On Monday, the San Francisco 49ers announced that Eric Davis will become the team's new radio color analyst. Davis, who has worked as a pre- and postgame analyst as well as color commentator during preseason games, will replace Gary Plummer in the booth. Ted Robinson will remain as the play-by-play man.
“This is huge,” Davis told 49ers.com. “The organization wants me to represent the team, and to me, being an old-school Niner – that’s a big deal."
There has not been an official explanation for replacing Plummer, but travel might be an issue. Plummer currently lives in San Diego and Davis is located in the Bay Area. Plummer had been doing radio work for the team since 1998 and was teammates with Davis in 1994 and 1995.
If the team had already made plans to replace Plummer, Davis is a very good choice for his replacement. Even though Plummer did a very good job in the radio, Davis might bring a little bit extra to the broadcast.
Davis has never been shy about being critical of the team for poor play and has done a good job of engaging the fans during his previous years on television.
During his time as a analyst for Comcast SportsNet, Davis spoke of the many nuances of being a player to the audience. His understanding of the grind of being a football player give the production a lot of value. And with his work during the preseason broadcast on CBS-5, Davis also brings in experience from different forms of media to the booth.
It might take a little while for Davis to get into the swing of things when the 2011 season begins, but don't expect it to become an issue. Davis has been around the team facility a lot over the past few seasons and he has seen the growth of the team during that time. He understands the team very well and should be a fine fit for the radio booth.
There might be some that think Davis can't compare to the work that Plummer did over the years. We'll just have to see how Davis handles it when the 49ers hit the field for the 2011 season.
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