49ers OL coach John Benton plays out the team at their last practice

The San Francisco 49ers had their final practice of Week 17, and with it came what appears to be a now annual tradition. Offensive line coach John Benton is an enthusiastic guitar player, and a year ago, he played at the 49ers final practice of the season before they faced the Los Angeles Rams in Week 17. The 49ers won, and so head coach Kyle Shanahan had him back out there for this week’s final practice.

We’ve posted some video below of Benton playing Guns N’ Roses’ “Welcome to the Jungle” and then ZZ Top’s “Tush.” The highlight of the latter video was when someone yelled out for him to play Free Bird. Given the age of most of the roster, I wonder if the player thought it was just cool to say, or knows the song. Either way, they’re fun videos.

Kyle Shanahan was asked how this became a thing.

“He always plays the guitar. He’s just very quiet and doesn’t tell many people about it. Last time I caught him playing the guitar is when we had to sleep here on a Thursday night game. I was sleeping, trying to go to bed at like three in the morning. He didn’t know I was in there. So, he was jamming his guitar so loud by himself to where I had to run out of my room. He thought he was alone. But, no, John loves playing music and I forget what happened, but he did it last year on a Friday. We won that week. When that stuff happens, it becomes a tradition. He was up again today.”

Shanahan is a fan of his GNR since they were his favorite rock band when he was a kid. Apparently he had to hide his tape since his mom did not want him to listen to it.

Enjoy the videos, courtesy of Cam Inman!

Guns N’ Roses — “Welcome to the Jungle”

ZZ Top — “Tush”