Over the course of the past two season, Brock Purdy has established himself as one of the most polarizing quarterback in the NFL.
Despite a 17-4 career record in the regular season and a 2023 campaign that placed him in NFL MVP contention, many are still hesitant to show the 2022 Mr. Irrelevant much respect. That includes his very own team, the San Francisco 49ers.
During a recent interview for ESPN, Purdy discussed his offseason recovery from an elbow injury he sustained in last year’s NFC Championship Game against the Philadelphia Eagles. And while detailing his recovery, he uncovered a rather interesting tidbit — that head coach Kyle Shanahan assured him during the offseason that he would remain the starting quarterback…unless the Niners were able to secure Tom Brady’s services.
That’s right. Shanahan told Purdy that San Fran was pursuing Brady for a comeback season, and getting him would revert Purdy to the backup role.
Via ESPN’s Nick Wagoner:
Early in the offseason, Niners coach Kyle Shanahan sat down with Purdy and assured him that if he was healthy he would be the starter unless Brady wanted to play one more season for his hometown Niners.
“That meant so much to me,” Purdy said. “I remember him saying, if we can get Tom Brady, we’re going to try to get him. And I was like, ‘Yeah, he’s the GOAT. I get it.’ But something deep down inside me was sort of like, ‘Dude, I just showed you that I can play well in this system. And we were one game away from the Super Bowl.’ … More than anything, I was like, ‘OK, now let’s go.'”
Of course, Purdy wasn’t thrilled about the idea of possibly losing his starting job, especially after he had won every game he played in its entirety last season and took the team to within one game of the Super Bowl.
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But he also realized that not even an undefeated record could hold off the greatest quarterback of all time, if the Niners could bag him.
In the end, the 49ers didn’t get Brady, and Purdy put together another unbelievable season, throwing for 31 touchdowns and just 11 interceptions while leading his team to the top spot in the NFC.
Despite everyone’s attempt to overlook Purdy’s success, the last pick of the 2022 NFL Draft has proven that he’s the man for the job. All that’s left to do is lead his team to a Super Bowl. The next step towards achieving that goal comes this weekend, when his Niners host the Green Bay Packers in the NFC Divisional Round.
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