If it could have gone wrong, it went wrong.
One player shot in the chest. Two players losing newborn or very young children. You would expect a single sports team experiencing that level of tragedy to be spread over a lifetime, or perhaps never at all.
For those things to all happen in a single season is unfathomable, and yet that is the card that the 2024 San Francisco 49ers have been dealt.
Fortunately, Ricky Pearsall survived his shooting, and miraculously returned to play as early as Week 7.
Charvarius Ward has recently returned to the 49ers’ lineup after losing his 23-month-old daughter, Amani Joy, in late October. Trent Williams has not played for the team since his own tragedy, the recent announcement of the passing of his twin children.
The mental strength of all three men to even comprehend football after their individual trauma is remarkable. Commentary on tragedy in sport is usually followed with words on how the episode, or episodes, really put said sport into perspective, but perspective is often found lacking in professional sporting environments.
The 2024 San Francisco 49ers are an example of a sports team that are surely deserving of some perspective and leeway.
A second last-gasp Super Bowl loss to the same opponent in five years, alongside two other defeats in the NFC Championship Game in the same time span, will take an emotional toll on any organisation.
Teams in the NFL do not often put together such a sustained spell of Super Bowl contention for a multitude of reasons, and it certainly appears that 2024 will be a rare example in recent times of a season in which the 49ers are unable to mount a deep playoff run.
Fans, including myself, would have been disappointed with that outcome at the season outset, and perhaps angry or frustrated with that eventuality. However, in the circumstances, I think the 49ers can be forgiven for a rare down year.
A time for forgiving
Injuries have not even been mentioned up to this point in the article. The Niners have been decimated by injuries over the course of 2024. To put that in perspective, they could be starting their fifth-string running back on Thursday against the Los Angeles Rams, while 15 players are currently on Injured Reserve.
Accountability for these injuries is a separate matter, but expecting a team to compete for a title in the face of them seems a stretch.
For one reason or another, consideration of the emotional impact on NFL players and staff always seems less evident than for other sports. Reason and nuance is already in extremely short supply in the wider sporting world.
Expecting a full and blanket about-turn from all sports fans is entirely unrealistic, but I do think 49ers’ fans should be more forgiving of their team’s struggles in 2024.
I certainly include myself in this. On a recent trip to San Francisco to take in a home game in-person for the first time I found myself incredibly frustrated at a lacklustre team performance in a costly division loss to the Seahawks.
I should not be that entitled in any case, and should certainly be more forgiving of a down season in light of the sheer misfortune that this team has suffered.
Hopefully other Niners fans will do the same, and just enjoy the rest of the season in isolation – enjoying the wins and not getting too down at the losses.
Last night’s blowout of the Bears was certainly a nice pick-me-up.
Above all, hopefully those involved in unthinkable personal tragedy are doing okay, and those suffering injuries are back to health in no time.
