SEATTLE – Left tackle Joe Staley heard the whistle and did not move.
Seattle Seahawks pass-rusher Frank Clark did not hold back, and 49ers quarterback Brian Hoyer paid the price.
Staley was upset that referee Bill Vinovich did not call Clark for unnecessary roughness after he delivered a brutal blind-side hit on Hoyer after sprinting past the stationary Staley at the snap of the ball. The 49ers had already called a timeout with the play clock winding down before a third-and-6 play from the 49ers’ 42-yard line in the third quarter.
“I stopped,” Staley said. “I heard the whistle for like five seconds, so I didn’t even get out of my stance.