San Francisco 49ers Interested in Hiring Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice in 2009

This is not the first time Rice's name has been bandied about for a gig with the National Football League. She told the New York Times in 2002 that her dream job is to be NFL Commissioner. And Condi's name is still on the short-list of possible candidates to replace Gene Upshaw as executive director of the NFL Player's Association.

Rice is a long-time football fan who grew up rooting for the Cleveland Browns and still manages to catch most games on Sundays. After her term as Secretary of State ends, Rice had been planning to move back to California, where she previously served as Stanford provost (and had a hand in hiring former NFL coach Dennis Green, among others).

How this makes her qualified to run an NFL team is anyone's guess. Still, it's not like the 49ers can get any worse. Maybe throwing a Hail Mary to Condi is what the organization needs in order to get back on track after what will likely be their sixth-straight losing season.

For the record, the 49ers issued a soft rebuttal to Schefter's story, saying:

"We don't respond to rumors. We have our office structure in place."

Sounds like the Niners are spouting the standard non-denial denial of Washington politicians. In that case, should Condi head to the Bay Area, she'll probably feel right at home.

Source: Yahoo Sports