The San Francisco 49ers have had quite an eventful offseason. Between team owner Jed York’s arrest, the electrical substation theories, and Kyle Shanahan’s car crash, the franchise can’t catch a break.
News surrounding the offseason doesn’t appear to be slowing down anytime soon, either, as new details have emerged explaining why the 49ers waited a full 11 days to disclose the head coach’s car crash.
Why 49ers Waited 11 Days to Disclose Kyle Shanahan’s Car Accident
On July 25, ESPN Senior NFL Insider Adam Schefter reported that Shanahan had been involved in a car accident back on July 14. Schefter added that, as a result of the collision, the head coach broke his nose, hand, three ribs, suffered a concussion, and required 40 stitches.
Following the announcement, the NFL world was left wondering why it took 11 days to disclose the news. On Friday, August 28, NBC Bay Area provided an answer.
Bay Area Journalists Hilda Gutierrez and Michael Bott wrote: “Two days after the crash, 49ers Security Director Larry Day emailed a police administrative assistant.
“Day requested the collision report and information about the other vehicle. Police provided information about the second vehicle that morning, but said the collision report was not yet complete.
“Six days later, Day followed up. When police told him they were checking the report’s status, Day responded: ‘We just wanted to review the report today before we release any information to the media.’ Police notified the team on July 23 that the report was available.
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“The following day, a text to a police lieutenant from 49ers vice president of security, Jeremy Jones, states he needed to give the department ‘a heads up on our media release.'”
The franchise promptly issued a statement detailing news of the crash the next morning.
Shanahan was limited during training camp through early August but managed to coach in the preseason opener against the Tennessee Titans. He also coached against the Los Angeles Chargers and Las Vegas Raiders in the following two preseason games, winning two of three, and, albeit in the preseason, the 49ers head coach has seemingly not missed a beat.
With two games against both the Seattle Seahawks and Los Angeles Rams, as well as matchups against the Denver Broncos, Chargers, Kansas City Chiefs, and Philadelphia Eagles, the 49ers have one of the more difficult schedules in the NFL.
They will almost certainly need everyone at their best, including Shanahan, if they want to make a postseason push coming out of a loaded NFC West division.
