DRAMA: 49ers SAFETY WAR Escalates—Does Ji'Ayir Brown DESERVE Donte Whitner’s WRATH?

Added: 2026-05-13

[00:00:00]Uh, a former 49ers safety uh has taken issue with a current 49ers safety and is Fred Warner the most important San Francisco 49er player in 2026 on today's Locked On 49ers.

[00:00:19]>> You are Locked On 49ers, your daily San Francisco 49ers podcast, part of the Locked On Network. Your team every day.

[00:00:31]Welcome to Lockdown 49ers. Brian Peacock and Eric Crocker with you as always.

[00:00:35]Thanks for tuning in on this Winky Wednesday episode. Uh we've got a lot to get into. I want to talk linebackers.

[00:00:41]And an unexpected thing popped up today that a lot of listeners are asking about and we've got to get into which is former Pro Bowl safety, multiple Pro Bowl safety, uh that that he let everybody know about. uh talking about a current not Pro Bowl safety on the San Francisco 49ers. Uh but let's bring on first today's guest, >> Nicholas Winkler. Come on down.

[00:01:06]>> Wow.

[00:01:07]>> Action News8 Sports with Nick Winkler.

[00:01:10]>> Wink, what's happening, my man? Uh did you catch Dante Whitner's Grit Code podcast? Uh I have not seen the whole podcast, but it's making its rounds around social media as we record this late Tuesday evening and for a Winky Wednesday episode. Thanks everybody for tuning in. Always appreciate uh all the listeners jumping in on our Wednesday episodes. And I know it's must listen activities for those on their way to work on Mon or on Wednesday mornings when Nicholas Winkler stops by the voice of the fan as he is known. My former podcast co-host way back in the day over 10 years ago now. Wink, which is kind of crazy. My former radio colleague as well. Um and Dante Whitner might have been a player on the team at that point.

[00:01:49]Was he still was he on the 49ers in like 2014 when we were working together? the >> um so >> um and I have you heard >> explain it to me. No, no, explain it to me because I know you know I I worked all day and then I'm also the voice of the dads out there. So, you know, I came home and I was just dading hardcore and I get on you guys are like laughing about this. I'm like, whoa, whoa, whoa.

[00:02:11]>> I've been I was adding it up, too. I I was late getting to this podcast for us to record because I'm watching Giants Dodgers and my son is like my son's a left-handed hitter, right-handed thrower. seven years old playing little league. His favorite player right now is Jung Hulie because I he remembers me being excited that the the fort or the the Giants, excuse me, signed this, you know, international player and he's like, "Hey, Jung Hulie, look, he's uh he throws right, bats left, just kind of a little guy like you." And he's like, "That's awesome. That is now my favorite player forever. We'll see." Uh and and then I was talking about Shi Otani and my wife happens to be a Dodgers fan, which is a big thing in in our in our family. It was a It was a Giants family and a Dodgers family coming together when we got married. And um and we were talking about Show Otani and I was like, "Yeah, Shi Otani is like the best player in baseball." He's like, "Well, yeah, except for Jung Hu Lee, right? Like Jung Hu Lee is the best player in baseball than Shoi Otani." He's like, "Well, you know, not exactly. Show is pretty darn good, but that's what was going on in the Peacock household." And so, uh Giants do always fun.

[00:03:13]It's it's a rivalry unlike anything except for Dante Whitner and Jaire Brown now, which is a new budding rivalry. So, essentially, um Dante Whitner and apparently this happened with with Richard Sherman as well. And I can't really even play the clip because uh I'm it's a the language bar the the language is something that we're not allowed to play here uh on the on the locked family of networks. Uh, and so, um, I'll do my best to explain what happened here. So, Dante Whitner basically broke down Jier Brown's play and talked about it being not good enough, right, Croc? Is that is that an accurate representation to the to the point where um, Jier Brown actually reached out privately to both Dante Whitner and Richard Sherman because he thought the criticism was potentially unfair. And Dante Whitner went to the Grit Code podcast and at least in this clip I saw uh said, "Okay, well, what did you take umbrage with with with what I said, Jaire? Do you think you played well? Do you think you played at a Pro Bowl?" And Jier Brown told Dante Whitner, "Yes, I do think so." He said, "This kid is bleeping delusional." So that's where we're at right now. And it was honestly a very entertaining clip. Croc, I know you got a kick out of it as well.

[00:04:35]>> Come on. I >> I did get a kick out of it. I I will say this. They talk about it all the time.

[00:04:39]You ever want to be great at something, you got to be a little delusional, right? You gotta be >> That's true.

[00:04:45]>> GR, you know, as long as he believes he's great, that's all that matters.

[00:04:49]>> Just believe in yourself, man. Be delusional. I think he may be alone on that island and I don't want to come off I don't want to get a phone call from Gyar Brown and he you know he probably wouldn't waste time giving me a phone call but I would say you know hey man like maybe maybe listen to Dante Hitner and there's some there's some things that you could probably learn from him and if he's being criti critical I guess you could say just take it as constructive criticism and reach out and find out ways that you can improve your game and and I'm pretty sure along with your coach coaches, but somebody like Dante Hitner who played football at a very high level for some years, especially with the 49ers and was a part of some great football teams. I'm sure there are several things that you you can learn from them, but it is tough.

[00:05:35]And I think this generation, they are different.

[00:05:40]>> That's it.

[00:05:41]>> They take things a little more personal.

[00:05:47]>> Yeah. No, I'm gonna be I'm gonna sound like an old man right now. I know he's a grown man, right, Jer Brown? But at the same time, like kids these days, come on. Like, it's everywhere. I go to my kids practices, right? And they're always, you tell them one constructed thing, they're like, "No, no, no." They get real defensive and real like they they have soft skin and I think it's all these participation trophies and, you know, all this like, again, I know I sound like an old man right now.

[00:06:10]>> It's not the kids. It's the parents.

[00:06:12]>> It's the parents.

[00:06:13]>> Parents don't like their kids being coached anymore. So you you can't say no wrong because they'll take them out of that team or that little league team, get on the kid about this. They'll no well now my kid's gonna go play for this program or this program because I don't like the way coach so and so >> said this to my kid. And now when you hear somebody from the outside, a guy who maybe he had never had real conversation with, for him it's just, oh, this guy's just getting on me. And he's probably not. He's probably just talking about what he sees. I feel that a lot even with again we're talking about the parents right a lot of those parents are listeners not not saying you guys specifically but you know 49er fans right the moment >> I I could be like man >> you know this guy could have made a better throw and it's like you just hate this guy and you're a hater right and it's like dude I I just said five things that he did really good and these two things that I felt like he can improve on and now all of a sudden I don't like this guy like that's what they hear so I I think it's this generation that's raising kind of the the the kids being a little bit more sensitive and really not understanding how to deal with uh some of the emotions, the natural emotions of life.

[00:07:27]>> And I think it has to do not just with the parents but teachers and coaches too because the other day at taking my son to soccer triyouts and the the coach one of you know they have all these different coaches and one coach is just like all right guys now we're not going to do any constructive criticism. we're gonna do constructive compliments. And it's like, ah, that's the kind of stuff, MAN. LIKE, SOMETIMES CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM IS GOOD. LIKE, you really need to know, YOU DID THAT WRONG. OKAY. YEAH, THROW OUT 10 COMPLIMENTS, but you also need to address the thing that this child did wrong in order to not let it happen again.

[00:07:57]>> I love how far you kicked that ball out of bounds. Way to go.

[00:08:03]>> Yeah.

[00:08:03]>> When you tried to pass it to that guy, you kicked it all the way to that guy.

[00:08:07]>> Yeah. Exactly.

[00:08:09]That was an amazing goal, Johnny. Only problem is, uh, it wasn't the right goal, but that's okay. Just kick keep kicking it into any goal you see, and you will be great at life forever. Uh, and is, yeah, this is definitely coming full circles. I was talking about my son being delusional about who the best player in Major League Baseball is. Uh, let me ask him. Hey, Leo, who's the greatest NFL safety of all time? Ger Brown. Okay. Yeah. G. Yeah.

[00:08:34]>> My son's the original too, man. Uh it's it's an epidemic apparently.

[00:08:40]>> A home run.

[00:08:41]>> Oh, did he? He's watching it inside. I He's not actually next to me. He doesn't think Jier Brown's greatest safety of all time. If he doesn't say Ronnie Lot to that, he might not be related to me.

[00:08:50]>> Well, while we're talking about, you know, some of the things with parenting and you know, we got a lot of people, a lot of listeners, they're parents here.

[00:08:55]So, these are things that I'm trying to be aware of as well. Uh there was a teacher talking about how now everyone's grades, you know, you can log on and see your kids grades. you can see what assignments your kid is missing. And before it used to be the kid that goes to the to the teacher and say, "Hey, I'm missing this assignment. Can I turn in?"

[00:09:14]There's an interaction with the teacher and the kid. Well, now it's the parent.

[00:09:19]the the teacher has zero interaction or very little interaction with the actual student and the parents are emailing teachers trying to figure out how the kid can get the grade up and it's causing a disconnect disconnect between parents >> and the students and that just goes to where kind of where things are headed.

[00:09:39]You know, it's it's headed down uh a lane where there's not a whole lot of accountability put on the kids. And right now it sounds like with Jar Brown, >> he ain't taking accountability for his actions, which >> you're a guy that we've talked about several times on this show, >> it seems like the 49ers are constantly trying to replace him. He has been benched >> several times.

[00:10:04]>> Like, at least that's what it looks like. Logan Ryan was partying on a bus, I mean on a boat like, "Hey, we're on the boat getting money." Then they're like, "Hey, no, come over here. Get off of retirement and come in and play over this guy we want you to play over." Like that was something that literally happened.

[00:10:19]>> Yeah. Last year was Marcus Seagull was starting over and then it's like the rookie doesn't quite know where to be.

[00:10:25]We got to go back to Gyar Brown, but they didn't draft anybody. And I think that's where this all comes from is is Gier Brown right now looks like the starting safety until we'll see what happens post June 1st. Maybe free agency something potentially changes before training camp gets going. Um, this is very off topic, guys, but really quick, do did you guys have what we called it the robo dean when we were in high school. So, uh, going back to like the, uh, the parents being out of the loop a little bit. So, if you missed when I was in high school, if you missed a class, there was like this automated phone call that would call your house and just kind of let just to let you know, it' be like, "Hey, so and so Brian Peacock missed whatever period today." And it was an automated phone call. It was like a robot voice. We called it the robo dean because it was the dean's voice, but it was an automated phone call like letting you know that your son missed a class and and you know it would happen and and you'd be ready for it if you like were sick, whatever. But Brian Peacock sometimes missed a class occasionally when he wasn't sick. And so it was this thing that you knew you had to be home and you had to catch every phone call so your parents didn't get the call that was the robo dean and know that you missed school. I hope you guys went through something similar because it was um really a right of passage for me.

[00:11:40]>> So, so growing up, my brother and I, we had our own line, right? A different phone number. So, I was actually on my freshman orientation, I noticed that my parents didn't fill in our phone number.

[00:11:50]And so, I actually put >> me and my brother's phone number on there. So, guess who got all those calls throughout high school?

[00:11:56]>> Smart.

[00:11:57]>> Did you ever try to call and pretend you were an a parent for one of your friends? No, but I had a friend who uh she she was my uh she wrote the notes that my mom wrote and had my mom's signature down. So I would I had her write one day in my home room class 10 notes for the year and I would just date them and sign them whenever I needed to go to the dentist.

[00:12:17]>> Fantastic. Uh at the >> kids aren't listening, right?

[00:12:21]>> Coach Crocky at Bay Area Wink in the YouTube comments. I want to hear your stories from high school. uh how you circumvented school and uh and and parents uh in in some of those ways because uh we could go all day, but we got to talk 49ers. I want to talk linebackers as well, which was going to be our main conversation today, but we had to address this Dante Whitner and uh and Jier Brown beef that's going on. Let me know if you think that he's that Jer Brown is delusional about how good of a football player he is. Or is is Dante Whitner wrong? Is Dante Whitner wrong for airing out something that was private public? Because I like that Jer Brown went to the source. He didn't go to social media to talk about it. He went to the man and and and called him to talk him about it. Don't do it. And was like, "Let me tell you about this delusional kid who called me up on the phone." So, uh, I think that's a fascinating angle of it as well. So, I want to hear from our listeners on that subject. But, let's talk linebackers.

[00:13:16]Are we expecting too much from Dre Green Law in his return to the San Francisco 49ers next?

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[00:16:18]Wink, I know you're a big fan of former and now again current San Francisco 49ers linebacker Dre Greenaw.

[00:16:26]Uh, but I'm I'm wondering, are we putting too much on the return of Dre Greenlaw to be everything he used to be with all of his injury issues? He had more injuries last year with the Denver Broncos. They >> got out of that contract and thought, man, this is not what we were hoping we were going to get in Dre Green Law.

[00:16:43]maybe maybe uh you know with as the fit and the player on top of more injuries.

[00:16:48]So what's the realistic expectations for Dre Green Law this year?

[00:16:53]>> Yeah, I think if you're expecting Green Law to come in and play 17 games, yeah, that that's not going to happen this season. I'd love it. It'd be amazing if that happened. But Dre Green Law is on the back end of his career, right? I mean, he had 43 tackles last year in Denver. Couldn't stay healthy. We know what happened in San Francisco when his season ended. I think there was 21 or 22. He he missed almost the whole season then, too. I mean, Greenlaw has a lot of injury history in the NFL. So, what do we expect from Greenlaw? I mean, I just love his passion. Like, I I love that guy. If if I see him out there starting week one, the 49ers are going to be pumped. Fred Warner is going to get a little extra juice next to him, right?

[00:17:32]Like, having those two guys next to each other starting week one in Melbourne, like it's going to be really exciting.

[00:17:39]But to think that he's going to be out there all year, the 49ers can't bank on that. They've got to make sure they've got some pieces in place to fill in when he does eventually miss some time.

[00:17:50]>> Nick Martin, Brock, if if Dre Greenaw gets hurt, the 49ers traded D Winters.

[00:17:56]That feels like Nick Martin, there's some expectations there for him to take a big step in year two. Um he's he's very similar stylistically to what D Winters was and he can fly to the football. Little unders sized um concuss himself basically hitting so hard in very limited action last year for the 49ers. If Drake Greenlaw does get hurt and I think we should probably not expect him to play 17 games next year for the 49ers. Uh I think that starts to put a lot on on Nick Martin as that weak side linebacker because I think Tatum Bthoon that's not really his style. And I I don't know, you know, Garrett Wallow or um you know, the the rookies, the 49ers just signed a tryyout player in Larry Worth III, which is a very similar player. 6'4 220. He ran 4640, 37 1/2 in vertical, 112 broad jump, which is ridiculous. That's uh Styles territory, who was the top pen pick in this NFL draft as far as athleticism. uh 6'4 220 pounds very similar to the 49ers fifthround draft pick in Jaden Duggar there. So another kind of you know um lightweight undersized linebacker former safety. Um the 49ers clearly want that type of matchup player. Do you think they have enough outside of Fred Warner?

[00:19:16]And I want to talk a little bit more about Fred Warner later. What is your take on the 49ers current linebacker depth chart?

[00:19:22]Well, well, first let's talk about this very worth kid and I can't wait to dive into his film because anybody with that kind of profile who makes it from a rookie mini camp triyout, again, it is extremely difficult. There may be 10 guys signed to an NFL roster all around the league from the rookie mini camp that went in as just a camp invite. It's very rare. So, the fact that he did something to jump out to the 49ers, whether it was his size where they're like, "That's a big dude. let's give him a shot. But I've had to guess that his ability and the way he played has something to do with it as well, whatever they saw. So, I'm intrigued by somebody like that that also is a former uh a former defensive back as well. But outside of that, yeah, I I'm excited to watch Nick Martin and this is guy we've talked about. If you're asking me how optimistic I am that he's a guy that's going to just do some awesome things, I I don't know. But, you know, this is a Peacock shadow draft guy. This is a guy that Peacock mocked to the 49ers before the draft. So, Peacock saw something in his ability and what he does. And the Peacock saw that Peacock's never wrong.

[00:20:32]All right. About these draft picks. So, this is a guy that has a certain level ability being able to trigger, play fast, and it kind of got him knocked out of time last year. But I'm excited to see does does he does he start to bring it together a little bit? And I am big on player development. I'm big on player development NFL especially for linebackers coming in maybe moving a little fast. I'm excited to see how he shows up come and not just training camp but I think otaas for guys like him.

[00:21:02]Even though everybody tries to look over otas and all that stuff doesn't matter.

[00:21:06]It does matter from for guys who need the confidence. I think going into year two has to be the biggest year of a player's career, right? The full off seasonason. You're not preparing for the draft between January and April. And you have an opportunity to work on the things you need to work on. So, you are ready for that specific scheme, that team. You know what you have to work on.

[00:21:29]You know what kind of player you have to be to earn a job uh to start your second season in the NFL. And you've been through a rookie season. And and so I think uh it's the biggest year in any player's career. And I think probably for someone like Nick Martin, maybe even bigger than than normal because he missed time and didn't get to play a lot as a rookie and he has that opportunity to be the the third linebacker up essentially. It >> it concerns me the the time that he missed though, right? I mean, two months for a concussion, that that's a big deal, guys.

[00:22:00]>> Yeah, that was a that was a long one. It felt like either it was such a severe concussion that you worry about his brain health or the 49ers were saying, "We just want you to stay on IR even though we know you're healthy and you could return, right?" Which is not it could be either one of those things. I want to talk more about linebackers. Is Fred Warner the most important player on the entire football team in 2026?

[00:22:22]Thanks.

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[00:23:45]Real quick note, guys, on the newest San Francisco 49er who went undrafted out of Arkansas, Larry Worth III. Croc was talking about him a minute ago, and I'm excited to see him, too, and jump into the tape. The only clip I've seen was a targeting penalty that got him suspended for a game last year at Arkansas where uh first of all, it was a bogus penalty because the quarterback ducked his head, but this guy comes uh with intentions to hit people. So, I I like seeing that right away. Uh clearly he's an athlete, a 4640, 37 1/2 in vertical, 112 broad jump, which is ridiculous jumps. Long arms as well. So very similar to Jaden Duggar in in a 6'4 guy. Uh Jaden Duggar looked like he was 220 lbs even though he's listed at 240 uh and was 240 at the combine. Larry Worth actually is 220 pounds and looks like he's 220 lbs. And uh has that um that self built? I thought he was a defensive back when I just saw like when the 49ers signed him and I saw floating around just a picture of a guy in Arkansas. He looked like a DB.

[00:24:47]>> Yeah, he and he's tall and he's thin.

[00:24:49]Both of them look like small forwards.

[00:24:51]Long super long arms. 33 inch arms for Worth. I think it was like 35 inch arms for Jake Duggar, which is kind of ridiculous. Uh, and to be honest with you, kind of unnecessary unless you're a pass rusher. Um, I think guys can be too long. You know how sometimes offensive linemen and like the the relative athletic scores and stuff you see guys just 69. It's like is that really helpful to being in six too big.

[00:25:13]>> It's it's probably a hindrance to be honest with you. Yeah. Yeah. Um uh and so >> uh I I went to Dane Bugler's beast because I've only seen a couple clips of him. I saw him um get a sack. I saw him um uh block a punt which was not like you know how most people block a or is a field goal attempt I think it was you know how most people block a field goal they get around the edge and they're flying in front of the kicker and doing a superman dive and block it. This dude jumped from behind the defensive line straight up and blocks the go like he's got ridiculous hops and long arms. Um, but going to Dane Bugler's Beast, he said that that Worth was quoted as saying, "It was the best day of my life when he was at Jacksonville State and former head coach Rich Rodriguez uh during spring tra practices in in 2023 was so impressed with with Worth that he gave him a uh a scholarship." And so this was a a former walk-on that initially played linebacker at Arkansas, then kind of moved into a nickel, sort of a safety, that star, whatever you want to call it. um big nickel role. So, former walk-on uh and hasn't lost that mentality according to Bugller's beast scouting report with the straight line explosion to fly down the field, which shows on defense, but even more so on special teams, which is huge. And he's built like a gunner. If he can be a gunner and earn a job on special teams, that's how you make the 53man roster.

[00:26:40]And uh so that's fascinating there. And I know Brandt Ber has uh some say in that room. So, I'm excited. I I like what I hear from Larry Worth and and like Croc said, man, it's rare. It's rare to have a guy just come in for a try out. And it's like, you looked better than most of the rookies, so we're going to offer you a job. Guess what? Welcome to the team. And they had to uh cut a guy who I didn't even know was the 49er. Who was it that they cut?

[00:27:00]Wink, did you have the name?

[00:27:02]>> Milo Eiffel.

[00:27:03]>> It's crazy how closely I follow this football team and I cover him every single day. I did not know Milo Eiffel existed until he was cut from the San Francisco 49ers to make room for Larry Wor. So there you go.

[00:27:16]>> Yeah. I mean, Larry Worth the beast. I mean, that's You love the athleticism, right? It sounds like he's had to kind of fight and scratch and and earn everything that he's gotten. I mean, back even at what Jacksonville State, you said he he didn't have a scholarship. Was he a walk-on there and all of a sudden?

[00:27:30]>> Yeah. Walk on and then ended up transferring to Arkansas. Um, >> hungry.

[00:27:34]>> So, we So, we also, you know, obviously, you know, Fred Warner is a superstar player and so important to the San Francisco 49ers. You have Dre Greenlock coming back at weak side linebacker. You have uh Tatum Bthoon who looked really good as a reserve, but he is a reserve player for Fred Warner at middle linebacker. He doesn't quite have that athleticism you're looking for in that outside backer role. Uh you have Nick Martin, you have Garrett Wallow, you have Luke Gford who's a special teams ace and probably someone that most 49ers fans after seeing some on defense don't want to see him more on defense. So, you know, there's some depth there. And then you have Jaden Duggar, Jaylen Graham who's still hanging around there. You have the new Larry Worth III. So, there's some names, but who do you feel really good about if Dre Green Law was to go down? And I was asked this on social media. Is Fred Warner now the most important player on the San Francisco 49ers? Whether it's offense or defense, guys? What do you think?

[00:28:35]>> Personally, I don't think he is just because of the guys you name because of Bthun. Even Wallow in that playoff game had 11 tackles, right? I mean, these are guys that not that they're going to play the Fred Warner's level. Fred Warner is a stud. Fred Warner's the best middle linebacker in football. But at that weak side, if Green Law goes down, you could see there's a gonna probably be a pretty huge drop. Bthoon played out of his mind, 94 tackles last year. Like, he looked great filling in for Fred Warner.

[00:29:03]So, to me, I think Dre Greenlaw might be more important to the defense when it comes to his availability. for the 49ers.

[00:29:10]>> It's It's not that Fred Warner is the most important player. It's that it's just important that Dre Green stayed healthy so we don't have to worry about what whatever else going on. Okay, >> Brock, what do you think?

[00:29:24]>> Very important.

[00:29:27]Yeah. I The reason why I believe that Fred Warner is so important isn't even so much just him from an ability and play standpoint. It's what he means to the defense from an emotional standpoint. I think not having a guy like him, the attitude he brings to the game, uh, you know, the physicality and other people seeing that, think when you take that off of the field, your defense really misses that. And I think we saw that it just was a huge loss of physicality once he wasn't on the field anymore. So, you know, it's bad enough you lose, you know, Nick Bosa and some of the other guys, but you always could count on Fred Warner to still bring it and bring that tenacity. And when you lost that, I think you lost the really the heart of the defense. I know people said that it was Dre Greenaw, but you know, me just being an outsider, Fred Warner, man, that's a guy, remember, he mixing it up with Brandon Auke and uh, you know, just always bringing that fire, talking trash, doing those things.

[00:30:28]You miss that, man. when you when when you miss that kind of guy on the field.

[00:30:33]>> I I forgot about the Fred Warner versus Brandon Aayuk stuff during practices back in the day. And then remember Brandon Aayuk went through the doghouse and did you guys see the most recent Brandon Iuk uh Twitter or not not Twitter. I think it was Instagram.

[00:30:46]>> I like Croc calling out his swag. I like that.

[00:30:50]>> What?

[00:30:50]>> Yeah.

[00:30:52]>> So like there's certain things that tell me if you care or not.

[00:30:55]>> Okay. It's just about life. And when you have a zip up, you know, when you got the zip up uh pullover little coat thing and you have it kind of zipped down, but there's like no shirt underneath.

[00:31:10]>> All right.

[00:31:10]>> And you get the fresh cornrows. So, it's like you kind of care, but then you don't get a lineup. Nobody does it. When you It's almost simultaneous. I get my hair done. I get the line up. I get the taper. Get everything nice cleaned up.

[00:31:22]When you don't, and it's just nappy around the edges with the braid. I'm like, "This guy don't care about life right now." So, the people >> with a stack of cash this big.

[00:31:31]>> Oh, yeah. Just he doesn't care. He may there may I know people are saying he quit on the team. There may be truly something going on with Brandon. I >> had to bring it up on the screen for those of you that are watching on on YouTube uh to see what Croc is talking about here. You don't like this swag? To be honest with you, the look on his face, I'm a little bit worried about the young man to be honest with you.

[00:31:56]>> Yeah, >> serious now. There is >> I'm not sure that everything's like uh connecting to be honest with you upstairs like like in a in a very serious way like I think there's something there's some issues going on with Brandon IU because he doesn't look like somebody who's like super happy. He just looks like somebody who's like lost to be honest and he's it's the way he's acting too. And to be honest with you, it was like >> I I can't imagine young Brandon Iuk be like I can't believe I'm I can't I can't believe that a young Brandon I would think I hope in 10 years I can become an NFL player and that'll make me into a giant douchebag. You know what I mean?

[00:32:39]Because that's what he's acting like.

[00:32:40]Like what is this? It's like look what's important to me. a stack of money and and watches. Like that's for like lame.

[00:32:48]That that's just super lame where I'm coming from and and and my vantage point this whole thing like you're just acting lame as hell. I I I can't use the language I would normally be using if I was talking to my buddy >> the wrong podcast. Yeah.

[00:33:01]>> If I was talking to if I was on the Grit Code podcast, I could say what I really feel right now.

[00:33:06]>> This is a guy who to to flash money, right? to flash money >> when you're making $2 million per game.

[00:33:17]>> Like remember guys get paid certain way.

[00:33:19]I think now they can defer their payments over an entire year. But let's say he was getting paid weekly like you know people typically do traditionally at the NFL level. We're talking about making $2 million a week. Those people don't flash money.

[00:33:34]>> How many NFL players do you guys see ever? Like I mean not saying they don't go to the you know club and throw some bread. We've seen that >> they spend money. They got nice cars.

[00:33:44]They got >> they make it rain, right? They do. I think it's wild.

[00:33:49]>> We talked about how much his gas costs in his private jet, >> right? So So to see a guy just posing with money, I just it's a little odd. I don't see that from any of my NFL buddies when they were playing. You don't see that now. You look at Justin Jefferson and Jamar Chase and all those guys. At least I haven't seen any of them like, "Yeah, look at how cool I am with these hundreds." Like, they don't care. They're making a million dollars a week. So, >> yeah.

[00:34:16]>> I don't know. It's It's a little odd.

[00:34:18]>> And I also thought it's it's a little odd that he has not fought back on anything.

[00:34:23]>> Yeah.

[00:34:24]>> Like kind of getting to that point where he's on the list where he's not getting paid at all. Right. And I was and I have put it put put out there like what if he just randomly showed up. What if he was like, you know what, I'm done with the antics. I'm going to show up. And I think 49er fans like no 49ers keep holding them hostage. No, the NFL PA would get involved and they figure out something whether he he's going to get off of that list that he's that no-show list he's on or he gets released or whatever. But there will be something.

[00:34:55]He's not playing that hand. He's just >> I'm good. I'm I'm in his so odd to me.

[00:35:03]>> That's just it. He's playing back. This is his playback, right? This is his like, I don't need you guys. I got all this money. Like, I don't need this. I don't need your contract. I don't need to show up. I have Look at all my money.

[00:35:12]Look at my watches. Like, that's what it feels like to me.

[00:35:15]>> Sounds like he's basically saying, "I don't need it."

[00:35:17]>> Yeah. He It sounds like a guy that's trying to talk himself into feeling better about where he's at and what his situation is. Um, >> can can I talk about remember before I had some kind of insight on Brandon and some of the issues?

[00:35:31]>> Yeah.

[00:35:32]>> I wasn't going to say anything, but I think now can can we talk a little bit about some of that?

[00:35:35]>> Yeah. What can I just say real quick before because I want to hear this stuff because I I've heard some of it off the air. Um, if you have that much money, you could probably afford an undershirt in a in a in a like going to see a barber, right?

[00:35:49]>> Line it up a little better. Yeah.

[00:35:50]>> Yeah.

[00:35:52]I I don't know what's going on with with my guy Ba and >> Yeah.

[00:35:56]>> So, all right, here we go. We >> The inside this is insider information.

[00:36:03]>> I wouldn't say insider, but I talked to some people that that know him. Yeah.

[00:36:07]>> All right. Some some people that coached him in the past >> and they talked a little bit about some of his upbringing. This is a guy coming from like a two parent household.

[00:36:16]um didn't have like a lot of like struggles or you know and again I don't know his like personal life but there weren't these this it's not like this sad story.

[00:36:25]>> Yeah.

[00:36:26]>> It's a guy maybe that was underrecruited went to the junior college level.

[00:36:29]>> When mommy stepped on the junior college field he was just I'm just better than everybody. He actually started at receiver and cornerback.

[00:36:37]>> All right. In junior college and got recruited a lot to play corner. Like he was a guy where it's like whoever their best receiver is, we're putting Brandon Aayuk on him.

[00:36:46]>> You got recruited by Nick Saven to go play corner at Alabama.

[00:36:50]>> Yeah. So receiver, corner, whatever. He was like, I'm good at this stuff. Went to Arizona State. Good, right? Does his thing junior year. Okay, I'm cool.

[00:37:00]Senior year I have a big senior year. I get drafted first round. Now there's this guy that's telling me I'm not practicing hard enough or whatever. But whatever you think I'm not doing enough of, I have, you know, over 800 total yards, whatever, right? He has a good by all accounts rookie year. And then so to this point, a lot of the things as far as football are kind of going essentially kind of according to plan.

[00:37:23]Not a whole lot of push back or not a whole lot of adversity because just like, ah, I'm doing what I'm supposed to be doing, playing football. I'm good.

[00:37:31]Cool.

[00:37:33]And then you get to the NFL, you're you're doing your thing. Got a coach pushing back a little bit on some of the things you have to learn how to be more essentially humble. That's what it seems like. Work hard, be more humble, right?

[00:37:46]It's like, all right, whatever. He does his thing, plays well, and now it's like, I should get more money. Now, we noticed as he's going through this process, it's like, man, this guy just kind of wants some love. He's going and talking to anyone who would listen, right? whether it's his buddy Jaylen Jayden Daniels or if it's the you know the the people on the um he sat down with the pivot or whatever right and even the pivot remember they were saying >> like let us know what's going on you reached out to us that's what they said I'm like a little weird you reached out to us because you wanted to get your side of the story out and it almost came off as someone who just like I just like I'm not used to people not loving me I just want you guys like I just want the 49ers to love and he didn't really know how to handle the, you know, all the the push back on the uh, you know, hey, you're good, but you ain't this good. We don't want to offer you this much. And, you know, that whole thing, right? And they started kind of posting the little weird little stuff with Jaden D, you know, all those things. Well, fast forward eventually, they're playing the game. Okay, trade me, don't trade me. Okay. Okay, they paid me. Cool. Now, this is the part that I kind of defended, right? if you didn't want to pay him and then you pay him and then a guy again hasn't dealt with a whole lot of adversity gets hurt tears his knee up and then you're saying well we didn't really want to pay you then you tore your knee up you know what we're we're going to trade you we're going to try to trade you so then after he tore ACL that off season when the draft was coming 49ers were like he's not not available or for trade remember that where Uh John Lynch worded it very weird to the to the media like oh you know everybody's up for you know potentially anybody could get traded >> and we all thought that was weird for a guy that you just gave 30 million a year to or whatever it was and I think that stuff from all accounts it kind of really hurt Brandon I it really hurt like I I want you guys to love me and for whatever reason it's nah we we're willing to trade you and that really affected him and that was the part where I'm like no 49ers they kind of didn't play this very well this whole whatever it was supposed to be if you didn't really care for how he been from the jump okay maybe you could have been traded him whatever the case was >> but that what that was when the relationship soured and then he started kind of more the antics of you know I'm going do my rehab but I'm I don't want to do my rehab I'm not going to be there every day and you know, like now it's kind of like he's kind of flying off the radar or the, you know, kind of flying off the handle because like, well, y'all don't want me anyways. Y'all try to trade me, but nobody would trade for me because I tore my knee up.

[00:40:37]>> And from there, it just all went downhill and people felt like, oh, he quit on the team, but really, I mean, ultimately he did quit on the team, but kind of was a big middle finger to the people that, you know, you guys don't want me. You guys keep trying to trade me >> and he didn't handle it well. I'm not I'm not excusing his actions. But I think there were a lot of people that are fault with how that part went. But to how it's gotten to this point where it's a guy that was really good at football is taking pictures, flashing money to stay relevant.

[00:41:07]>> Yeah.

[00:41:07]>> It is sad. And that look in his eyes.

[00:41:10]I've had some buddies that got a hold and again I don't know his personal life like this or what what he got going on but I got some buddies that like you know maybe you know did some activities with something like laced and they were just off after that >> like they just weren't quite the same.

[00:41:28]>> Yep. Broke something.

[00:41:29]>> And I'm not saying he's doing anything.

[00:41:30]I don't want to be that irresponsible with how we report things.

[00:41:34]>> But that's just the like it's like there's something going on with him, >> right? It doesn't look like this. Not don't look like Brandon I that we knew early on.

[00:41:42]>> Yeah.

[00:41:42]>> Sounds like he didn't get enough constructive compliments growing up or from the point.

[00:41:47]>> Look, and and I I don't think Brandon I in the right in this at all. I think it's a terrible look. I I don't know what he's trying to do and what he's trying to talk himself into. I think he's probably got someone very close to him in his um in his inner circle that's probably giving him bad advice. And you know that's tends to be what happens in these situations, >> but um >> the 49ers clearly didn't play the whole thing well >> and bad faith in the whole like should have traded him, man. If you signed him thinking a let's just sign him cuz we don't want to lose that player for this year but then let's trade him that that's bad faith and it's been a long time. This dude hasn't played good football for two and a half years.

[00:42:34]Sir, >> it's a long time.

[00:42:36]>> Yeah.

[00:42:38]>> All right.

[00:42:38]>> Sad.

[00:42:39]>> Yeah, it is sad.

[00:42:40]>> It is.

[00:42:41]>> Wink. Always a pleasure. Thanks for jumping in.

[00:42:45]And um I want to hear from our listeners about what you want us to cover this summer. A lot going on in uh in Niner Land right now, but it's going to end quickly and we're going to be in the June swoon as it used to be known in in baseball circles. And uh what should we get into? What should we talk about here? We've got some good ideas here for some Winky Wednesdays as well. We haven't done an alltime 49ers draft in a while.

[00:43:10]>> Pretty really changes things, I think, if we're uh trying to figure out strategy on how we draft this thing. Uh or does it? Uh and so uh yeah, let us know if you want us to hit any certain topics. We're going to talk about some more of the undrafted free agents as well. PDP peacock, coach at bay or you wink and in the YouTube comments.

[00:43:29]Subscribe while you're there. and Crockite back tomorrow right here.

[00:43:32]Lockdown 49ers.

[00:43:37]>> I don't buy it.