Grant Cohn used his postgame livestream Sunday night in Seattle to take a direct shot at fellow 49ers beat reporter David Lombardi, accusing the San Francisco Standard writer of blurring the line between reporter and fan.
Nearly an hour into his YouTube broadcast after San Francisco’s 32-29 win over the Seahawks at Lumen Field, Cohn launched into a two-minute rant in which he said he “can’t stand” Lombardi and argued that he crosses a journalism ethics line.
“It’s bad enough that he’s a fan of the team that he covers, but he thinks he’s on the team,” Cohn said. “So, for example, after a game, you might hear some of us interviewing players and the coach at the postgame press conference.
You know who never asks a question? David Lombardi.
“You know why? Because he’s not in there.
You know why? Because he’s in the locker room.
You know what he’s doing? Hugging the players and congratulating them as if they won together.
‘Hey man, great going. How does it feel?’
He thinks he’s on the team, and it ... does bother me.”
Cohn, who has covered the 49ers since 2011 and now leads Sports Illustrated’s 49ers blog, has long leaned into a confrontational style. His bio touts the “old-school mentality” passed down by his father, Bay Area sports columnist Lowell Cohn, and says he aims to deliver the “most honest and interactive coverage in the country.”
That willingness to stir things up has followed him for years. He has been called out by multiple 49ers players and was involved in a high-profile feud with former first-round pick Javon Kinlaw in 2022. Those run-ins have only raised his profile, and he has made them part of his brand on his eponymous YouTube channel, which now has around 225,000 subscribers.
Lombardi, meanwhile, has built his own audience while covering the Niners since 2017. He spent time at The Athletic before joining the San Francisco Standard in 2024, where he remains. He also runs a YouTube channel that has 110,000 subscribers.
His bio describes his work as “offering in-depth analysis of players and examinations of team strategy, as well as features on prominent figures within the 49ers’ sphere.” Even so, plenty of observers see his coverage as tilted toward the team, especially in the way he has written and posted about quarterback Brock Purdy over the years.
Lombardi is not shy about online disputes, either. He recently sparred with ESPN analyst Mina Kimes after the 49ers’ Week 4 win.
Cohn, though, has been far more willing to openly engage Lombardi, jumping into his X replies and regularly bringing up their “feud” in interviews. When Kimes and Lombardi traded posts, Cohn wrote, “Mina Kimes is my favorite sports journalist.
She does a great job,” and added more comments during that exchange.
Still, there is a big difference between disliking a reporter’s work and accusing him of unethical conduct. Cohn went with the latter Sunday, saying reporters should maintain “professional distance” from players.
“This f-king guy pretends to be a journalist and takes shilling to the next level. ... It bothers me, man,” Cohn said.
“Where is David? Ask a question.
Oh, he’s not here because he’s hugging the players. Man, that would bug me if I was a player.
‘Man, don’t touch me. Don’t congratulate me.’”
SFGATE reached out to the San Francisco Standard for a response, but editor-in-chief Kevin Delaney declined comment. Lombardi did not respond to SFGATE’s request for comment, and Cohn also did not answer a request for an interview about his accusations.
Cohn’s specific claim about “hugging” is hard to verify. NFL rules require reporters to film postgame interviews and nothing else in the locker room, though the 49ers could pull Lombardi’s credentials if they believed he was there for anything other than player interviews.
What is clear is that Lombardi rarely asks questions from the podium in postgame press conferences, which the 49ers broadcast live. That may also be a reflection of NFL media procedures, since locker room interviews and the press conference happen at the same time. Lombardi regularly posts locker room video after games under the label “49ers Locker Room Intel,” including after Sunday’s win in Seattle.
For reporters covering an NFL game, the choice is simple: head to the press conference, which is available to everyone and can be reviewed later, or go to the locker room for a less crowded setting and one-on-one interviews.
From the outside, Lombardi appears to choose the locker room almost every week and then folds those interviews into his Standard coverage, which seems to be his main writing outlet.
Cohn, by contrast, appears to treat his YouTube output as his main assignment. On game days, he typically files a postgame “grades” story for Sports Illustrated, but he spends much more of his time on videos, livestreams and social media interaction. He clearly knows what his audience wants, including playing up the ongoing “ beef ” with Lombardi - and after Sunday night, it doesn’t look like either reporter is ready to bury it.
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