49ers defensive lineman Keion White was shot early Monday.
“Keion White was a victim of a shooting and sustained a bullet wound to his ankle this morning in San Francisco,” the 49ers said, via Matt Barrows of TheAthletic.com. “He is currently undergoing surgery at a local hospital. We will provide further updates when appropriate.”
Barrows reports that the shooting happened during an altercation on Mission Street in San Francisco. He is not believed to have been part of the incident.
The extent of the injury is not currently known.
White was a second-round pick of the Patriots in 2023. He was traded to the 49ers during the 2025 regular season.
In August 2024, 49ers receiver Ricky Pearsall was shot in San Francisco’s Union Square during a robbery attempt.
Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold is a Super Bowl champion.
That seemed like an unlikely destination for Darnold when he was traded by the Jets three years after being selected with the third overall pick and it didn’t feel any likelier when he bounced from the Panthers to the 49ers before the end of his sixth season. Darnold got back on track with the Vikings last year and rose even higher in leading the Seahawks to the top of the NFC during the regular season.
Darnold wasn’t able to replicate his big day from the NFC Championship in Super Bowl LX, but he avoided mistakes during the 29-13 win over the Patriots and touched on his unusual career path while speaking to Melissa Stark of NBC after the game.
“It’s unbelievable,” Darnold said. “Everything that’s happened in my career, but to do it with this team — I wouldn’t want it any other way. I’m so proud of our guys. I can’t say enough great things about our defense and special teams.”
Darnold said in the days leading up to the Super Bowl that he wasn’t interested in personal vindication, but his history was on his mind on Sunday and his persistence showed when Stark asked what message others can draw from his story.
“As long as you believe in yourself, anything is possible,” Darnold said.
Darnold may have cribbed that line from Kevin Garnett, but his story does a spectacular job of making that point.
When the 2026 regular season begins on the Thursday night after Labor Day (there’s a chance it’ll start a day or two earlier given the long trip the 49ers and Rams will make to Australia), the Seahawks will be hosting the game and hanging their newest banner.
The options include a potential Super Bowl rematch with the Patriots.
Other candidates are the Chiefs, Chargers, Bears, Cowboys, Giants, and Seattle’s NFC West rivals — the Rams, 49ers, and Cardinals. (Again, the 49ers and Rams could be meeting in Melbourne in Week 1.)
Ten years ago, the Broncos and Panthers had a Week 1 rematch following Super Bowl 50. So it’s not unprecedented.
Still, based on tonight’s outcome, there may not be much appetite for an immediate rematch.
The notion that the 49ers’ uptick in injuries flows from the proximity of an electrical substation to their practice facility — as nonsensical as it seems — continues to mushroom.
Appearing on Audacy’s You Better You Bet with Nick Kostos, 49ers receiver Kendrick Bourne addressed the power-plant point.
“I kind of buy it,” Bourne said. “I’m a conspiracy theorist, so I don’t know. Our grass is brown on that side and the soccer field on the other side is green. So that kind of trips me out a little bit, but I don’t know. It’s so much research they probably have to do, but whatever we can do to help prevent injuries, we got to look into. So [G.M.] John [Lynch] said he’s gonna do it, and I think he will. So it’s just crazy that that’s even a thing, but that thing is a crazy, like, I was looking at it one time at practice, and I just was like randomly kind of getting dozed off. Like, that thing is huge. Like, it’s carrying real power. So I don’t know if they can crank it more. crank it less, but I think it’s serious. I don’t know.”
Kostos asked whether other players agree that it’s a thing.
“Everybody’s different,” Bourne said. “Everybody’s different. Some people don’t care. Some people talk about it. Some people talk about it more than others, but I’m just one of those trolls that like, ‘Man, nah, bro, something ain’t right.’”
Again, the whole topic feels like social media-driven bullshit, with all due respect. The 49ers have practiced there since 1988. Football is inherently physical and demanding. Injuries happen for a bunch of different reasons.
This isn’t a rash of broken kneecaps in the break room at Dunder Mifflin. Football players get injured while practicing and playing football. The challenge for the 49ers is to treat this as not simply a medical issue but as a P.R. issue to and say, loudly and clearly, that it’s not an issue — and that anyone who suggests otherwise is cuckoo for power-plant Cocoa Puffs.
It may be too late for that. The only complete fix at this point may be to move to a new practice facility.
Two former 49ers running backs were finalists for the Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2026. Roger Craig got in. Frank Gore did not. Gore says he’s happy with that.
Gore told the San Jose Mercury News that he’s happy that Craig, who was a seniors nominee and unlikely ever to be on the ballot again, got in on his own and won’t have to share the attention with another 49ers running back.
“I’d rather him get all the shine than both of us go in at the same time,” Gore said.
Gore was in his first year of eligibility and will have many more chances for his name to appear on the ballot.
“Of course I want to be in. I’m a competitor,” Gore said. “But what can I do? Everyone respects what I did. It’s all good. I had two ACLs [surgically repaired in college] and was a first-ballot finalist. That’s a blessing. It’s all good.”
Both running backs played most of their careers for the 49ers, with a 15-year gap between them. Craig played for the 49ers from 1983 to 1990. Gore played for the 49ers from 2005 to 2014.
