The San Francisco 49ers started their offseason program this week and the first leg of it ended on Wednesday. While head coach Kyle Shanahan said that 100-percent of the players on the team reported for the voluntary workouts this week, one player who was absent was Tramaine Brock, who was released on Friday following his arrest on a domestic violence charge.
On Wednesday, following the team's local pro day, 49ers general manager John Lynch spoke to the media for the first time about the release.
"I think where we've been consistent is we have said that character is important to us, football character and I think that's for a lot of reasons," Lynch said. "First of all, just the right thing. How you want to carry yourself as an individual and as an organization. But, Kyle and I also believe and some of our conversations that led to us coming together is that that's how you put together a great football team too. And football character means a lot of different things. But, as Kyle I think articulated very well and I feel the same way because we kind of forged these philosophies together, as those situations arise and hopefully there won't be a lot them, we're going to treat each one of them as a unique and different situation. That's what we did the other day.
"I can tell you guys that I understood when I stepped into this job that there would be tough decisions and I also understood that part of my job is to make tough and hard decisions. I can tell you that the gravity of that situation, you're affecting an organization, you're protecting your organization, but you're also dealing with the family. So, that was not easy.
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"I think there's been some conjecture that we didn't think highly of him. That couldn't have been further from the truth. He was a starting player for us. So, that was not easy. I can also tell you that it wasn't meant to send a message. I think you let those things happen organically and we did what we felt was the right situation in that situation. It was not easy and felt like it was something that we needed to do."
On Monday, Shanahan addressed the media about the release of Brock and his arrest. It was the first opportunity that the media had to discuss the situation with someone from the 49ers.
"We heard about it on Friday," Shanahan said. "It was a tough situation because it's a big deal and you don't have all the information. (It was) my first time going through it, I found out how hard it is to get all the information. So, we spent most of the day trying to figure out all the information you can -- as much as you can get. You never do get all of it but there was enough there that we felt it was a decision we had to make and move from."
Shanahan was asked if the release of Brock was a way to send a message to other players. "When you're dealing with people's lives, I would never want to use a situation as sending a message," Shanahan answered. "It's just us trying to do the right thing, whatever that is. I think each situation is different. You've got to look into every situation, gather all the information you can. When you do, you try as hard as you can to make the right decision. I think that's what we felt we did."