Late Reporting, Terrible Injuries, 49ers Camp: Sorting Through The Wreckage From Coach Kyle Shanahan's Car Accident

Too often a car clang involves collateral harm to different vehicles aliases bystanders. Yet nan car clang involving San Francisco 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan generated a firestorm acold from nan Palo Alto thoroughfare wherever he collided pinch an SUV connected July 14.

Shanahan, 46, was instantly hospitalized. According to reports, he suffered a terrible concussion, astir mislaid an eye, needed much than 40 stitches successful his face, and collapsed his nose, 3 ribs and a hand.

According to nan Palo Alto constabulary department, nan different driver was uninjured, neither driver was impaired and nary 1 was cited.

The San Francisco Chronicle reported that authorities judge nan head-on collision occurred aft a 21-year-old female made an unsafe move while driving a Mercedes SUV successful nan other guidance connected a four-lane thoroughfare successful Palo Alto, records show.

Shanahan was holding and utilizing a cellphone astatine nan clip of nan clang but was not astatine fault, according to nan California Crash Reporting System, a statewide database of collisions.

The mishap wasn’t made nationalist until Saturday, erstwhile nan 49ers opened training campy and Shanahan’s absence was obvious. General head John Lynch was near to reside nan media.

ESPN published a elaborate study connected nan mishap moments aft nan 49ers released a connection astir it, starring to speculation that nan web knew astir nan mishap yet refrained from reporting astir it until nan accusation came from nan 49ers.

The NFL holds a 10% equity liking successful ESPN, weighted astatine astir $3 cardinal based connected a $30 cardinal valuation. The woody was portion of ESPN’s acquisition of NFL Network and different convention integer assets that was finalized successful January.

“It happened connected July 14, truthful nan Niners kept it quiet for 11 days. I don’t cognize really they did this, aliases why they did this,” erstwhile ESPN Sports Center big Dan Patrick said connected his power show Monday. “The Niners posted a connection regarding nan mishap astatine midnight Eastern connected Saturday. Adam Schefter posted his first tweet connected nan business 1 infinitesimal later. The ESPN article astir nan mishap published 1 infinitesimal aft that.

“This isn’t journalism. Not really reporting. They’re giving you nan information, and nan acknowledgment of, ‘OK, now you tin show everybody.’”

Criticism besides was directed astatine San Francisco Standard columnist Tim Kawakami, who posted connected X soon earlier Lynch’s news conference, “I deliberation there’s going to beryllium immoderate news later this morning.”

Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk wrote that “brokering a woody (either successful speech for much facts aliases because nan squad asks nicely) to clasp publicly-available accusation until nan squad decides to disclose it isn’t journalism. It’s nan antithesis of journalism.”

Kawakami (who antecedently worked astatine nan Los Angeles Times, nan San Jose Mercury News and nan Athletic) fired back, explaining that he didn’t person capable accusation to study connected nan accident.

“Florio tin onslaught maine each he wants. He’s trolling, which he does sometimes,” he wrote. “I knew astir Thursday that Shanahan wouldn’t do nan presser yesterday. I knew he apt wasn’t going to beryllium coaching astatine nan commencement of camp. I could conjecture why. I didn’t cognize exactly. CONSPIRACY! COMPLYING!”

After fielding a barrage of comments, Kawakami responded Monday nighttime pinch different post: “Any newsman besides realizes that moreover if you’re told thing will happen, it’s ne'er 100%. Something mightiness change. If you don’t cognize nan cause, you can’t cognize it 100%. Then you’re guessing and you person nary actual backup.... I for illustration backup. I for illustration reporting only what I cognize for sure.”

Ironically, Chris Simms, Florio’s podcast co-host and a adjacent friend and erstwhile assemblage teammate of nan 49ers coach, provided specifications astir Shanahan’s injuries and his family’s reaction.

“When you first spot it, and it’s fresh, and immoderate of nan cuts are still wide open, I mean, it’s jarring — it’s jarring,” Simms said connected “PFT Live.” “He was this adjacent to possibly losing his correct eye, right? The scar is truthful large correct here. So each that worldly was conscionable crazy to see, and of course, I was reasoning of my friend. But yeah, it’s tough.”

Simms added that he and his woman received texts and photos from Shanahan’s wife, Mandy, informing him that “Kyle’s been a portion of immoderate horrible accident.”

Florio wrote that Simms did not show him astir nan accident.

“I wouldn’t person wanted to cognize astir thing that couldn’t beryllium reported until nan 49ers wanted it to beryllium known, because I would person felt compelled to create and stock objectively important accusation arsenic it relates to 1 of nan short-list NFC Super Bowl contenders,” Florio wrote.

Why did nan 49ers support nan accusation quiet for 11 days? Florio was indignant that nan mishap didn’t go nationalist sooner, yet he defended Simms for not breaking nan story. He said Simms did nan correct point by not betraying his relationship pinch Shanahan.

“Were nan reporters dormant astatine nan move aliases did they knowingly prosecute successful immoderate benignant of woody pinch nan 49ers to not merchandise it?” Florio said. “The 49ers didn’t want this retired until nan time it was clip to spell to training campy and it would person been evident astatine that point, where’s Kyle? They wanted to hold until then.”

Lynch said nan squad anticipates Shanahan will beryllium backmost good earlier nan play opener Sept. 11 successful Australia against nan Rams.

“Kyle fundamentally is going to beryllium for illustration successful nan protocol,” Lynch said. “And we’re going to fto nan doctors dictate really he comes back, erstwhile he comes back. He’s been successful nan building, truthful we’ve seen him. It’s benignant of for illustration we do pinch our players, a phased-back approach. Number 1 for Kyle and nan Shanahan family is getting him backmost right.”