The San Francisco 49ers looked as though they were going down the same road as the previous 13 games when they faced the Rams in Los Angeles. They scored first and then allowed 21 unanswered points by the Rams. This time, however, the ending was rewritten and apparently the part of the credit goes to offensive lineman Zane Beadles.
With 10 minutes left in the game, Beadles gathered the linemen together and gave them motivational speech that somehow sparked the comeback that gave the 49ers their second win of the season. Several players spoke about him after the game:
Colin Kaepernick
How valuable is Zane Beadles to your offense?
Zane is a true professional, that’s the best way to describe him. It doesn’t matter what position he is put in, what the circumstances are, he is going to step in, he is going to do his job, he is going to know exactly what he is doing. And to move to center and also be able to direct traffic, as far as the offense, and do an amazing job of that, just stepping in, I think really speaks to the type of player that he is and that was huge for this team.
Andrew Tiller
Did something magically change out there?
Honestly it was probably Zane Beadles. He brought the O-line in together, he gave us a great pep talk and we went out there and things finally started clicking.
What did he say?
It was in the moment. I honestly can’t remember exactly word for word exactly what he said but he gave a great speech and we all just went out there and played together finally.
How valuable has Beadle been for the team?
Man, I commend that guy. From guard to left tackle to to center. Not many people can do that. All the respect in the world to Zane Beadles.
Joshua Garnett
What can you say about the value of Zane Beadles
It’s tough but that shows you what kind of a football player he is and how good of a football player he is, that he can go from tackle to guard to center and be that versatile and not only be out there but dominate out there. That’s something that I aspire to be able to do also.
He had a pep talk with your group?
Oh yeah, just a pep talk to say “Hey guys, we gotta score two times, we got 10 minutes. Let’s score twice and get out of here.” It was a pep talk, it was time that we needed I mean this the people have injuries, people are hurt, he said, you gotta buckle down for 10 minutes and that’s what we were able to do.
Here’s to hoping that the 49ers don’t always wait until 10 minutes before the end of the game to gel together, but at least we know, and they know that it’s possible. Sometimes a win like this is the confidence booster that a team needs to carry over to the next game, and possibly the next season. It’s quite possible that they had forgotten how to win and they really needed this reminder.