There's an old saying in the NFL where a team is one injury a way from losing season. It certainly holds true in this salary cap forced lack of depth NFL that we know of today. Figure what an injury to Jeff Garcia that forced him out of three games would have done to this season's record. Would the 49ers have made the playoffs?

Sure there is now way a trainer can completely prevent an injury, but they do an awesome job of minimizing the chance of it, and in helping the healing. Again I turn to Jeff Garcia who suffered a MCL injury late in the season, but with the 49ers trainers working on him was able to complete the entire season. Really there are even better examples of just how good this group is. Jerry Rice comes to mind as a stand out case. When Rice went down with a knee injury in 1997 he added a record to his book that no athlete ever wants to try for. But he came back from his injury faster than any player ever had. The injury he suffered after that was un-related. Garrison Hearst is another name on that list. There really isn't a need to explain Hearst's miraculous recovery again - but his unprecedented second NFL Comeback Player Of The Year Award would not have been possible without the 49ers trainers and medical team.