Fred Smerlas Is Starting All Over at 33 With 49ers

Fred Smerlas is 33, has been an All-Pro and was selected to the Pro Bowl five times. Given that backdrop, you would think the former Buffalo Bills nose tackle would be immune to nervousness in the National Football League.

Yet Smerlas, one of six Plan B free agents signed by the San Francisco 49ers, admitted Wednesday he felt like a rookie participating in a minicamp held by the defending Super Bowl champions.

So overcome by his new diggings, Smerlas started the day by walking to the wrong dressing stall, where he began putting on the gear of backup nose tackle Rollin Putzier. Putzier wears number 76, Smerlas’ old Buffalo number. Now he’s No. 72.

“Getting ready to come here, I’ve had butterflies all week,” Smerlas said. “It’s a strange feeling, like starting over.”

In a sense, Smerlas is starting over. By leaving him unprotected, the Bills gave Smerlas the impression he was expendable.

Smerlas phrases it another way. He says the Bills felt, “I’ve got a lot of miles on these tires and can’t have anything left. I have something to prove . . . judge me on my performance, not on my age.”

The 49ers are apparently convinced Smerlas is capable of providing the proof he can still play. He started the entire season for Buffalo, yet gradually was used as an alternate player by coach Marv Levy.

Of the six Plan B players signed, Smerlas received the biggest contract from the 49ers: a $250,000 signing bonus, $500,000 salary and relocation expenses.

“Michael Carter (recovering from foot surgery) is still our starting nose tackle,” 49er Vice President John McVay said. “There’s no doubt about that. But Smerlas serves as a Pete Kugler type, with Pete retiring. Fred can play inside at nose or outside at defensive end, much like Pete did. We also have every hope of re-signing (ex-Giants nose tackle) Jim Burt.”

While Smerlas is the highest paid of the new 49ers, the first to sign was cornerback/safety Dave Waymer, 31, who left the New Orleans Saints.

Waymer was joined by former All-Pro cornerback Hanford Dixon, 31, from Cleveland; ex-Atlanta backup center Wayne Radloff, 28; defensive lineman John Shannon, 25, from Chicago; and reserve safety Greg Cox, 25. After the 1988 season, Cox left San Francisco to become a Plan B signee with the New York Giants. Shannon and Cox are viewed as special-teams additions.

All six were given their first exposure to the 49ers’ playbook and coaching staff Wednesday. Another session Thursday will include 40 other free agents being evaluated for summer camp at Rocklin, Calif.

Responsible for forming the “Dog Pound” fans in Cleveland, Dixon started all but five games for the Browns in nine seasons. He is the only Plan B arrival who claims to bear no grudge against his former employer.

Dixon’s vacancy with the Browns was filled by another aging former All-Pro corner, Raymond Clayborn, who left New England.

“I didn’t feel bad, because Cleveland didn’t protect (veteran tight end) Ozzie Newsome the last two seasons either and kept him,” Dixon said. “But when the 49ers call, you have to listen. Otherwise, I would have stayed with the Browns.”

Waymer, who also started every game for the Saints last year in making the transition to safety, said he had no intention of sticking with New Orleans.

“(General manager) Jim Finks told me he really wanted to keep me, but I told him, ‘If you were in my position, what would you think (if you were left unprotected)?’ ”

A college teammate of Joe Montana’s at Notre Dame, Waymer said the 49ers contacted him “the day after I hit the (Plan B) wire.” He estimated more than half the teams in the league also made inquiries, but he chose the 49ers because “I’m accustomed to this division and want what every player in this game plays for: a Super Bowl ring.”

Waymer, seen as insurance for the 49ers All-Pro free safety Ronnie Lott, says he’s under no illusions of pushing anyone out of a job.

“This is Ronnie Lott’s show,” he said. “I’m just here to help any way I can. Let the chips fall where they may.”

“With Jeff Fuller and Tom Holmoe both retiring this year, we were looking for some experience at safety,” said McVay of Waymer.

Of Dixon, McVay said: “We were looking for another guy to play corner and help us in the nickel. Hanford brings some experience to us and has shown he still can play.”