Just when things were looking up for the San Francisco 49ers this once-proud franchise suffered another in what has been a long series of body blows.

The latest and most bizarre example of how far the 49ers have fallen since the days of Bill Walsh and Joe Montana involved a controversial training tape.

Public relations director Kirk Reynolds plays the mayor of San Francisco in a raunchy in-house video that the San Francisco Chronicle obtained from an anonymous source Reynolds claims to be ex-general manager Terry Donahue.

The tape, which was intended to be seen by players and coaches only, was an attempt to educate players on diversity and media relations and included topless dancers, vulgarity and racially insensitive stereotypes of gays and lesbians and Chinese Americans.

Even popular San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, whose office was used while filming the 15-minute video shown to players during training camp last year, was portrayed as a free-spending, bribe-taking womanizing politician.

The video has created a controversy in San Francisco and has resulted in the highly respected Reynolds no longer being employed by the team.

It also further erodes public confidence in beleaguered owner John York, who apologized for what was described as a "inappropriate and tasteless video" in a statement released by the team Wednesday afternoon.

"The content of this training material was never cleared by any officer of this organization and is absolutely contradictory to the ideals and values of the San Francisco 49ers," the statement continued.

The damage could extend well beyond temporary embarrassment for a franchise that has been plagued by salary cap mismanagement in recent years. The team hit rock bottom last season by finishing 2-14, resulting in fan apathy and the firing Donahue and coach Dennis Erickson, who both had several years remaining on their contracts.

Building a replacement to antiquated Monster Park (formerly Candlestick Park) could be one of the key elements to restoring the franchise to its glory days when the 49ers were the envy of the league.

York acknowledged that a new stadium was vital to the team’s long-term success and said in October that the team planned to unveil plans for the new stadium between February and May.

A new stadium project already has $100 million in public approved funds provided certain guidelines are followed. Acquiring additional funds or even further mayoral support could potentially be jeopardized by the video, which insults much of what the city represents.

Damage control was relatively swift, with the team releasing a statement signed by both John York and his wife, Denise DeBartolo York.

"The 49ers have a zero tolerance for anything that ridicules this city or any segment of the population, or for anything that creates an environment that anyone could find harassing, embarrassing or uncomfortable," the statement read.

How the video was obtained by the Chronicle has sparked yet another controversy, with Reynolds telling the newspaper that Donahue was not only aware of the content of the video but was "absolutely" behind it falling into the public domain.

Donahue, according to Reynolds, is convinced the former PR director helped instigate his firing.

The 49ers have a history of making in-house videos for viewing by players and coaches only. Former coach Steve Mariucci showed weekly "highlight" films that often included movie clips that were meant to be humorous. In this case, however, even Reynolds admitted that this particular video went to far.

As a result, the perception of a franchise that was once considered one of the great dynasties in pro sports has become even more tarnished.

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