Brock Purdy doesn't do much talking, but he let his actions speak for him in the 49ers' NFC Championship Game comeback win over the Detroit Lions on Sunday at Levi's Stadium.
Aside from punching a ticket to Super Bowl LVIII in historic fashion, regret and retraction from Purdy naysayers was the cherry on top of an already sweet, sweet victory.
Former NFL safety-turned-ESPN analyst Ryan Clark recently made headlines for the harsh rant he delivered about Purdy. Clark confessed on "First Take" that the most challenging thing he had to do over the course of the 2023 NFL season was "act like Brock Purdy deserved to be in the conversation" with Josh Allen, Patrick Mahomes and Lamar Jackson regarding the NFL MVP award.
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One week later, Purdy's performance in the conference title game made Clark do a complete 180 and admit he was wrong.
“When you look at what Brock Purdy was able to do — Brock Purdy has separated himself from Dak Prescott. Brock Purdy has separated himself from Tua Tagovailoa. Brock Purdy has separated himself from guys like Kirk Cousins and from guys like Justin Herbert,” Clark said Monday on "Get Up." "He was asked in the most pressurized moment to be the best he could possibly be. And you know what magnifying glasses do, right?
“…When they were looking for Brock Purdy’s imperfections, they got closer to him. Brock Purdy became more of himself. He used his legs. He played above the Xs and Os. Brock Purdy, in my opinion, if I’m looking at those two games (49ers-Lions and Chiefs-Ravens), Brock Purdy did what we would’ve expected Lamar Jackson to do. Brock Purdy trusted himself. Brock Purdy put the football where it was supposed to be. Brock Purdy won the football game — down 17.”
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And Clark wasn't the only one going back on his words.
In fact, several sports pundits -- for at least a moment -- hopped off the Brock Purdy Hate Train to cram onto the Brock Purdy Support-mobile after Sunday's impressive win.
Just one game prior to Sunday's NFC Championship Game, Fox Sports' Colin Cowherd heavily scrutizined Purdy's performance in San Francisco's come-from-behind win against the Green Bay Packers.
But Cowherd, too, changed his tone while discussing the second-year quarterback's latest showing.
On the flip side, there have been several supporters of Purdy who publicly have shamed others for their outlandish judgments of the young signal-caller, including Pat McAfee and Richard Sherman.
For the two former athletes-turned-sports personalities, they didn't have to retract their words, but they happily bragged and boasted about being right.
Of course, there still is one more task at hand for Purdy and the 49ers as they prepare for a Super Bowl LIV rematch when they take on Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs on Feb. 11 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.
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