Shanahan commends 49ers vets for maintaining ‘standard’ in tough year originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
The 49ers’ 2024 NFL season didn’t go as planned, but that doesn’t mean the mindset in the locker room has changed at all.
San Francisco has two games remaining with only pride and honor to play for after officially being eliminated from playoff contention, something new for the vets who’ve been around the 49ers organization for a while after being a part of four NFC Championship games in the last five seasons.
So even when things haven’t gone their way this year, several leaders on the team have made sure to still stick to the standards and principles the team has instilled for so long to set an example for the younger players.
“Oh, I think it’s always important,” Kyle Shanahan told reporters Saturday. “You don’t just say a standard. It takes a while to be that standard. And that’s from work we’ve put in here over the years and having the right guys who’ve done that and guys who have battled throughout this year they get to see every day.
“Especially when you go through a long season like this, seeing guys like [George] Kittle Fred [Warner], [Nick] Bosa getting back and Deebo [Samuel] like those guys, working through all this, still practicing hard and doing everything they can. That’s extremely important. All you are, is your life experiences and this is a lot of people’s first year and you need to see things done the right way no matter how your season’s going.”
It isn’t unordinary for veteran players to sit out the last few games of a lost season. Coaches want to be cautious with injuries and whatnot. But that isn’t the case for players such as Warner and Kittle, who won’t not play if they’re able to.
Instead, their focus is on the Detroit Lions and Arizona Cardinals. And though they won’t end their season competing for a championship, they’ll end it with their best effort and head held high.
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