The 49ers nearly had to place CEO Jed York among the slew of other banged up 49ers on injured reserve last season.
He recounted a story to Jennifer Lee Chan of NBC Sports Bay Area about the day he found out Jimmy Garoppolo had a torn ACL. The 39-year-old found the nearest wall and took a big swing. It didn’t go well.
“It was a good punch,” York told Chan at the NFL owner’s meetings in Arizona. “Unfortunately, it was a stud. You’ve got to find the dry wall. That’s the key. It looks so much better to put a hole through the wall, as opposed to finding the stud.”
York thought he broke his wrist, but wound up being one of few in the 49ers’ organization to get lucky on the injury front.
The frustration is understandable considering where the 49ers have been in the seasons since York made the decision to mutually part ways with successful head coach Jim Harbaugh.
After a few years of turmoil, York finally steadied the ship with a head coach and general manager who worked cohesively, and their handpicked franchise quarterback. Garoppolo going down in Week 3 of a season that San Francisco hoped to be in playoff contention was a brutal twist of fate.
The 49ers’ season effectively ended that day, and York’s frustrated haymaker at the wall showed that he was aware of the gravity of the situation. His team was in for another dreary season.
It didn’t wind up all bad for San Francisco. While they sustained injuries and their year became more of a battle of attrition than a fight for the playoffs, they wound up with the No. 2 overall pick to go along with a roster that’s coming along nicely in its rebuild.
They have a long ways to go, but having the No. 2 pick should help them construct a roster that puts them in a position to succeed. If they do things right and stay healthy in 2019, York shouldn’t need to find anymore inanimate objects to fight.
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