Editor's Note: The above video is from Dec. 18, 2016.
Following the 2013 season, safety Antoine Bethea left an 11-5 Colts team for a 12-4 49ers squad.
He signed a four-year deal with San Francisco and was expecting to join a perennial contender.
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Instead, the 49ers won a grand total of 15 games in his three years with the team. On March 7, the 32-year-old was released with one year left on his contract. Just two days later, he signed a three-year deal with the division rival Cardinals.
On Monday, Bethea addressed his time with the 49ers.
“Yeah, it was fun, because you see the other side of the pillow. You don’t take it for granted. When I first came into the league, man, it was 12 wins every year. It was like, ‘Oh man, this is easy.’ Going to San Francisco, things didn’t really pan out like I thought it would, but at the end of the day I love the game," Bethea said according to azcentral.com.
In his three seasons with the 49ers, Bethea played in 39 games. He intercepted five passes, scored one touchdown, forced two fumbles and recorded two sacks.
San Francisco 49ers
“I appreciate coming to work day in and day out, the camaraderie with the guys, Sundays, going out there and playing the game. Even though Sundays didn’t turn out how we wanted them to turn out a lot of the time, you appreciate that. You don’t take this for granted,” Bethea said.
Back in December, with 2-14 season winding down for the 49ers, Bethea appeared on the 49ers Insider Podcast with NBCSportsBayArea.com Insider Matt Maiocco and discussed his expectations when he signed with San Francisco.
“My whole thing was I wanted to go to a team that was a contender,” Bethea said.
“At that time, I couldn’t say that I could see the changes that were going to happen. But there were some big changes that hit us hard. No excuses. We still have a lot of talent in the locker room now. I just think it’s a situation, this team has to get back to that point where you got to learn how to win.”