Believe in this brotherhood.
This one’s for you, Tony. pic.twitter.com/IKbejnwfar— San Francisco 49ers (@49ers) December 10, 2018
Tony York, brother of 49ers CEO Jed York, passed away on Friday December 7 at the age of 35.
After the 49ers’ 20-14 win over the Denver Broncos on Sunday, head coach Kyle Shanahan dedicated the win to Tony, before giving the game ball to Jed, who then spoke to the team.
“Since I’ve been here, the biggest Niner fan I’ve been around is Tony York,” Shanahan said. “Obviously he’s an owner and everything, but I’m telling you guys he loves the Niners more than anyone I’ve been around. I didn’t want to say it, but there was no doubt about who we were playing for today. Jed, the fact you could come today here, be here with us,” Shanahan said before Jed hugged him and general manager John Lynch.
“This hasn’t been the easiest year for any of us,” an emotional York began. “That’s probably the understatement of the year. My brother was a great kid. He loved everything about this, he loved everything about you guys. It was hard for him and I think he’s at peace now.
“But I want you guys to know this, and I talked to Kyle and John a little bit last night. Bill Walsh said something, and I don’t know if you shared it with them, but champions behave like champions before they’re champions. This team is going to be a champion. I’m going to leave a ring when we get one for my brother, and I want everybody to look around this room, and know how good that we can be.
“Believe in this brotherhood. Believe in this guy, believe in this guy, believe in yourselves. And it’s going to be about mental toughness, it’s going to be about what can we get through more than the other 31 teams out there, and we’re going to do it. You guys keep fighting your asses off, and I’m going to get my brother a ring. I appreciate this very, very much.”
