Niner fans weren't the only ones who didn't buy into the Brady-to-49ers speculation. No one in the 49ers locker room thought the future Hall of Famer was headed to the Bay Area. After all, the Niners already have a quarterback, one the players seemingly trust wholeheartedly.
It made for some entertaining offseason chatter, though. Tom Brady returning home to the team he cheered for as a kid. It was a great storyline, even though it made little sense. That's about all it was, a storyline, and none of Jimmy Garoppolo's teammates took it seriously.
Still, the questions came, and the players defended their quarterback at every opportunity. It had to become tiresome. After all, Garoppolo had just led them to a Super Bowl in his first full NFL season as a starter.
Offensive lineman Daniel Brunskill joined KNBR on Friday and was asked what he and his teammates thought about all of the rumors surrounding Brady possibly replacing Garoppolo.
"There really wasn't a discussion or anything going on with us," Brunskill told Mark Willard. "I didn't have any worries. We knew Jimmy was our guy. I know Tom Brady is one of the best in the league, definitely, and his resume proves it, but Jimmy's our guy.
"I don't think there was any doubt in my mind or any other guy's mind that [Garoppolo remaining the quarterback] wasn't going to happen. I think it was just kind of a lot of people (who) had a lot of time on their hands, so they wanted to create a lot of scenarios that weren't going to be true."
Brunskill is just the latest to defend Garoppolo. Defensive lineman Arik Armstead has done so. As has fullback Kyle Juszczyk. Tight end George Kittle had to do it multiple times. Even wide receiver Emmanual Sanders, now with the New Orleans Saints, defended the man who threw him passes for half a season. He said Garoppolo will prove his critics wrong.
"Jimmy is our guy, and you ask anybody on this team, they'll say the same thing," Brunskill continued. "I don't think there's anybody that thought Tom Brady was coming to San Fran. I'm pretty sure we all knew Jimmy is our guy, and we're going to go play with him next year, and the year after that, and keep going."
You can listen to the entire conversation with Brunskill below.