Many 49ers players join call to sit out voluntary workouts
The 49ers’ players joined a chorus Saturday from around the professional football world, announcing through the NFL Players Association that many of them won’t be involved in the team’s voluntary offseason program.
The Niners’ players cited the coronavirus pandemic as a reason to hold a virtual offseason rather than in-person workouts this spring and summer.
“We are apprehensive about taking avoidable risks in the spring as we prepare to perform at the highest level in the fall,” the statement read, adding “Many in our locker room have chosen not to attend some or all phases of the voluntary in-person workouts.”
Denver Broncos players were the first group to release such a statement, but now half of the NFL’s teams — including the Raiders — have seen their players announce plans to skip workouts that are voluntary by name, but carry the expectation of attendance.
The Los Angeles Rams and Chargers, Falcons and Dolphins joined 49ers in announcing boycott plans Saturday.
“I think what a lot of players have said that they’ve heard from their coaches is that they need to show up,” NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith told ESPN on Saturday. “We’ve known for years that this is a voluntary workout where a lot of coaches put their finger on the scale and, while they call it voluntary, they expect players to show up.
“I think that what you’re seeing now is for the first time players exercising their voice ... to say ‘no.’ And frankly it’s probably one of the few times that coaches have ever heard players say ‘no.’ And for some players, it’s probably the first time they’ve said ‘no’ to their coach.”
Last offseason’s program was entirely virtual as it was still the early months of the pandemic. It was also last offseason that saw a new collective bargaining agreement, giving the league the right to add a 17th game to the season, which it will do this fall.
The league reportedly sent a memo this week to teams saying that the first four weeks of the voluntary offseason — which starts Monday — would be virtual, then teams would transition to in-person work.
The 49ers’ statement noted that the players remain dedicated to “our club, our teammates and our community. Those of us who prepare elsewhere will hold ourselves to our club’s high standards.”
The 49ers’ statement and others like it have not said all players will skip the offseason program. Some players have financial incentives in their contracts tied to attendance at offseason activities.
— Michael Nowels ACCUSER OFFERS APOLOGY TO RAMS’ DONALD AFTER SEEING VIDEO >> The man who filed a criminal complaint accusing Los Angeles Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald of assault is now offering an apology to the NFL star.
Through his attorney Todd J. Hollis, De’Vinzent Spriggs says he mistook Donald for his attacker during the skirmish outside the Boom Boom Room, a Pittsburgh-area nightclub.
“I wanted to make this statement public. And to extend an apology to Aaron for what he’s gone through, but I clearly know this was not him,” said Hollis, per Pittsburgh’s KDKA CBS affiliate.
This comes shortly after Donald’s attorney Casey White claimed video and eyewitnesses at the scene will refute assault claims alleging Donald was responsible for Spriggs’ injuries.
Spriggs filed his criminal complaint in Pittsburgh on Wednesday, alleging that he needed 16 stitches and suffered a broken orbital bone, broken nose, concussion and a significant arm injury in a bar fight Sunday. BEARS SIGN WR GOODWIN >> Marquise Goodwin is changing NFL teams for the third time since he last played a game. The 30-year-old free agent wide receiver signed a one-year contract with the Chicago Bears. Terms of the deal were not announced.
Goodwin was traded by the 49ers to the Philadelphia Eagles in April 2020, but he later opted out of the 2020 season amid the coronavirus pandemic. His rights reverted to the 49ers because he didn’t play for Philadelphia, and the 49ers cut him last month.
Goodwin spent three seasons in San Francisco after playing his first four NFL seasons with the Buffalo Bills, who selected him in the third round of the 2013 draft.