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Over the past five seasons, the San Francisco 49ers have appeared in four NFL Championship Games and two Super Bowls. The team represented the NFC in Super Bowl 58 last month, narrowly missing out on earning the organization's sixth Vince Lombardi Trophy.
CEO and
soon-to-be principal owner Jed York refuses to feel ashamed of what the 49ers accomplished during its 2023 campaign, recognizing that the team is regarded by many as a model for building an organization. Few NFL franchises have enjoyed as much success in recent years.
"I just think you can't be ashamed of a successful season," York told reporters on Tuesday at the NFL owners meetings. "And our goal is always going to be to win Super Bowls, and even if we won the game, it's not like, 'Okay, well, we can take off 2024 because we won the Super Bowl in 2023.' Our goal is always going to be the same."
York believes he has come a long way since nearly breaking his wrist while punching a wall in 2018 after learning that then-starting quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo had suffered a torn ACL early in that season.
"What I've learned in my time as CEO, it's not a complete failure to not win, where I had probably more of a
you either win the Super Bowl or you 100 percent lose [mentality before]," York continued. "You can't not celebrate the fact that we've accomplished some really good things with this team.
"And I would trade a lot of good seasons for winning a Super Bowl, but we've collectively had a very successful program, and I want to make sure that we continue to do that. And the only way to win the Super Bowl [is] you have to get there first. And we've obviously been very close several times, and you have to keep building off of it."
York noted that some believe it's better not to make it that far than to finish in second place. Some even think it's almost worse to lose the Super Bowl than not to make the playoffs.
"And I don't think that's how teams should feel," York declared. "And as much as I would give just about anything to have won this game (Super Bowl 58) or four years ago against Kansas City (Super Bowl 54), you can't leave and say the whole season was a disgrace. It's not. It's a disappointment to not win, but you can't destroy yourself and destroy everything that you built because you didn't finish and hit your ultimate goal.
"That doesn't mean we're not going to work towards it and do everything that we can to continue to build this thing so we get back there and go win it in New Orleans this year. But that's my feeling about it."
York also reflected on an earlier Super Bowl defeat, before the arrival of head coach Kyle Shanahan and general manager John Lynch. The Super Bowl 47 loss to the Baltimore Ravens under then-head coach Jim Harbaugh felt even more gut-wrenching.
"When I experienced the loss to Baltimore, I literally thought my life was going to end," York admitted. "The first time the 49ers ever lost a Super Bowl, and it's just this big, shameful thing. And then you take a step back, and it's like, 'We were number two.' If anybody else was number two, you'd keep working, but you would be proud of your accomplishments.
"And it's trying to figure out that balance of we always want to keep pushing, but you can't shame yourself for being second. But you're always going to keep working, and that's how I feel."
NFL Communications has officially announced the "NFL legends and active players" who will announce selections during Day 2 of the 2024 NFL Draft. Representing the San Francisco 49ers will be former defensive tackle Anthony "Spice" Adams, who spent four seasons with the team and nine in the NFL.
San Francisco selected Adams out of Penn State in the second round (No. 57 overall) of the 2003 NFL Draft.
The NFL's full announcement is below.
In the NFL's continuous effort to connect the game's greats with the next generation of stars, NFL Legends and active players will add to the excitement of the 2024 NFL Draft by announcing various selections and participating in festivities in Detroit.
Pro Football Hall of Famers Isaac
George Kittle made his sentiments clear in a recent conversation about his teammate, wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk. The tight end emphasized that he couldn't picture the San Francisco 49ers without Aiyuk and spoke highly of him in a discussion with Fox News Digital's Scott Thompson.
Throughout the offseason, Kittle has had several conversations with Aiyuk and empathizes with his situation. Reflecting on his own contract negotiation in 2020 before reaching an agreement with the 49ers, Kittle offered his best advice to Aiyuk: "Hey, be patient."
Kittle added, "It's just kind of the way the Niners do things. I didn't
Brandon Aiyuk isn't the only San Francisco 49ers player being mentioned in trade chatter around the NFL. According to Michael Silver of the San Francisco Chronicle, several teams are also reaching out to inquire about the availability of wide receiver Deebo Samuel.
"In the course of trade conversations about Brandon Aiyuk, numerous teams are inquiring about fellow 49ers WR Deebo Samuel's availability," Silver reports. "The 49ers would likely have to be blown away by the offer to make that move. Fluid situation, though."
In the course of trade conversations about Brandon Aiyuk, numerous teams are inquiring about fellow
NFL insider Ian Rapoport joined NFL Network ahead of the 2024 NFL Draft, which kicks off in a couple of hours, and provided an update on San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk amid several trade rumors.
"I think it's fair to say the status of Brandon Aiyuk is very firmly up in the air for the San Francisco 49ers," Rapoport stated. "No doubt they're going to have interest from teams potentially trading for Brandon Aiyuk. And we may actually find out tonight because the 49ers have been very clear internally and externally. They would like a first-round pick for such a talented receiver. And the reality is this has been the market."
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