After finishing last season on the injured reserve, Nate Clements is back and ready for the 2010 season. The 49ers training camp is underway and Nate is ready to get back on the field.

Make sure you follow Nate on Twitter for TC updates: @nateclements

On and off the field, Nate Clements is always a pro.

When suited up for the 49ers he is one of the top cornerbacks in the league, and away from the gridiron Clements spends countless hours helping the community around him.

But as he said Tuesday, “the kids are our future,” and Clements wants them to Go Pro in their lives too.

So, Clements spent the day at Cabrillo Middle School in Santa Clara promoting his new community initiative, Go Pro. Go Pro is dedicated to empowering young people to Go Pro in life through education, exposure and athletics.

“Every child has a dream to go pro when they’re growing up,” Clements said. “Whether it is an aspiration to move in the career path of their role model, or be like their favorite athlete, they all have dreams. My vision for Go Pro is to help those youth achieve their goals by providing a solid foundation through education, exposure and athletics.”

As the program evolves, Clements will provide youth with a Go Pro Playbook, which will be a guide toward reaching their goals. It will provide an academic checklist, daily physical exercises as a resource guide to help students gain opportunities to earn scholarships, internships, do community service and find mentors. Clements will enlist the support of Go Pro coaches and advisors within the cities where he will launch Go Pro as resources for the students. Clements is also looking for corporations and community organizations to partner with him on this initiative to further provide today’s youth with the tools they need to be successful in life.

The goal of Go Pro is to pique the curiosity and the commitment of the next generation of all-pro youth leaders.

At the Go Pro launch, Clements spoke to a class of sixth graders about setting life goals and working hard to achieve them. He talked to them about striving for greatness and how they should never be satisfied.

While Clements did have an inner drive as a kid, it was his father who pushed him to be his best.

“When I was in high school, my dad would always say, ‘If you work hard for four years you can go to any college you want,’” Clements said. “Then when I was in college he said, ‘If you work hard for four more years you can play for any NFL team you want.’”

Clements listened to his father and is today one of the top cornerbacks in the league.

The Pro Bowler remembers getting to high school at 5:30 a.m. so that he could lift weights and study in the library before school began. Then after school and football practice, he would go to an SAT preparation course to help him get into college.

While it was tough, Clements realizes now how valuable all that hard work was. He knows why his family put such an importance on education.

“Football was the easy part for me back then,” Clements said, “but school is where I really needed to put in the work. I put in a lot of effort to my studies and it really paid off in the long run.

“If I could do it again, I would do it the same way.”

Weeks before Clements spoke to the sixth-grade class, the students wrote an essay about their dream job. Tuesday afternoon the students came dressed for their future profession and Clements couldn’t hold back his smile when he saw the design engineers, artists, astronauts, athletes and doctors enter the room.

“You guys can have these jobs if you work hard and don’t get distracted,” Clements told the students.

After the youth listened to Clements, four students who wrote the best essays shared them with Clements and their peers.

“The students, teacher, principal and everyone else around had a fantastic time today,” said Julianne Topliff, educational partnerships for the Santa Clara Unified School District. “This is an experience that these students will be able to hold onto and remember as they ‘Go Pro’ in their lives.”

Throughout the day Clements gave the students lots of advice, but one thing he said drove him more than anything were the doubters. He told the youth that there will be people who tell you you won’t succeed, but, he said, you have to work twice as hard to prove those doubters wrong.

“Don’t let someone else’s opinion become your reality.”

Another strong performance from Nate against the Seahawks, Nate finished the day with 6 tackles and some nice passes defended. The game was over when Nate broke up a pass intended for Seahawks WR T.J. Houshmandzadeh in the end zone on fourth-and-10 with only 2:17 to play. San Francisco took over on downs and melted away the majority of the clock, giving Seattle the ball back with only 23 seconds remaining.

Frank Gore kept an eye on the scoreboard as he ran like mad, making sure nobody caught him on the way to the end zone.

And it wasn’t even close.

“Yeah, I was looking up there,” Gore said with a grin of his regular practice. “I ran all day.”

Gore’s spectacular afternoon single-handedly re-established the run game for San Francisco.

Gore had touchdown runs of 79 and a career-best 80 yards and finished with 207 yards on 16 carries, and the 49ers beat the Seattle Seahawks 23-10 to take an early hold atop the NFC West standings.

“I told myself, ‘I’m not looking back,”‘ Gore said. “I told myself: ‘Hey, if they’re going to catch me, they’re going to catch me. I’m just going to look straight ahead.”‘

Gore, who surpassed San Francisco’s Week 1 rushing total of 21 yards in the first series, nearly reached his franchise mark of 212 yards set in 2006 before leaving the game in the fourth quarter with a sprained right ankle that wasn’t considered serious. He became only the second player in NFL history to have two TD runs of 79 or more yards in the same game, joining Barry Sanders. Sanders had runs of 80 and 82 yards at Tampa Bay on Oct. 12, 1997.

“Hey, I’m happy. I didn’t know that,” Gore said. “We’re 2-0 in our division. We proved to a lot of people we’re getting better and better.”

Seattle (1-1), coming off a 28-0 season-opening win at St. Louis, took a big blow losing quarterback Matt Hasselbeck to a rib injury just before halftime following a hard hit near the goal line by Patrick Willis. Hasselbeck didn’t return after completing 10 of 18 passes for 97 yards and no touchdowns.

He was taken to a hospital for X-rays and a CT scan. X-rays were negative while the CT scan was inconclusive and Hasselbeck rejoined his teammates for the 2-hour flight home.

“It is a rib bruise at this point,” coach Jim Mora said. “He’s doing much better … he’s feeling much more comfortable. We believe at this point, and it’s very preliminary, that he’s going to be OK.”

Gore also posted just the third 200-yard rushing game in team history. Charlie Garner ran for 201 yards at Dallas on Sept. 24, 2000. Gore had his 212-yard day Nov. 19, 2006, also at Candlestick Park against Seattle. His 246 total yards from scrimmage Sunday were a career high, topping the 238 he had in that ‘06 game with the Seahawks.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like that,” quarterback Shaun Hill said. “He was moving.”

Joe Nedney kicked field goals of 37, 42 and 39 yards for the 49ers. Coach Mike Singletary’s team is off to a 2-0 start after he demanded that his players perform better this week and find their identity as a running team. San Francisco won at defending NFC champion Arizona in Week 1.

The 49ers’ defense was dominant again this week, handing former 49ers defensive coordinator Mora his first loss since taking over this season for Mike Holmgren.

“For us it’s too early to tell anything,” Singletary said. “Last week was ugly, but I loved it. This week was ugly, but I loved it.”

What a difference from Singletary’s debut at Candlestick Park last October, when he took over for the fired Mike Nolan. San Francisco lost to the Seahawks in a game in which he benched quarterback J.T. O’Sullivan in favor of Hill, pulled his pants down at halftime to make a point and sent volatile tight end Vernon Davis to the showers early after a personal foul penalty.

This time, Hill was 19 for 26 for 144 yards with no TDs or interceptions and was sacked four times. He improved to 6-0 as a starter at Candlestick and 9-3 overall as an NFL starter. His job was easy: give the ball to Gore.

Gore, who had just 30 yards on 22 carries in the win over the Cardinals, had averaged 76 yards against Seattle in the previous four meetings since his Pro Bowl 2006 season. He ran for 144 yards in the other ‘06 game versus Seattle.

“It was just a matter of Frank Gore being Frank Gore,” Seahawks rookie linebacker Aaron Curry said. “It’s just as simple as that. They gave the right man the ball. He’s one of those guys, he’s going to have your attention. It’s not hard to find him. He runs hard. You can sometimes hear him grunt as he runs.”

Hasselbeck went down for several minutes after getting hurt trying to dive for the end zone 26 seconds before halftime. He was stopped at the 1-yard line.

Backup QB Seneca Wallace came in on the next play and threw a 1-yard touchdown pass to Julius Jones to pull Seattle within 13-10. Wallace wound up 15 for 27 for 127 yards and a TD.

Ray McDonald had his second sack in as many games, dropping Hasselbeck for a 7-yard loss as the Seahawks went three-and-out in their opening series.

Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press

The 49ers started the season off with a bang beating the Arizona Cardinals 20-16, thanks in part to a great defensive showing and a late offensive drive.

Shaun Hill and the rest of San Francisco’s offense had an awful second half, except for one magnificent possession.

Hill directed a 15-play, 80-yard drive for the winning touchdown on a 3-yard pass to Frank Gore with 7:26 to go, and the 49ers spoiled the season debut of defending NFC champion Arizona with a 20-16 victory over the Cardinals on Sunday.

Arizona rallied from 10 points down to go up 16-13 on Neil Rackers’ 44-yard field goal with 14:52 to play, but the 49ers regained control with the drive that used up nearly half of the final quarter.

The Cardinals unfurled their NFC championship banner before the game, then watched their offense — No. 2 in the NFL last season — sputter most of the afternoon in Arizona’s first loss to an NFC West foe in two seasons.

After the 49ers had to punt from their 1 late in the game, the Cardinals had first down at the San Francisco 39.

But a false start penalty and a holding call pushed Arizona back 15 yards and the threat ended when Warner was leveled by Justin Smith as he threw on fourth-and-5 at the San Francisco 33 with 1:51 to play.

Arizona had it once more, this time at the 46 at the finish, but another fierce rush by Smith forced Warner’s fumble as the game ended.

The Cardinals held Gore to 30 yards in 22 carries and sacked Hill four times, but Arizona committed 12 penalties for 82 yards and had its pass protection break down at crucial times.
Hill completed 18 of 31 passes for 209 yards and one touchdown and wasn’t intercepted. Warner was 26 of 44 for 288 yards and one touchdown with two interceptions.

Arizona’s Tim Hightower caught 12 passes for 121 yards, the second-most receptions by a running back in Cardinals history. Larry Fitzgerald, who didn’t make a catch until the final seconds of the first half, had six for 71 yards. Anquan Boldin, playing despite a sore hamstring, caught one for five yards.

Arizona was without its No. 3 receiver Steve Breaston because of a sprained kneecap.

The 49ers went three-and-out on five of their six possessions in the second half.

But one drive was a doozy.

After the Cardinals had scored 13 points in a row to take the lead, Hill drove the team downfield, converting four third-down opportunities in the process, two on passes to the venerable Isaac Bruce.

On third-and-goal at the 3, the 49ers sent Gore out on the flat and no one followed him. He caught the short pass and scored with no one near him.

Arizona tied it at 13 with a seven-play, 69-yard touchdown drive in the third quarter. Rookie Beanie Wells had runs of 15 and 8 yards, then Warner connected with Hightower on a 23-yard play to the San Francisco 4.

After Arizona lost one, Warner rolled right and found Fitzgerald for the Cardinals’ first TD of the season to tie it with 4:11 left in the third quarter.

The 49ers had 3 yards rushing in the first half and still led 13-6, thanks in part to two interceptions by Warner and eight penalties for 58 yards against Arizona.

Gore had 14 yards in 10 carries through two quarters, but his 6-yarder for a touchdown put San Francisco up 13-3 with 2:23 left in the half.

The game’s lone touchdown of the half was set up by Hill’s 50-yard pass to a wide-open Bruce on third-and-10.

Moments later, Nate Clements intercepted Warner’s pass at the Arizona 34 and San Francisco seemed headed for another score. But Darnell Dockett sacked Hill, then on third-and-20 the 49ers quarterback was hit as he threw by blitzing Antrel Rolle. It was initially called an incomplete pass, but the play was reviewed and ruled a fumble, giving Arizona the ball at its 40 with 1:15 left.

The Cardinals advanced to the San Francisco 11, and after Warner overthrew Fitzgerald in the end zone, Rackers kicked a 29-yarder as the half ended to cut it to 13-6.

Associated Press

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After being introduced by head coach Mike Singletary, who told the team a quick story about his experiences competing against Rice, the greatest wideout of all time shared his feelings on having a great work ethic.

“This is the time to start right now during OTAs. You can’t wait until training camp and for the season to start to say, ‘OK, we’re going to turn it on,’” Rice said. “This team has to come together right now. And if they do that, they have a better chance of going into the season and winning football games.”

He even passed out the three Super Bowl rings he won as a member of the 49ers for the players to check out up close.

“It was very inspirational especially when he passed out the rings,” cornerback Nate Clements said. “It just put things into perspective, when you can visually see rings, it just inspires you to practice harder and work hard at this game so you can accomplish that goal.”

At the very end of the talk, Rice made sure to let the team know that he still could run routes and made the comment looking and pointing directly at Clements.

“He called me out, but he knows I’m still with it,” Clements said with a smile. “He said he can still run routes and I said I can still cover routes!”

As the team jogged over to the practice field to begin stretching, defensive coordinator Greg Manusky made a funny comment to some of the other coaches while running on the field. “Hug your favorite player today, give your favorite player a hug!” he cracked with a smile.

A few minutes later, while the defensive and offensive players stretched across the field facing one another, cornerback Nate Clements laid out a challenge to Shaun Hill.

“If you throw it to my side I guarantee I’ll get at least one (interception),” Clements said with a big grin.

“You’re all just X’s to me,” Hill calmly replied.

“I have to be at least a big X!” Clements said immediately.

“No, you’re all just X’s to me. It doesn’t matter if Barry Sims is playing cornerback, you’re all just X’s to me,” Hill said, refusing to take Clements’ trash talking bait.

During the 11-on-11 portion of practice, Alex Smith connected on a nicely thrown 40-yard pass down the right sideline to wide receiver Josh Morgan, who beat undrafted rookie free agent Carlos Thomas on a go route.

On the first running play of the 11-on-11 work, Willis proved to be already in mid-season form as he got in the backfield but wasn’t allowed to bring down Gore. “Tackle-for-loss already?” he asked rhetorically after he two-hand touched Gore.

Later in practice, Clements made good on his promise for an interception by cutting off a Hill pass intended for wide receiver Maurice Price during 7-on-7 work. It appeared to be a miscommunication on the route between Hill and Price that allowed Clements to make a play on the ball.

Clements couldn’t help but laugh while running down the left sideline with the ball. After the play was over he said to Shaun, “I got ya!”

Nate helps out ESPN’s, Mike Sando and ranks the NFL’s 10 best receivers, based on personal experience.

1. Marvin Harrison, Indianapolis Colts
   Clements: “I think the way he runs routes separates him, and he has excellent hands. He is a sure-handed catcher. He has the speed. The numbers don’t lie.”
2. Randy Moss, New England Patriots
   Clements: “He’s been real consistent throughout his career.”
3. Chad Johnson, Cincinnati Bengals
   Clements: “Chad is very quick. He can catch the ball. He has good size. He runs good routes and he can go up and go get the ball.”
4. Hines Ward, Pittsburgh Steelers
   Clements: “I like Hines Ward. He’s not the biggest, he’s not the fastest. Some guys are just blessed with the size and athletic ability. He just goes out there and he is just a hard-nosed receiver. Because of the style he plays, he does not get the credit as a receiver. He is totally opposite of what you think a receiver would be.”
5. Terrell Owens, Dallas Cowboys
   Clements: “People may not like his personality, but when it comes time to play, he puts up the numbers. You can’t argue against that. He definitely has the size. He is a big, strong receiver.”
6. Chris Chambers, San Diego Chargers
   Clements: “There are so many players in this league who get overlooked because they’ve been on losing teams. I feel he is definitely one of those guys. When he was in Miami, he was definitely their No. 1 receiver. We saw what he is capable of doing when he goes to a winning team. His pace doesn’t stop. It picks up.”
7. Andre Johnson, Houston Texans
   Clements: “He’s a workhorse, he’s a physical specimen and, unfortunately, he’s been on a team that hasn’t been winning too many games, so he has been one of those guys who has been overlooked as well. You put him on any other team that is winning and he’ll definitely be recognized. He is definitely a stout receiver.”
8. Torry Holt, St. Louis Rams
   Clements: “When I think of him, I think of a track meet, a guy who can just run all day. He has excellent hands and runs good routes.”
9. Steve Smith, Carolina Panthers
   Clements: “He’s explosive. He is a game-breaker.”
10. Roy Williams, Detroit Lions
    Clements: “He definitely has the size and the speed, good hands. It’s just that he’s been on a losing team as well. He is definitely a good, quality receiver.”

• Best hands: Torry Holt, Marvin Harrison and Hines Ward.
• Fastest: Randy Moss, Roy Williams and Andre Johnson.
• Best blockers: Hines Ward and Anquan Boldin.
• Best route runners: Harrison, Holt.

Quote to note: “I’ve seen Marvin [Harrison] run a route I had never seen in my life. He ran a post, corner and post. Antoine Winfield stayed disciplined and stayed inside and ended up getting an interception on it.” — Clements

The curtain comes to a close on the 49ers 2007 season in Cleveland, Ohio, the home state of corner back Nate Clements. Find out what Clements had to say about the game and his visit back home in this On the Road Q&A.

Q: You were born and raised in Shaker Heights, Ohio. Do you get back very often and are you looking forward to this weekend’s trip?
A: I try to go back in the off-season as much as possible, and I am looking forward to finishing out the season in my hometown.

Q: You were the first player to be inducted into your high school’s Hall of Fame? How big of an honor was that?
A: It was an honor, and a lot of hard work. The foundation of my football career and my athletic skills starter back there, so that was something I’ll never forget.

Q: Growing up were you a big Cleveland Browns fan?
A: Definitely, when I was a kid I enjoyed watching the Browns play. They had a lot of great players. Sports is very big there. It’s a blue collared town and they really support their teams. They are true fans and it’s something you respect.

Q: You played at Ohio State, did you ever consider anywhere else or were you committed to staying in state and being close to home?
A: My top three choices were Ohio State, Syracuse and Michigan State. I felt that going to Ohio State was the best thing for me as far as elevating my game and helping me to reach the next level. It was nice to be close to home, but that really didn’t influence my decision. This has actually ended up being my first year though where I’ve been far from home, because Ohio State was about an hour and a half away and then I was drafted by Buffalo which was only about two and a half hours. So, I was fortunate in the past that my friends and family were able to watch me play.

Q: What are some fun facts about Ohio?
A: I mean football is huge there, but that’s not really a surprise. I think there’s a lot of talent in northeast Ohio. A lot of players came from that area – Lee Evans, Chris Chambers, London Fletcher, Elvis Grbac, Desmond Howard – the list goes on.

Q: When someone goes there to visit, what are some of the things to do?
A: They have pretty good food, good steak houses. As far as doing things, it’s like any other city. They’ve got shopping, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the Browns, the Indians, there’s a lot of things to do.

Q: How will you spend your weekend?
A: I’ll just catch up and hang up with family and friends.

Q: Have you played in that Cleveland stadium before and what do you remember?
A: Yeah, I’ve played there once before. This will be my second time and this time it will be more meaningful because last time I played there it was a preseason game. I just remember being excited to play because I had a lot of people there watching. I wanted to perform well in front of them, and that’s how it will be this weekend. I just want to put on a good show and do something good.

Q: How many people do you have coming to the game?
A: About 50.

Q: What do you miss most about home?
A: Just my family and friends. I was born and raised there and have a lot of family and friends.

Q: Do you have a favorite restaurant you’ll be hitting while you are home?
A: I like corn beef sandwiches and there’s a place called Slyman’s. They’ve got the best corn beef sandwiches in town.

Q: What advice will you give teammates for dealing with the cold?
A: It’s just a mental thing I think. You’ve just got to have it in your mind that it will be a non-factor.

Source: 49ers.com