SAN JOSE — Deommodore Lenoir vividly recalls last season’s 49ers opener, when he was dazzling at cornerback and Robert Saleh was entering his final month as the New York Jets’ coach.
That is when they had their initial interaction, with many more to come as Saleh reprises his 2017-20 role as the 49ers’ defensive coordinator.
Lenoir, who broke in with the 49ers in 2021, reacted with trepidation upon learning in January that Saleh would be his fourth defensive coordinator.
“Initially, I was like, ‘Oh.’ I was kind of nervous. Because I had just screamed at him when we played the Jets,” Lenoir said Wednesday night, inciting laughter from the crowd at the fifth annual Dwight Clark Legacy Series in San Jose’s Hammer Theatre.
“I had made a play and I had screamed at (Saleh). I didn’t know if he was going to remember that. He did,” Lenoir added. “He brought it up in the first meeting (last month). It was funny, but he’s a very energetic person and the energy he’s already brought to the room, he’s put a lot of confidence to us in the secondary.”
Lenoir graciously accepted this year’s Dwight Clark Award on Wednesday night from George Kittle, the initial recipient in 2021.
Lenoir’s confidence has rarely waned in his four seasons, and the 49ers backed up their belief in him six months ago by delivering a five-year, $89 million contract extension.
Another example of Lenoir’s confidence came when he was asked by Wednesday’s co-emcee, Laura Britt, about what he was looking forward to this season. “Really, the Super Bowl,” Lenoir responded.
Still, Lenoir acknowledged that the 49ers must bring along “a lot of young guys” and embed them in their culture, which he insisted wasn’t destroyed by a 1-7 finish to last year’s 6-11 season.
“When you see D-Mo hitting people, getting interceptions, and talking smack to guys, that energy is infectious and everybody wants to bring that energy just like D-Mo does,” Kittle said. “He’s an inspiration to a bunch of guys on the team and an inspiration to guys and fans that watch him.”
Lenoir and Brock Purdy, in an unusual move, delivered pregame speeches before the 49ers’ final win last season, that coming in Week 14 against the Chicago Bears.
Lenoir, to no surprise, spoke glowingly Wednesday about Purdy locking in a franchise-record extension (five years, $265 million).
“I FaceTimed him but I knew he wouldn’t answer because he was getting a lot of calls. I let him know in the locker room he’s the greatest quarterback ever,” Lenoir said. “He went in there that Miami game (as a rookie in 2022) and he made the plays and I respected him so much for that, going in as the last pick in the draft and being able to take the team to the NFC (title game). A lot of quarterbacks wouldn’t do that.”
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One game already stoking Lenoir’s fire is a Thursday night affair at home in Week 5 against the reigning NFC West champion Los Angeles Rams, on Oct. 2. “It’s a division game, they’re like rivals, and they talk a lot,” Lenoir said. “For last year, we owe them double.”
Other highlights from Wednesday night’s Dwight Clark Legacy Series, which benefits The Golden Heart Fund for 49ers alumni:
— Kittle on the 2025 team: “Well, yes, we’re going to look different. I think we’re a little bit more different on defense than offense but the way we drafted and the free agents we brought in, we have the opportunity to go out and compete and win a lot of football games. With the offense we have, we can score a lot of football points.”
— Hall of Fame defensive end Charles Haley busted Fred Warner’s chops about a picture from legendary Bay Area photographer Michael Zagaris showing the 49ers sadly huddling in the locker room after a loss. “You all need to give each other inspiration to go out to play? You all have to get together to cry together?” Haley said. “We didn’t do that. We did that man stuff.”
Ah, but another of Zagaris’ photos showed the crowd of a 49ers locker room scene in which Haley was irate among his 49ers teammates inside the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum after a loss to the Raiders.
“I think I might have had a little meltdown,” Haley said. “But do you see anybody that looks like they were going to cry? I was pissed the hell off. I was mad because the 49ers traded all our leaders away, and then we came to play Ronnie, who was my idol. I wanted to beat him and we didn’t, so I had a little meltdown.”
— Haley, who won two Super Bowl rings with the 49ers and three after they traded him to the Dallas Cowboys, reflected on how the 49ers accepted him as a 1986 rookie.
“When I came in as a rookie, I couldn’t believe how (Joe Montana), Ronnie, and Jerry (Rice) were just talking to me. I came from James Madison, a fourth-round draft pick, 200 pounds,” he recalled. “Why were these guys talking to me? I didn’t know who the hell they were anyway. The only way I found out, we had a preseason game and I was nervous, so I was looking at the program. I opened it, then I saw that long nose (of Montana), then Jerry and Ronnie. That’s when I realized who these people were.
“I had no idea because we were in church on Sundays. I saw one Super Bowl, with Mean Joe Greene playing (for the Pittsburgh Steelers). Mean Joe Greene is my idol. He lives in Texas so I go over to his house a lot. I love the ground he walks on.”
— Warner joined Haley, Garrison Hearst and Anthony Adams on Zagaris’ hand-picked panel that was moderated by Brian Murphy of KNBR 680-AM. Warner commended another Zagaris photo capturing the All-Pro linebacker preparing for the 2019 season’s Super Bowl, saying: “Z captures it so perfectly. Those moments before you go out (to the game), there’s so many different emotions and thoughts running through your head, especially in a Super Bowl. … Seeing pictures like this take me right back to the moment and I can feel the goosebumps I had.”
Zagaris, 80, has spent over five decades shooting 49ers games, plus the Athletics and some of the most notorious rock bands ever. He said of his historic access to behind-the-scenes moments: “Nobody is invisible, but when you’re there all the time every day, you hope they really won’t notice you.”
— Adams on former 49ers and Dallas Cowboys offensive lineman Larry Allen, who unexpectedly passed away last June: “One time I went in the weight room, he had 405 on there, and he had these big chains hanging off the end. I don’t know how much weight was on there but the bar was bending. He was by himself so I went in and said, ‘Hey man, you want a spot?’ He just looked at me (and started lifting repeatedly). I was, ‘Alright man, I’ll see you tomorrow.’”
— Other alumni present: Ronnie Lott, Bryant Young, Eric Wright, Tom Rathman, Dwaine Board, Junior Bryant, Chris Dalman, Ron Ferrari, Dave Fiori, Randy Kirk, Milt McColl, John Paye, Bill Ring, and Mike Salmon.
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