You wrote about that.

After one of the 49er practices, I went over and I snuck into the museum.

Well, I kind of told them I was media.

They let me go into the museum.

And story of your life.

Yeah.

I was like getting something for free.

What mattered? What do you think was like when you look back at that Rams game and you project forward to who this team is? What mattered to you?

I know

it's like Shanahan major, major accident injury.

And it was the big story about it was because it took two weeks for it to come to light.

Right.

And then was that a big deal to you? Uh, I thought it was somewhat of a big deal.

Like this, you're talking about the, when we're talking about journalism, like that was a really interesting dilemma.

If you knew about this beforehand and you didn't report it, he, you don't have to protect him.

What's he doing in there?

I know

it's like Shanahan major, major accident injury.

And it was the big story about it was because it took two weeks for it to come to light.

Right.

And then was that a big deal to you? Uh, I thought it was somewhat of a big deal.

Like this, you're talking about the, when we're talking about journalism, like that was a really interesting dilemma.

If you knew about this beforehand and you didn't report it, he, you don't have to protect him.

What's he doing in there?

I mean, I think there's some really intriguing young defensive players that kind of fit more with what Raheem Morris has brought to the team, whereas maybe some of the carry-overs aren't necessarily just handpicked for this particular defense.

I, I'm gonna take the counterpoint to that because, yes, they...

The joint practices are, like, they've become bigger than the pre-season games.

I just, I don't know if there's gonna be that much difference in between the joint practice and the pre-season game now, because on offense, essentially, it's not young, it's the, it's an older...

The whole starting line-up's essentially old, right? It's outside of figuring out if Robert Jones is gonna be your left guard, if, um, DeSean Strirling, rookie, is gonna be one of the top two or three wide receivers.

To me, those are the offensive competitions, besides the backup stuff.

Defensively, I think the most curious thing I gotta see on defense is the secondary, and I, I think that can play out in practice and in games, because I think is Jack Jones, does he get a legitimate shot at taking Greenardo Green's job at cornerback? Who are gonna be the sa- th- are you stuck essentially with Segal and Brown as your starting safeties, or could some...

[laughs] Yeah.

Think he was fourth in MVP voting that year

...

Yeah, and I think McCaffrey got stole some votes too.

So the thing was, he's a top-tier quarterback for Kyle Shanahan, okay? That's what matters.

It doesn't matter if he's on Mahomes' or Josh Allen's level because those guys are on another team.

It is who's the quarterback Kyle is gonna trust with his offense, which is so complicated, so predicated on timing and all these mismatches and identification of the defenses, and that's Brock's superpower.

However, if defenses start...

One, what's the dynamic like between those two from what you can tell, Lynch and Shanahan? And then two, how, how much longer, any sense of how much longer this regime will be in place?

Do you see them going back to that a little bit where maybe they get a little less reliant on McCaffrey in the offense?

Well, I mean, they've said that about McCaffrey and Kittle for years and years, that they're going to get people to help them out, and then they realize these guys are so darn good that they want to use them.

And McCaffrey had to basically cover for the fact that they were down on receivers last year.

And now you bring in Mike Evans, and so that should just give the offensive dynamic offensive threat that they haven't had.

It's just amazing – veteran wide receiver where Brock can throw the old RCO into alley-oop to and hope he comes down with some touchdowns for him.

I still think that they want to be based as a run-oriented offense.

And I know it's like, okay, but they brought in Mike Evans.

He didn't know? That

Right.

And McCaffrey had to basically cover for the fact that they were down on receivers last year.

And now you bring in Mike Evans, and so that should just give the offense a dynamic offensive threat that they haven't had.

It's this, this amazing veteran wide receiver where Brock can throw the out- the old RCO and alley-oop to and hope he comes down with some touchdowns for him.

Um, I still think that they wanna be based as a run-oriented offense.

And I know it's like, okay, but they brought in Mike Evans, you still have Ricky Pearsall, Christian Kirk, DeSean Stribling's in now.

Yeah, that's all great, but Kittle's coming off of an Achilles, and they need to run the ball.

Just how much pressure is there on Ricky Pearsall to be that number one option and stay healthy this season?

...coverage of, of some of those during the Warriors run or, or even a World Series.

I don't speak Jordanian or Austrian, so I didn't know what the players were saying after the game.

Um, and FIFA didn't help translate.

It was, um... [chuckles] FIFA took such control of this tournament.

I mean, it is theirs.

I mean, they cover the, uh, identities of the stadiums.

They just build a massive fortress around them for security, which is great.

You know, turned, yes, but just continued to live?

I want to hear it all.

You know, when we say did the Bay Area deliver, it's, it's, uh, the stadium was packed.

I mean, they, they packed it for the six games, the San Francisco Bay Area Stadium, formerly known as Levi's Stadium.

Um, and it wasn't just the Bay Area, though.

I mean, it brings...

The World Cup brings in people from everywhere, right? To cheer on their country.

And, you know, I got a taste of it in '94 when I went to the game at Stanford on July 4th with USA-Brazil.

... of, of some of those during the Warriors run or, or even a World Series.

How's he looking? And what's going to play out with this Brandon Ayuk story?

Let's get to Brandon first because that's been the story of the offseason, strangely, because everybody thought this was going to be done for and he'd be cut fast.

I think it's strictly a business matter of whether the Niners can recoup some of the millions they paid him as a signing bonus when he signed in 2024 after one of the most strange, acrimonious contracts ever.

wars that we've ever seen.

Um, he was about to get traded and they instead gave him a four year, whatever.

I don't know.

I forget what it was.

How do you actually get into being an insider, now the number one insider for 49ers?

"And he's constantly telling us what we need to get better, and it's not a gimmick."

I, I, let, let me jump in real quick because the, the 10-year mark I think is very important.

It is a, it's a m- it's, it is a major marker, and I brought this up to Kyle when we're at the owners' meeting because Bill Walsh coached 10 years with the Niners.

Uh, Pleasanton's own John Madden coached the Raiders for 10 years, and when Madden was going in the Hall of Fame, like, why did you only go 10 years? 'Cause everybody's like, "Why? Why did you stop?" Um, and to him he's like, "Well, that, that was it." He's like, "Lombardi did 10 years." You know, but 10 years was it.

And, um, obviously John went on to great things in broadcasting.

Kyle is not a 10-year coach.

Kyle is gonna be coaching for another 20 years.

Yeah