Jimmy Garoppolo knee injury isn't Taylor Swift's fault, and here's why

Share

Jimmy Garoppolo was lost for the season Sunday when his left leg buckled as he tried to cut on the Arrowhead Stadium turf. So will there now be bad blood between 49ers fans and Taylor Swift?

Let us explain ...

Swift’s Sept. 8 show at Arrowhead set a stadium record for concert attendance with 58,611 -- set list here, for those interested. The immense crowd -- some of which stood on the natural grass playing field -- forced officials at the Chiefs' stadium to re-sod the turf, and just 15 days later, the 49ers were left with a blank space at starting quarterback after Garoppolo tore his ACL on that surface.

Kyle Shanahan wasn't happy about losing his QB, to say the least, and the 49ers coach mentioned the turf re-sodding when asked Monday if the team would review its training methods because of ACL tears for Garoppolo and running back Jerick McKinnon in the past month.

"People can, if they want. I personally think they're wasting time," Shanahan said of possible training program changes. "One guy made a cut in Kansas City on some re-sodded turf after a Taylor Swift concert -- I don't know if that had anything to do with it -- and the other guy made a cut on our practice field in the last play of practice. So, whatever information we get, it wouldn't affect me very much. We can't tell them to avoid Kansas City if we play there."

As Shanahan mentioned, no one knows if the turf conditions led to Garoppolo's season-ending injury, and it probably didn't. ACL tears, unfortunately, are commonplace in football, and correlation doesn't imply causation. Plus, a 2017 U2 concert at Arrowhead just five days before a Chiefs-Eagles game didn't lead to any documented catastrophic injuries.

San Francisco 49ers

Find the latest San Francisco 49ers news, highlights, analysis and more with NBC Sports Bay Area and California.

49ers star Kittle receives 2024 NFL Salute to Service award

Source: Jaguars to interview longtime 49ers scout for GM vacancy

So, Shanahan, the 49ers and The Faithful will have to stop wondering if this is why we can't have nice things, then just shake it off. There's 13 games left, and anything can happen in today's NFL.

Click to watch Shanahan's full press conference on YouTube

Contact Us