Kyle Shanahan, John Lynch, and the entire 49ers organization experienced plenty of off-field tragedies during the 2024 NFL season.
For the San Francisco coach, it’s part of the business and something you must deal with while focused on performing at a high level.
“I mean, that stuff's always tough and the football season's so intense for everyone,” Shanahan told reporters Wednesday at his end-of-season press conference. “I mean, that's why anyone who's really been my friend over the last 20 years realizes you're not going to know anything about him for about seven months because you kind of go into a hole and you get caught up in the season and all that stuff.
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“But we all do have families and that does weigh on people, but you’ve still got to come and you’ve got to do your job. That stuff is hard and you watch guys go through it and you don't like to watch anyone go through something tragic, but you really watch how impressive people can be going through that stuff.”
Between Ricky Pearsall being shot in the chest before the season started and both Trent Williams and Charvarius Ward losing children, the 49ers endured plenty of emotionally draining experiences. Still, for Shanahan, it meant grieving while keeping the focus on football.
“When you watch people really grieve and things like that, you realize that's the hardest thing all humans have to deal with,” Shanahan said. “But then to watch people who are grieving so badly and still have to come into a room and then go perform at a high level, which is a whole different type of pressure, and to watch them handle it and get through it, you realize how much stronger some of this stuff makes those guys and then inspires guys around them. And it does make you closer at times.”
San Francisco general manager John Lynch echoed a similar sentiment, explaining how difficult it is sitting in the executive chair after so many years as an NFL player.
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“Like Kyle said, there's always things and there's things behind the scenes that no one hears about,” Lynch explained. “Frankly, one of the craziest things about this job, as a player, I prided myself with really knowing my teammates. There's so much stuff I never knew that I'm disappointed that I didn't because now as I sit in this seat, so much comes to you.
“The challenges people are going through. But I will say that this season I've never had anything like it in terms of the amount, the severity, the unique circumstances and I was proud of the way our team stuck together, had each other's backs and stayed together and I do believe we'll be stronger for that.”
The emotional and physical wear from a deep Super Bowl run the previous season, coupled with a slew of unfortunate injuries, doomed San Francisco from the start. The team never seemed to click, and a series of blown fourth-quarter losses early stalled any momentum. It was the first time since 2020 that the 49ers did not make the NFC Championship Game, let alone the NFL playoffs.
While the disappointment still is fresh in players' minds, the franchise will need to turn things around quickly with NFL free agency looming in the summer.
For Lynch and Shanahan, these hard experiences are part of life in professional sports.