaw places on himself.

“The way I see it, you aim for the stars and if you reach the clouds, then you can still be happy,” he said. “I’ve set very high expectations for myself and I haven’t lived up to them yet, but when I look back, I had a good preseason and made the team.” In essence, the 49ers’ plays are similar to those he had at BYU, except that “there’s a lot more precision and different blocking schemes to compensate for the athletic ability of the players you’re facing,” he said.

The experience with a similar offense in college, in fact, might have helped Hanshaw get drafted by the defending Super Bowl champions.

Before the draft, 49ers staff members worked out Hanshaw, and made him run the same sort of sweeps and pulls that he had spent the previous season doing for the Cougars.

“I think that really helped,” Hanshaw said of his display of agility. “We had three offensive linemen drafted and I was the smallest of the threre, but (the 49ers) said they weren’t interested in the other two guys, but they said they considered me the second-best lineman in the nation.”

Niners offensive line coach Bobb McKittrick labeled Hanshaw as the steal of the draft, since the team had him listed as the 32nd-best player, yet was able to pick him up in the fourth round with its second selection.

Hanshaw’s maturity couldn’t have hurt. A 25-year-old rookie, he was a contemporary of Cheney High’s Steve Emtman.

A two-year LDS mission to Sweden stretched Hanshaw’s college career. That explains how Emtman, who came out a year early from the University of Washington, is in his fourth season while Hanshaw is a rookie.

Looking ahead, a possible rerun of the rematchs from the old West Valley-Cheney games could be on the docket Monday night, Nov. 20. Emtman is now a defensive tackle for the Miami Dolphins, who meet the 49ers on national television that night.

Right now, Hanshaw is expected to serve his apprenticeship, but few starters make it through entire seasons without at least a bit of down-time - meaning that he could be only an ankle sprain from the starting lineup.

“What my concern is that, hopefully, I’ll progress the way they expect me to and then become a starter with this team.”

, DataTimes MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: NFL players with local ties Players on opening-day NFL rosters with local ties. The total of 31 tops last year’s high of 24. Breakdown by school: Washington State (16: 10 def., 5 off., 1 kicker); Idaho (6: 3 off., 2 def., 1 kicker); Eastern Washington (4: 3 off., 1 def.); local high schools (4: 3 off., 1 def.), Spokane Falls (1: def.) Tuineau Alipate (Washington State), LB, Minnesota, second season. Drew Bledsoe (Washington State), QB, New England, third season. Steve Broussard, RB (Washington State), Seattle, sixth season. Lewis Bush (Washington State), LB, San Diego, third season. Brett Carolan (Washington State), TE, San Francisco, second season. Ron Childs (Washington State), LB, New Orleans, rookie. Anthony Davis (Spokane Falls), LB, Kansas City, third season. Steve Emtman (Cheney High), DT, Miami, fourth season. Mark Fields (Washington State), LB, New Orleans, rookie. John Friesz (Idaho, Coeur d’Alene High), QB, Seattle, sixth season. Will Furrer (Pullman High), QB, Houston, fourth season. Tim Hanshaw (West Valley High), OG, San Francisco, rookie. Jason Hanson (Washington State, Mead High), K, Detroit, fourth season. James Hasty (Washington State), CB, Kansas City, eighth season. Mike Hollis (Idaho, Central Valley), K, Jacksonville, rookie. Erik Howard (Washington State), DT, New York Jets, 10th season. Torey Hunter (Washington State), CB, Houston, rookie. Doug Nussmeier (Idaho), QB, New Orleans, second season. Trent Pollard (Eastern Washington), OG, Cincinnati, second season. Anthony Prior (Washington State), CB, New York Jets, third season. Doug Riesenberg, (Moscow High), OT, New York Giants, ninth season. Ricky Reynolds (Washington State), CB, New England, ninth season. Jeff Robinson (Idaho, Ferris High), DE, Denver, third season. Mark Rypien (Washington State, Shadle Park), QB, St. Louis, ninth season. Don Sasa (Washington State), DT, San Diego, rookie. Kevin Sargent (Eastern Washington), OT, Cincinnati, fourth season. Mark Schlereth (Idaho), OG, Denver, seventh season. Kurt Schulz (Eastern Washington), SS, Buffalo, fourth season. Ed Simmons (Eastern Washington), OT, Washington, ninth season. Robbie Tobeck (Washington State), C, Atlanta, second season. Marvin Washington (Idaho), DE, New York Jets, seventh season.