Monty Stickles, a 49ers linebacker in the 1960s who transitioned into radio and became a pioneer of sports talk, died Sunday in Oakand of heart failure at age 68, according to the Chron. “He was a package,” former 49ers announcer Lon Simmons told the Chronicle. “He used to cheap-shot the linebacker. Then he’d tell the official to watch the guy. The linebacker would retaliate and he’d get thrown out.” He called USF basketball games for KEST radio in 1968 and moved to KGO radio in 1973 to do color commentary on Cal football and Raiders games. He was in the booth with Bill King in 1978 for the Raiders’ memorable “Holy Roller” game against San Diego. He was also a weekend sportscaster at KGO-TV. Working for KGO in 1984, Stickles famously got into a profane exchange with former Giants manager Frank Robinson that was caught on tape and probably set records for most words bleeped out in a minute, according to the Chron.