Santa Clara County Exec Slams Shanahan, 49ers: Report

SANTA CLARA COUNTY, CA – A day after San Francisco 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan claimed he was blindsided by the news his team was banned from playing its next two home games at Levi’s Stadium, a top Santa Clara official fired back.

Shanahan said he was “extremely disappointed” about learning about the new health order as his team was traveling to Southern California on Saturday. Shanahan issued his rebuke of the county Sunday after his team’s 23-20 win over against the Los Angeles Rams

Santa Clara County Executive Officer Dr. Jeff Smith said Monday that given the steady communication the county has had with the team in recent months and considering the extent to which the coronavirus crisis has exploded in recent weeks throughout the country — and in Santa Clara County in particular — the news should have been no surprise, The Mercury News reports.

“The situation has been the subject of discussion throughout the NFL," Smith told The Mercury News. "The decision by the NFL to stop activities in the last few days is evidence of the fact that even the NFL recognizes the seriousness of the pandemic. It is hard for me to believe that the 49ers were surprised by the new orders given how serious the situation is both locally and across the country.”

Smith questioned whether it is in fact prudent to continue to play NFL games as the coronavirus crisis explodes throughout the country, imperiling a health care system that’s already on the brink.

The United States surpassed four million new cases in November on Saturday, more than doubling the 1.9 million new cases it experienced in all of the previous month, and all indications are that the crisis will get worse before it gets better, an infectious disease expert told The New York Times.

“We are on track to continue this accelerated pace of the epidemic and see even more speed of rise of cases because of the movement indoors, of activities around the country and because large numbers of people have moved around the country for the holidays,” Johns Hopkins University’s Director of the Center for Health Security Tom Inglesby told The Times.

Santa Clara County set a new single-day record Monday, reporting 801 new cases of the coronavirus.

“Historically, sportsmanship has been about building a team and protecting that team,” Smith said according to the report.

“Coaches, managers and owners used to want to protect their players from harm. Those values seem to have been placed on hold during the COVID pandemic. If leaders want to protect their teams and communities, they should not play anywhere until it is safe. One might envision a reemergence of team-building if the teams spent their time building a COVID relief fund for the community rather than trying to put the community at more risk.”

Shanahan said after Sunday’s game that the new health order banning his team from playing their next two games in Santa Clara County came as a surprise.

The 49ers announced Monday that they will play their next two “home” games at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona.

The 49ers will play the Buffalo Bills on Dec. 7 and the Washington Football Team Dec. 13.

"Everyone has been so committed to this, so the biggest thing for me is just all of us leaving our families," Shanahan said.

"We're all humans just like everyone else, and it's a big deal to leave your family for the whole month of December."

The team has still not announced where it will practice, but Shanahan said the team needs at least three full days before each game.

"Information regarding the 49ers future practice arrangements will be shared at the appropriate time," 49er officials said.

Read more at The Mercury News

— Bay City News contributed to this report