Upstart quarterback Mullens, 49ers trounce Raiders 34-3.
In 1st NFL start, Mullens leads S.F. to lopsided win
Nick Mullens, in his first NFL game, was the story of the final Battle of the Bay.
The 49ers’ third-string quarterback entered a prime-stage Thursday in anonymity and he exited with a stat line befitting his Hall of Fame buddy, Brett Favre, who gave him a congratulatory postgame phone call when Mullens was on the NFL Network set.
Mullens, a 2017 undrafted free agent from Favre’s alma mater, Southern Miss, completed 16 of 22 passes for 262 yards and three touchdowns in a 34-3 pounding of the Raiders at Levi’s Stadium. His 151.9 passer rating was the best by a QB in his first start with at least 20 attempts since the NFL-AFL merger in 1970, according to ESPN.
Before kickoff, Mullens wasn’t verified on
A 49ers cheerleader knelt during the national anthem before Thursday night’s game against the Raiders at Levi’s Stadium.
It is believed to be the first time an NFL cheerleader has taken a knee during the anthem. The woman was not immediately identified, and when reached by The Chronicle, the team had no comment.
The kneeling protests were begun in 2016 by former 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick (and joined by, among others, teammate Eric Reid), who wanted to draw attention to the issues of racial inequality and police brutality in the country. The issue reached the White House, with President Trump at one point calling for kneeling players to be fired by their teams.
Several NFL owners — most notably the Cowboys’ Jerry Jones — have criticized the protests. The 49ers’ Jed York routinely has supported the kneeling players. In May, he was the only owner to abstain from a vote by the owners that initially required players to stand for the anthem.
Kaepernick parted ways with the 49ers after 2016 and remains unsigned. He has filed a grievance accusing NFL owners of collusion. SFGate writer Michelle Robertson
contributed to this report.