Napkin Was First Sign of Trouble

The San Francisco 49ers laughed it off, but a Green Bay fan said Friday she may have provided the Packers with a list of 49er plays just before Monday night’s game.

Kerri Mallien of Green Bay said she was attending a conference Sunday evening at a Green Bay hotel when she spotted 49er consultant and former coach Bill Walsh and asked him for an autograph.

Walsh took the napkin she offered, then reached in his pocket for something else to write on, signed the autograph and handed it back to her. Mallien said she later noticed two folded pieces of paper were with the napkin.

One paper had several play diagrams. The other was a list under a heading of “1st 16 plays vs. Green Bay Packers 10-14-96.”

Mallien and a co-worker, Al Paul, took copies of the papers to Packer offices Monday and said someone should show them to Coach Mike Holmgren and defensive coordinator Fritz Shurmur. They left telephone numbers in case there were questions.

“We didn’t hear a thing,” Mallien said. “We don’t know if they got it or not.”

Monday night, the Packers held the 49ers scoreless in the first quarter.

Walsh said, “Well, in all seriousness I have to publicly accuse Mike Holmgren of planting a Mata Hari among the autograph seekers. It’s the slickest thing I’ve seen in a long time.”

Coach George Seifert said, “Something like this is blown out of proportion. I don’t think they had it first off, that the Green Bay Packers had that. It’s kind of a comical thing really, and we should have a little fun.”

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The Arizona Cardinals waived veteran safety Terry Hoage and claimed safety J.J. McCleskey off waivers from the New Orleans Saints. Hoage, who signed with the Cardinals as a free agent in 1994, has been sidelined by a pulled hamstring.