Photo by Chris Mezzavilla/KNBR
Former 49ers’ tight end Brent Jones is in a thankful mood this holiday season.
After his old team rolled off four straight victories leading into Christmas Day, Jones joined Ryan Covay & Marcus Thompson on KNBR to discuss his gratitude, and why he’s so thankful the New England Patriots were in a giving mood this year.
“If it’s better to give than receive, than the Patriots are going to get the award for best gift and they must feel great about themselves for 2017 about giving the greatest gift ever received for Jimmy Garoppolo for a second round pick,” Jones said. “I’m telling you, we all should be sending them thank you notes because it was remarkable. I know what he had done studying behind Tom Brady and under Bill Belichick and the kid just came in and elevated everyone’s game and you guys have seen this before and it’s rare in football to have one guy walk onto the field and change the dynamic.”
Jones said first-year general manager John Lynch and rookie head coach Kyle Shanahan have done an excellent job in their efforts to change the culture that developed in San Francisco over the past three-to-four seasons, and he was disappointed that the fruits of their labor and the players’ labor weren’t rewarded during the first half of the year. However, Jones said he could tell the 49ers’ players hadn’t given up on the season, and after acquiring Jimmy Garoppolo from New England, San Francisco now has plenty of reason to look forward to next year.
“For a former player, it’s stunning to watch a team that had just been slowly changing and working hard and the guys even at 0-9 they hadn’t given up, they were playing hard, but those weren’t translating into W’s,” Jones said. “All of a sudden you just get that one missing piece and it’s changed everything. It’s so great, it’s changed everything. We wouldn’t have said this six or seven weeks ago but this could be, if we make some great moves in the offseason and we keep everybody healthy, this could be a team that contends for a playoff spot next year. Now who would have thought that six weeks ago?”
Jones compared the instant impact Garoppolo has had with the 49ers to the type of effect Warriors’ point guard Steph Curry had when he began to blossom into one of the NBA’s best players. Though Garoppolo plays football and Curry plays basketball, both athletes play at a position at which they can dictate their team’s tempo and disposition, and the impact of their abilities is felt by each of their teammates.
“Now we’ve seen it in basketball a handful of times, I think most recently here in the Bay Area,” Jones said. “Nothing against KD, I think KD is unbelievable but before KD even arrived on the scene, Steph Curry elevates everybody’s game around him from the day that he walked into the Warriors’ facility, he changed the dynamic. We’re seeing that with Jimmy G and it’s just so remarkable.”
To listen to Jones’ interview with Covay & Thompson, click the podcast link below. For Jones’ thoughts on the Garoppolo trade and its impact on the 49ers, skip ahead to the 3:16 mark.