Before Brock Purdy led the 49ers to an NFC Championship berth this season, team leaders apparently envisioned putting a hometown hero under center.
In a recent interview with ESPN, the former “Mr. Irrelevant,” who led the 49ers to the NFC title game last January as a seventh-round rookie, detailed an early offseason conversation with head coach Kyle Shanahan and revealed that California native Tom Tom He said Purdy, 24, will be QB1 unless Brady wants to play. His childhood team.
“It meant a lot to me,” Purdy said. “I remember him saying if we can get Tom Brady, let's get him. And I thought, 'Yeah, he's a goat.' Understood. 'But in the back of my mind, I was like, “Hey, I just proved that I can play well in this system.'' And the Super Bowl was one game away. ” …More than anything, it was like, “Okay, let's go.'' ”
Purdy, the 262nd overall pick in the 2022 NFL Draft, became an NFL sensation last season when he took over the reins for an injured Jimmy Garoppolo.
This fairy tale was abruptly interrupted when Purdy suffered an elbow injury in the first half of the 2023 NFC title game against Philadelphia, with the Eagles ultimately clinching their ticket to the Super Bowl with a 31-7 victory. .
Purdy underwent Tommy John surgery in the offseason, raising questions about whether he would be healthy for the start of the season.
During training camp this summer, Shanahan joked that Purdy was “going to have to melt in practice to lose.” [the starting quarterback job]”
Purdy has struggled at times this season, including Saturday's rainy divisional round win over the Packers.
“Weather, that's football, you have to overcome it,” said Purdy, who went 23-for-39 for 252 yards and one touchdown.
“After a while we got into a rhythm. That's on me. Overall, we had to find a way to win and we made it work.”
Purdy, who had 31 touchdowns and 11 interceptions in 16 regular-season games, is preparing for Sunday's NFC Championship Game against Jared Goff's Lions.
As for Brady, the former Patriots and Buccaneers quarterback retired “for good” last February after 23 seasons, including seven Super Bowl championships.
Brady, perhaps jokingly, said in an Instagram post on New Year's Eve looking back on 2023 that he was “about to retire” in May, before his friends threw him a retirement party.
The 46-year-old will slide into Fox's top NFL booth as an analyst this fall.
