A brief clip from the 49ers-Rams opener has taken off online, and it all starts with a broadcaster getting the name wrong on a live injury update.
In the video, a San Francisco receiver wearing No. 7 is shown going to the ground after a non-contact injury and being carted to the locker room. The announcer calls him “Daejon Strickland.” His name is De’Zhaun Stribling.
That mistake immediately grabbed attention because of the bizarre Daejon Love saga attached to the 49ers. Love is the man who built a fake identity on dating apps and social media, presenting himself as either a wealthy NFL star or a Swiss real estate developer. To sell the act, he wore authentic 49ers gear everywhere, carried a team helmet to the beach and even posted videos of himself doing sloppy football drills.
His scam went even deeper. When he was free, Love worked with an 18-year-old accomplice, Taylor Jamie Chan, and posed as his “financial advisor” to pressure women into bogus investments. The pair used fake banking apps and staged FaceTime calls to make the victims believe they were watching huge financial returns stack up.
The FBI eventually shut the whole operation down and arrested both men. Love was taken into custody while still wearing his fake 49ers gear.
So when his name surfaced in a real NFL broadcast, even by mistake, social media had plenty to chew on. And at halftime, the 49ers were up 10-7 on the Rams.
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49ers Suddenly Have A DeZhaun Stribling Problem They Feared
DeZhaun Striblings first regular-season game with the 49ers turned into a worrying one in Melbourne, where the rookie receiver had to survive not one but two injury scares during the season opener. First came an apparent ankle issue, and later he was forced off the field on a cart, leaving San Francisco to wait on clarity while the game carried on around him.
The lack of an official diagnosis only added to the unease for a player who had flashed promise throughout the preseason and looked like someone the 49ers could count on for more than just depth. Some early reports pointed to a hamstring problem, but the real concern is simpler than the label right now - whether a promising opening act has already been interrupted before it ever really got going. [Read more 🡒]
Rams Fans Face An Unusual Week 1 Problem Against The 49ers
Rams fans heading into Week 1 have a little more than the usual trip planning to figure out before facing the 49ers. The 2026 season opener is set for Thursday Night Football in Melbourne, Australia, and the game will stream exclusively on Netflix, giving the matchup a very different feel from the standard prime-time NFL telecast.
For Netflix, it is the first time the service will carry a Thursday Night Football game outside of Christmas Day after its renewed deal with the league. Pregame coverage is set for 6:30 p.m. ET, with Noah Eagle and Luke Kuechly on the broadcast team, so anyone hoping to catch San Francisco and Los Angeles in the opener will need to find the app before they find the couch. [Read more 🡒]
49ers Just Became Part Of A Much Bigger NFL Showcase
The 49ers trip to Melbourne is turning into more than just another international regular-season game. Netflix and the NFL announced that the Jonas Brothers will handle halftime entertainment when San Francisco meets the Rams in Australia, adding a pop-culture spotlight to a matchup already notable for being staged at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
With kickoff set for 8:35 p.m. ET, the whole event will play out on a different kind of timeline for viewers back home, with halftime likely landing late in the evening stateside. The brothers said they are excited to take part in the historic showcase, and for the 49ers, it is another sign that this overseas trip is being packaged as a true marquee event. [Read more 🡒]