Fred Warner’s climb to the top of the 49ers’ tackle chart came with a familiar reaction from the man he passed.
During Week 1 this season, Warner moved past Patrick Willis to become San Francisco’s all-time leader in career tackles, finishing with 958 to Willis’ 950. The milestone had been within reach last year before Warner’s Week 6 ankle injury ended his season early, so it arrived in the opener in Australia with little surprise.
Willis addressed the moment on KNBR and made clear there was no bitterness in watching one of his records fall. “It’s one of those things that it’s always awesome to set a record, but records are meant to be broken.
"I think he did it in 9 years and I was able to do it in 8, but respect to Fred. It’s love and I shot him a text after the game and told him congratulations.
"Yesterday after practice I had a moment just to congratulate him and tell him to keep up the good work and keep doing what you’re doing.”
That exchange says plenty about the standard both linebackers set in San Francisco. Willis and Warner are both easy to place on the franchise’s linebacker Mount Rushmore, and the back-to-back nature of their careers has given the 49ers something rare: one elite defender handing the torch to another.
Willis’ own numbers remain eye-opening, especially considering how short his career was. If he had played longer, Warner would have had a much taller mountain to climb. Even so, that doesn’t take away from what Warner has already done, including carving out his own place in team history.
Willis put it plainly: records are there to be broken. For the 49ers, having players capable of doing that is a sign of how strong this era has been.
The bigger picture stretches beyond Warner, too. Brock Purdy has already set a franchise record for most passing yards in a season, George Kittle is adding to his own place in team history and could set more marks this year, and Christian McCaffrey is in the same conversation.
Warner’s latest record only adds to that run. At 29, he still has plenty of time to keep moving up the list, and the Hall of Fame case is only getting stronger.
In Other News...
Kaepernick Just Reopened A 49ers Era Story Fans Will Remember
Colin Kaepernick is back in the conversation with a new memoir, The Perilous Fight, and the book has already started to reopen one of the most familiar chapters from his 49ers years. Released Sept. 15, the memoir leans into personal stories and reflection, including an anecdote about Taylor Swift and his adoptive mother, while also giving Kaepernick another platform to revisit the larger arc of his career and the fight that followed it.
On a podcast interview the next day, Kaepernick shifted from memoir mode to sharper criticism, taking aim at Patriots owner Robert Kraft over the removal of rapper Macklemore from Ed Sheerans tour. He used the moment to argue that NFL owners work together to protect their interests, while also revisiting his grievance against the league and how his view of owner cooperation has evolved. For 49ers fans, it is another reminder that Kaepernicks story remains as much about the leagues power structure as it is about the quarterback who once defined an era in San Francisco. [Read more 🡒]
49ers Avoid One Levi's Stadium Wrinkle Against The Dolphins
Week 2 brings a more comfortable setup for the 49ers at Levis Stadium, where theyll host the Dolphins under conditions that look far kinder than some of the early-season home games San Francisco has endured in recent years. Forecasts for kickoff call for 72 degrees, clear skies and light winds, the kind of afternoon that should let football, not the weather, drive the conversation.
For a team that has had to manage excessive heat in past daytime games at home, that matters more than it might seem on paper. The Dolphins arrive as a dangerous early test, but the 49ers at least appear set to avoid one of the more annoying variables that can turn a September game in Santa Clara into something closer to a survival exercise. [Read more 🡒]
Fred Warner Said What 49ers Fans Were Feeling About Dre Greenlaw
The 49ers defense wasted no time reminding the rest of the NFC why it still draws so much attention in Santa Clara. In Week 1 against the Rams, San Francisco held Los Angeles under 10 points, and the middle of that effort looked familiar again with Fred Warner and Dre Greenlaw back side by side on the field. Warner led the way with 11 tackles, while Greenlaw added six in his return after spending a year with the Denver Broncos.
For 49ers fans, the reunion carried a little extra weight because it brought back a pairing that has long been tied to the identity of this defense. Warner sounded as energized as the crowd felt about seeing Greenlaw back in the mix, and the early result suggested the comfort level between the two has not gone anywhere. The bigger question now is how quickly that revived linebacker duo can help San Francisco settle in as the season unfolds. [Read more 🡒]