While questions swirl around exactly why it took so long for news of the car crash that severely injured San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan to be made public, 1 friend of Shanahan’s is spilling the beans on the severity of the crash.
The 49ers disclosed on Saturday that Shanahan would be sidelined for training camp after a crash on July 14 in northern California in which he broke his hand, nose, and 3 ribs, and needed over 40 stitches in his face, and suffered a severe concussion in a July 14 car accident in northern California.
According to Shanahan’s friend, former NFL quarterback and Pro Football Talk’s Chris Simms, Shanahan narrowly avoided an even worse tragedy.
“I get a text from Kyle’s wife, Mandy,” Simms said on PFT Live on Monday. “She texts myself and my wife, and it’s like, ‘Oh no, Kyle’s been a part of some horrible accident,’” Simms said. “And she sent us some pictures right off the bat, and it was like, ‘Oh my gosh.’ So just to let you know, paint the picture, you’ve seen the injury report, the broken ribs, 40 stitches in the face, the broken nose, broken left hand. Of course, the bad concussion. But when you first see it, and it’s fresh, and some of the cuts are still wide open, I mean, it’s jarring. It’s jarring. He was this close to maybe losing his right eye, right? The scar is so big right here. And so all that stuff was just crazy to see. And, of course, I was thinking of my friend, but yeah, it’s tough. And he’s still battling with this concussion. . . . He’s healing. His face looks a whole lot better, but this concussion, of course, being a part of that kind of accident is lingering and it’s giving him issues, and he’s certainly still dealing with that.”
Chris Foerster Taking Over Shanahan’s Duties
Taking over for Shanahan while he’s away will be assistant head coach Chris Foerster, who is on his 3rd stint with the franchise after serving as the offensive line coach in 2008 and 2009 then again in 2015.
“49ers assistant head coach and offensive line coach Chris Foerster is expected to assume some of Kyle Shanahan’s head coaching duties and help lead the team,” ESPN’s Adam Schefter wrote on his official X account on Saturday. “Shanahan informed his assistant coaches of his accident on Tuesday; other players slowly have been getting the news that the 49ers confirmed today.”
Shanahan, 46, has been the head coach for the 49ers since 2017 and has led the team to a pair of NFC titles, in 2019 and 2023. San Francisco lost to the Kansas City Chiefs in the Super Bowl both times.
PFT’s Mike Florio Raises Questions Over Reporting
PFT’s Mike Florio raised questions about why Shanahan’s crash wasn’t reported on for 2 weeks — accusing reporters of covering up the crash because they like Shanahan.
“The Kyle Shanahan car accident happened on July 14. It was a matter of public record,” the Pro Football Talk account wrote on X. “The 49ers wanted to keep it quiet until training camp opened on July 25. And, instead of reporting publicly available facts, the reporters who knew about it complied.”
One of those reporters turned out to be at PFT — Simms.
“Florio can attack me all he wants,” 49ers reporter Tim Kawakami wrote on X. “He’s trolling, which he does sometimes,” Kawakami replied, directly calling out Pro Football Talk founder Mike Florio. “I knew around Thursday that Shanahan wouldn’t do the presser yesterday. I knew he likely wasn’t going to be coaching at the start of camp. I could guess why. I didn’t know exactly. CONSPIRACY! COMPLYING!”
49ers Head Coach Kyle Shanahan Almost Lost Eye in Crash: Report