Kyle Shanahan wishes he could take his words back. At this point, though, they'll live with him forever as a running joke among 49ers players.
A group of 49ers players called Shanahan on Sunday to assure him they were, in fact, alive. Again, this is all in good fun.
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"I can't guarantee you that anybody in the world will be alive Sunday, so I can't guarantee who will be on our roster on Sunday," 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan said one week ago in response to a question about whether Jimmy Garoppolo will be on the team when the 2021 NFL Draft ends.
George Kittle, of course, had fun with his coach by tweeting later that day that he would call Shanahan to let him know he was alive.
It's unknown which players called Shanahan but it's easy to see Kittle being one of them.
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For what it's worth, Garoppolo still is a 49er, and that appears to be the plan going forward. The 49ers traded up to the No. 3 pick in the draft and selected North Dakota State QB Trey Lance. But Garoppolo remains the starting quarterback for now, and likely will at least for the majority of the 2021 season.
Shanahan's chippy comments came at a stressful time for the coach when the outside world felt he had traded up for Alabama QB Mac Jones. That wasn't the case, and he unintentionally gave us all a reason to laugh and exhale waking up Sunday morning.