Tragedy struck the 49ers on Saturday evening when backup quarterback C.J. Beathard lost his brother to a fatal stabbing in Nashville. Beathard left to be with his family on Sunday and we all knew who the 49ers were playing for.
In his victory speech to the team, Kyle Shanahan mentioned that he spent an hour with Beathard Saturday night. When Shanahan was ready to leave, Beathard stopped him at the doorway and said, “You make sure the guys go win this game.”
Shanahan looks about to break into tears re-telling this story to the team. He didn’t tell the team before the game started because, “This game doesn’t mean anything compared to his brother.” But he definitely did now.
I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again. Kyle Shanahan and John Lynch have not only brought in a change of culture, but they have made a family like atmosphere with the team. There’s Shanahan spending time the night before a game with his third string quarterback or John Lynch paying Richard Sherman his $1 million incentive regardless if he hit the 90 percent of his snaps mark.
This is how you attract free agents, and it’s how people stick around.
For the Beathard family ❤️ pic.twitter.com/Td26FyOEND
— San Francisco 49ers (@49ers) December 22, 2019