I have bad news, y’all. In the never ending war between Niners Nation and Niners Empire, San Francisco 49ers quarter Jimmy Garoppolo has weighed in on the team branded option, “Faithful.” He has mentioned “Niners Nation” in talking about the fans, and said on Wednesday that he was quickly told it is “Faithful” not “Niners NAtion”
I’ve been running Niners Nation for 11 years now (well, 11 years in a couple weeks), and not a month goes by where somebody doesn’t tweet at me, “WE’RE AN EMPIRE NOT A NATION!” or “WE’RE THE FAITHFUL, NOT A NATION!” It’s mostly just Empire mentions, but “Faithful” drops in as well.
But now, we have the official word from the franchise quarterback. I might need to talk with Paraag Marathe about this however and get some kind of provision in his contract that requires he use the term Niners Nation for any mention of the fans. Partially for our own branding, but also partially just to piss off all the people who get annoyed with our use of “Nation” over “Empire” or “Faithful.”
In the meantime, I’m keeping a close eye on the 49ers new quarterback. He might just be a sketchy character after all.