‘Today was absolutely terrible’: 49ers mourn for Beathard family after dramatic win
After a dramatic win Saturday night, the 49ers locker room was somber.
George Kittle’s emotions overflowed after the 49ers’ walk-off win Saturday night, not with tears of joy but rather heartfelt sorrow.
Kittle called it the toughest game of his career and that “today was absolutely terrible.”
Nearly 24 hours earlier, Clayton Beathard, the younger brother of 49ers backup quarterback C.J. Beathard, was fatally stabbed outside of a Nashville bar.
Kittle not only knows the Beathard family so well from his college days at Iowa with C.J., but because he felt a connection with Clay, 22, who he described as being a similar “ball of positivity.”
“I got to talk to C.J. after the game,” Kittle said after the 49ers’ 34-31 win over the Los Angeles Rams. “But overall, it was just kind of a brutal day. We got that one for C.J. and I’m so happy we could.”
C.J. Beathard, the 49ers’ No. 3 quarterback, flew home to be with his family after learning of his brother’s death.
Coach Kyle Shanahan met for an hour with Beathard after 3 a.m. at the 49ers’ team hotel, offering a shoulder to cry on and hearing his heartbroken player offer a pep talk. “I spent an hour with him last night and he was exactly like any one of us would have been — distraught. He barely could talk,” Shanahan said in a postgame locker-room speech posted on 49ers.com.
“The last thing he said to me when I walked out the door, he stopped me and said, ‘Make sure the guys go win this game.’ I didn’t want to say that at the beginning (to the team) because this game doesn’t mean anything compared to his brother. We all know that. But you guys also know C.J. and he’s got our backs as much as anybody, and we’ve got his.”
For the Beathard family
pic.twitter.com/Td26FyOEND
— San Francisco 49ers (@49ers) December 22, 2019
After winning and maintaining their shot at the NFC playoffs’ No. 1 seed, celebrations were replaced with sympathetic words for the Beathard family.
Shanahan opened his postgame press conference expressing condolences: “What happened last night was very tough on C.J. and his family. It was a tragedy. Such a great family.
“We’ve been with C.J. for three years and he’s as good as any person I’ve been around. … Everyone understands how horrible a thing happened to their family last night and our prayers are with them.”
Shanahan said his players had “heavy hearts” and that Beathard is “really, really respected” in the locker room.
“It shows what we have here and the family this place has become,” right tackle Mike McGlinchey said. “It’s unexplainable why something like (Clay Beathard’s killing) happened. We’re very lucky to have a close group. Our hearts break for C.J. like it did last year for the York family (after the death of Tony York, youngest son of the team’s owners).”
Beathard hasn’t suited up this season after starting 10 games his first two seasons. As the backup to Jimmy Garoppolo and Nick Mullens, Beathard has split reps on the scout team and also filled in at practice in other spots, such as special teams.
“I have a super heavy heart for him,” linebacker Fred Warner said. “We wanted to play this game for C.J. That’s my guy. We go back and forth in practice. I love him to death and he’ll be in our prayers.”
Defensive tackle DeForest Buckner added: “It’s devastating what happened to one of our brothers.”
Kittle said he always had a good time with Clay Beathard, the youngest of three brothers.
“He was the most competitive person I ever met, whether we were playing hoops, target practice, anything we did,” Kittle said. “He was just a positive light in the world and it definitely won’t be a better place without him.”