Ted Ginn has done essentially nothing on offense for the 49ers, catching just two passes for one yard during the 2012 regular season. So it’s no surprise that when Ginn was asked today if he’d like to have more of an impact on offense, Ginn answered, “Yeah, for sure.”
But Ginn says he’s not going to complain about his role on the offense (or lack thereof) because he understands that if the 49ers just want him to play as a punt and kickoff returner, that’s what he needs to do.
“Most of the time when you’re on championship teams, you have to sacrifice. Look at LeBron [James] and Dwyane Wade and [Chris] Bosh, they’re all number one picks,” Ginn said. “But when they had to come together as a team, they had to give up something. You just have to give it up. I’m not saying you can’t do it anymore, but just not at that time. There might be somebody else that can do it better, or it’s the right time for them to do it. So, you just go out and control what you can control, and you play the game.”
Part of the reason that Ginn can appreciate the opportunity he has in San Francisco is that in his first career stop, in Miami, things didn’t go as planned. Ginn was the ninth overall pick of the 2007 NFL draft, but he never developed into the kind of receiver the Dolphins expected him to be. Ginn said he knows some people consider him a draft bust, but he can’t worry about that.
“I can’t help what was going on with my team at the time. I control what I control. My first year, I had eight quarterbacks,” Ginn said. “If I’m a bust, I’m a good bust.”
Even if Ginn is never going to be a good enough wide receiver to justify being a Top 10 draft pick, a return touchdown on Sunday at the Superdome would go a long way toward erasing the perception that he’s a draft bust. After all, Desmond Howard was a Top 10 draft pick who never amounted to much as a wide receiver, but when people look back at his career, they don’t remember that. They remember him returning a kickoff for a touchdown at the Superdome and being named Super Bowl MVP.