When the 49ers had fullback Owen Marecic on the roster for two weeks in September it was to build a foundation for a time when they might need him later in the season.
But 49ers general manager Trent Baalke, speaking on 95.7 The Game on Friday, said Marecic turned down an opportunity to finish the season with the 49ers after starting fullback Bruce Miller was lost for the season with a fractured shoulder blade. Marecic was a two-way player for coach Jim Harbaugh at Stanford. Harbaugh once called Marecic "the perfect football player."
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“Basically, it came down to Owen choosing not to pursue playing in the National Football League any more at his time,” Baalke said. “It had nothing to do with a decision that was made by myself or coach. It was a decision solely made by Owen.”
A source told CSNBayArea.com earlier this week that Marecic “just didn’t have the desire to play any more.”
When contacted via text message, Marecic responded to CSNBayArea.com: “I consider any conversation I had with the 49ers to be between me and the 49ers.”
The 49ers re-signed defensive lineman/fullback Will Tukuafu when Miller was placed on injured reserve. Harbaugh said on Monday that Marecic was “hopefully in route” to fill the roster spot.
“That’s one of the reasons Owen was in here earlier in the year, so we could get him some reps, knowing that there was a good chance we weren’t going to be able to keep him through the season,” Baalke said. “And then if we needed him, at some point being able to go back to him. So it just didn’t play out. And that was totally Owen’s choice.”
