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The San Francisco 49ers decided to release a locker room leader on Friday, parting ways with linebacker NaVorro Bowman. The news came as a surprise, but given his potential upcoming decrease in playing time, maybe it was not quite so shocking.
That being said, it caught players off guard when head coach Kyle Shanahan announced the news to the team prior to practice on Friday. I imagine plenty are still soaking it in, but we have some early reactions to the news. We had veterans like Joe Staley and Daniel Kilgore talking about all the time they spent together. We also had rookies like Reuben Foster talking about what they learned from him.
We’ll keep an eye out for more reactions, but here are a few of them in video and tweet form.
#49ers @ferrarifoster on Bowman's release: "His career's not over yet. Trust me." pic.twitter.com/NivwYFMX0J
— Mindi Bach (@MBachNBCS) October 13, 2017
#49ers Joe Staley upon hearing of NaVorro Bowman's release: "Everybody was pretty surprised." pic.twitter.com/3XVM2geEPh
— Mindi Bach (@MBachNBCS) October 13, 2017
#49ers Daniel Kilgore on NaVorro Bowman's release. pic.twitter.com/tTM7UCbldt
— Mindi Bach (@MBachNBCS) October 13, 2017
Godspeed big bro!! @NBowman53
— Q Tartt (@Quaski29) October 13, 2017
#49ers DeForest Buckner on #Bowman:
— Cam Inman (@CamInman) October 13, 2017
Having Bo out there, you felt him on the field even if you didn’t see him.
49ers Brian Hoyer: Everyone has utmost respect for Bo but we also have utmost respect for Kyle & John & what they’re looking for in building
— Cam Inman (@CamInman) October 13, 2017