A Case of Sibling Solidarity

All their lives, Sam and Sean Manuel have played on the same teams, from junior football as children right on up through college and the pros. Now, within a day of Sam’s release by the San Francisco 49ers, his brother has quit.

“He did it in faith for me and what he thought was best for him, but I don’t know what we’re going to do now, man. Pray,” Sam Manuel said Thursday from his mother’s home in Richmond.

The 49ers drafted the twins out of New Mexico State a year ago. Sean, a tight end, made the team while Sam, a linebacker, was among the final cuts in 1996 before being re-signed to the team’s practice squad.

Sam was released again Tuesday and, this time, new Coach Steve Mariucci declined to make a commitment to re-signing Sam to the practice squad.

After spending most of Tuesday agonizing over the prospect of going on without his brother, Sean, who was expected to make the team, walked into the office of General Manager Dwight Clark on Wednesday, turned in his playbook and told him he was quitting.

“It’s not us against the system. It’s about happiness. It’s about drawing some comfort from something in your surroundings,” Sam Manuel added. “Everybody’s saying, ‘What about the money?’ But those are people that look at it from the worldly perspective. They can’t relate to it. He made a decision of the spirit.”

Sean Manuel declined to speak to a reporter on the telephone.

Clark left the door open to Sean’s possible return, saying he had told him to mull the decision for a couple of days and get back to him.

“I understand he’s got some personal issues with it,” Clark said. “I don’t quite see it the way he does, but that’s really not my decision. If that’s the way he feels, then he has to go with it.”