Kyle Shanahan apparently had to throw a dollar into the San Francisco 49ers’ swear jar after learning about the Myles Garrett trade.
49ers general manager John Lynch spoke to reporters on Saturday and answered candidly when asked about the Los Angeles Rams acquiring Garrett in the offseason. Lynch prefaced his response by sharing that he had read a book written by legendary college basketball coach John Wooden earlier in the offseason and mentioned a quote from the book to Shanahan.
“Don’t lose sleep worrying about your competition,” Lynch repeated the quote to the media. “Let them lose sleep worrying about you.”
Shanahan’s initial reaction to the quote was apparently, “Man, that’s really cool.” During the same conversation, news of the Garrett trade broke. The 49ers head coach changed his stance in an instant.
“As we were speaking,” Lynch continued. “[News of the Garrett trade] came out. And Kyle said, ‘You know what? F— John Wooden.'”
Lynch laughed as he recounted the story, then quickly recalibrated to NFL executive mode. He stated that the 49ers “understand” what they’re going up against in a powerhouse Rams squad that just added Garrett, but remain “more focused” on the team’s own success.
One can only wonder how Lynch and Shanahan would react if Aaron Donald truly does come out of retirement to line up next to Garrett. Lynch may end up burning that John Wooden book in frustration.
Shanahan has had a rough offseason thus far. The team shared that the 49ers coach had suffered injuries after being involved in a car crash last week, but will still be able to participate in training camp. Hearing about the Garrett news must have felt the same way mentally.
