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Friday, 29 March 2024

Shanahan, Garoppolo ready for Super Bowl spotlight after difficult start

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Shanahan, Garoppolo ready for Super Bowl spotlight after difficult start
Shanahan, Garoppolo ready for Super Bowl spotlight after difficult start

49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan and quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo ready for Super Bowl after difficult start

SHOWS: MIAMI, FLORIDA, UNITED STATES.

(JANUARY 30, 2020)(REUTERS-SEE RESTRICTIONS ABOVE) 1.

SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS HEAD COACH KYLE SHANAHAN SPEAKING AT NEWS CONFERENCE 2.

(SOUNDBITE)(English) SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS HEAD COACH KYLE SHANAHAN AFTER BEING ASKED ABOUT GETTING FIRST WIN AFTER 0-9 START IN 2017, SAYING: "Yeah I mean, we think about that a lot.

I mean starting 0-9 (in 2017) was not fun at all.

It's your first year as a head coach, kinda want to get that monkey off your back and at least get one win in.

I think we had to wait until the middle towards the end of November, or I think it was the beginning of November, which was a lot longer than I anticipated so it did feel like we won the Super Bowl after it, I think it was nice to get, to have, we were in so many close games, I mean we broke an NFL record by losing five games in a row by three points or less, which is something you're not proud of but it means you're a good 0-9 I guess, that doesn't make sense but, but yeah we were pumped, our players, we were fighting every week and, all of our guys, it wasn't just me, it's everybody, we had a lot of guys it was their first year in the league, a lot of guys who hadn't played much and we put in a lot every week and we came up short a ton and we won that game and it felt huge, I remember we lost the next game so we probably did enjoy it a little bit too much and we learned from those lessons, and the one thing from that year I was most proud of, you know, there's been a number of teams that started 0-9 but no team had ever finished with more than three wins and we were able to finish 6-10 that year so, I've said it before but I learned a lot that if you want to get people excited about a 6-10 year start 0-9 and everyone's real excited during the offseason." 3.

49ERS QUARTERBACK JIMMY GAROPPOLO SPEAKING AT NEWS CONFERENCE 4.

(SOUNDBITE)(English) 49ERS QUARTERBACK JIMMY GAROPPOLO ON HIS 2018 KNEE INJURY, SAYING: "Well it's a, the knee's come a long way, definitely has, probably haven't really thought about it since about halfway through the year but, yeah it's just crazy, I mean just going through the entire process, I mean about a year ago I was learning how to run again and so it's just, I don't know, when you look back on everything and it really makes you realize how special this moment is so it's one of those things you can't really take it for granted, I mean you don't know if you're ever going to be back here so, gotta make it count while you can." STORY: It was just two seasons ago that Kyle Shanahan and Jimmy Garoppolo remember celebrating a regular season win as if the San Francisco 49ers had won the Super Bowl.

Both head coach Shanahan and quarterback Garoppolo were asked Thursday (January 30) about the incredibly quick turnaround the Niners have made since their 0-9 start to the 2017 NFL season.

Shanahan remembers the winless start as "not fun at all" but says he learned a lesson after too much celebrating in the postgame locker room carried over into a loss the next week.

Garoppolo was part of that first win under Shanahan after joining the 49ers from the New England Patriots in a mid-season trade, and helped the squad to a 6-10 finish, giving hope that better times were ahead.

After a knee injury in week 3 of the 2018 NFL season sent Garoppolo to the bench for the rest of the year, San Francisco struggled to a 4-12 finish and an unknown future.

With Garoppolo's return to health, the Niners reversed their fortunes with a 13-3 finish, first place in the NFC west, and now a birth in the Super Bowl.

(Production: David Grip)

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