With the 2024 Pro Football Hall of Fame enshrinement ceremony just days away, 49ers linebacker Fred Warner is overjoyed to see franchise legend Patrick Willis enshrined in Canton.
Speaking to reporters after the first day of training camp practice, Warner was asked what he thought of fellow linebacker Willis, who starred for the 49ers from 2007-2014.
“One of the best to ever do it,” Warner said. “When you talk about linebacker play, you’re always going to talk about the way the game is supposed to be played at that position and he did it through and through with the tenacity and the speed, the violence.
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SIGN UP HERE “You talk about what the league has evolved into with linebackers who can do it all, who can run 4.4 [seconds in the 40-yard dash], that type of linebacker playing with that kind of violence, the physicality that you want to see. He did it at such a high level here and that’s what I’m always chasing, so I’m happy for him getting that gold jacket. Super well-deserved.”
All-Pro Fred 🤝 Hall of Famer Patrick Willis pic.twitter.com/SGxmP2QEDg
— 49ers on NBCS (@NBCS49ers) July 24, 2024
During his seven full seasons with San Francisco, Willis was named to the Pro Bowl seven times and was a five-time First-Team All-Pro selection at linebacker. Chronic foot issues forced him to retire at the end of the 2014 NFL season, but there were few defensive players as dominant as Willis.
Selected by the 49ers with the No.11 overall pick in the 2007 NFL Draft, his impact was felt immediately as he led the league with 174 tackles in his first season, being named NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year. He was named to the NFL All-Decade team of the 2010s.
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Warner and the current San Francisco linebacking corps were undoubtedly influenced by Willis’ physical style of play, as his impact on the modern NFL still looms large.
Willis, along with defensive end Julius Peppers, return specialist Devin Hester, receiver Andre Johnson and defensive end Dwight Freeney will enter the Hall of Fame during a special induction ceremony on Aug. 3 in Canton, Ohio.
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