FanHouse Walt Harris

San Francisco's secondary took a huge hit on Tuesday with word that veteran cornerback Walt Harris would likely miss the season with a torn ACL. The Niners wasted little time trying to restore some defensive depth, signing veteran Dre' Bly to a one-year deal on Thursday.

Bly will likely compete with third-year man Tarell Brown for the starting cornerback spot opposite Nate Clements.

We haven't even gotten to training camp, but teams are already losing players for the 2009 season. Veteran 49ers cornerback Walt Harris tore his right ACL during practice on Tuesday and will likely miss the entire season, according to Matt Maiocco of the Santa Rosa Press Democrat.

The injury occurred when Harris got tangled up with the wide receiver Dominique Ziegler during a drill. The Niners aren't ready to rule him out for the entire campaign, but the odds are against seeing Harris on the field again this season. Or any season.

The National Football League Players Association has been led for a quarter century by Gene Upshaw, whose often brusque demeanor, combined with his stances on issues like guaranteed contracts and pension plans, has made him a controversial figure.

Baltimore Ravens kicker Matt Stover and New York Giants center Shaun O'Hara are among the players who have publicly criticized Upshaw's leadership and questioned whether it's time for someone else to come along. But Upshaw still has the support of the majority of players' union leaders, including 49ers cornerback Walt Harris.

Walt Harris, who broke his hand in his first Pro Bowl appearance earlier this month, had surgery to insert a screw into that hand on Monday.

Harris is coming off a season that featured a career high eight interceptions and the aforementioned first Pro Bowl selection (in place of injured Eagles corner Lito Sheppard), but I'm sure that was marred a bit by the broken hand. Harris suffered the broken hand defending a pass intended for Bengals receiver Chad Johnson.

The Pro Bowl provides one of the toughest experiences as a fan, since you're naturally pumped to see some of your favorite players playing, but the threat of injury is so high, even with the players playing half speed. And then to see a guy like Harris injured at his age, it makes you wonder if you shouldn't be rooting against your favorite players selection to the game.

Harris should be fine, but a hand injury can be nagging, so it's something to keep an eye on.

More: Niners' Harris Has Screw Inserted in Hand - AP

Every year we indulge ourselves in award shows. From the Oscars to the Espys we just can't turn away. This year I figured why not one more, so I'd like to introduce you to the Eddies, and no these awards have nothing to do with Iron Maiden. This award is honor of the great Eddie DeBartolo Jr., the man who gave us the 49ers dynasty. So without further ado I present to you the Midseason Eddie Awards.

Offensive MVP: Frank Gore and Alex Smith are both deserving of this honor, but through eight games Frank Gore gets the nod. The second year back out of the "M" is eighth in rushing yards and sixth in yards from scrimmage. Gore has had a few mishaps this season, mainly in holding onto the ball, but Frank keeps the 49ers in games with his legs. Just imagine the yards he'd have if the 49ers didn't play catch up through most the season.

Defensive MVP: There is not a whole lot to chose from with this unit, but so far on the season the MVP goes to Walt Harris. In seven games this season Harris has 27 tackles, four interceptions, and six passes defended. One of the few bright spots on a poor defense.

Everyone knows that to compete for an NFL playoff spot, you have to be able to run the ball on offense and stop the run on defense. Well, the Washington Redskins have suffered injuries in both preseason games that greatly affects this formula. In the first quarter against the Cincinnati Bengals, RB Clinton Portis went down with a shoulder injury. In the first quarter against the New York Jets, DT Cornelius Griffin went down with a knee injury.

With Clinton Portis uncertain for the season opener, the Redskins could begin the year aiming to at least do enough. And that's in addition to losing RB Kerry Carter for the season, RB Ladell Betts recuperating from nagging injuries and RB Jesse Lumsden nursing a groin injury. RB Rock Cartwright is the size of a smurf and isn't built to handle a full load, and FB Mike Sellers, well, he's a FB (though he looked good carrying the load for three carries against the Jets).

Stopping the run will already be harder without Griffin, but then you have to consider DE Phillip Daniels' back injury, CB Shawn Springs' abdomen injury, the loss of LB Chris Clemons for the season, CB Ade Jimoh's chest injury and CB Kenny Wright playing like CB Walt Harris did last year.

With a couple of weeks to go before the season's first Monday Night game between the Redskins and the Minnesota Vikings, perhaps some of the wounded warriors will be ready to go. The injuries for the most part are minor, but none of the injured have played a full 60-minute head-knocking game in months. If we're going to make a run for the Vince Lombardi Trophy, either trainer Bubba Tyer is going to have to find a miracle cure or someone is going to have to step up and offensively make sure we're still churning yards out on the ground game and defensively making sure no runningback carries the rock past the line of hemorrhage without getting their heads busted.