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Fred Warner has been to two Super Bowls and two additional NFC Championship Games with the San Francisco 49ers, and he's walked away empty-handed every time. Now entering his ninth season under head coach Kyle Shanahan, the All-Pro linebacker says the group around him understands the opportunity in front of it isn't guaranteed to last.
"There's only so long that we're going to have these opportunities together as this group," Warner said on KNBR. "It's funny though, 'cause I feel like every year our sense of urgency is through the roof. Ever since I've been here, we've had the standard of winning a Super Bowl. It's always been Super Bowl or bust for us."
Since Shanahan took over in 2017, San Francisco lost two Super Bowls to the Kansas City Chiefs and the NFC title in consecutive seasons in 2021 and 2022 to the Los Angeles Rams and Philadelphia Eagles, respectively. Warner has been part of that core the entire way, and the roster around him has only gotten older in the pursuit.
With Deebo Samuel's return this offseason, the 49ers are positioned to potentially start five non-quarterback skill players age 30 or older: Samuel, Mike Evans, Christian McCaffrey, George Kittle and Kyle Juszczyk. That group size and age has been matched by only a handful of teams in Super Bowl-era history, none of which found much postseason success doing it.
Warner said the volume of accolades this roster has compiled over the years — All-Pro nods, Pro Bowls, conference title appearances — carries no weight once the season starts.
"We've developed such an incredible culture and standard here for a really long time," Warner said. "You can't rest on what you've done in the past. All the All-Pros, the Pro Bowls, the NFC Championship game, Super [Bowl] — none of that means anything. This is a brand new team, a brand new opportunity for us as the 49ers to create something we want to be proud of at the end of it all."
That mindset carries extra weight this summer. Warner missed the final 12 games of last season with a dislocated and fractured ankle, watching from the sideline as the 49ers were eliminated by the Seahawks in the divisional round — one win short of the NFC title game he might have returned for.
Now healthy and back alongside longtime running mate Dre Greenlaw, Warner is framing 2026 the way he has every year in San Francisco: Super Bowl or bust.
This article originally appeared on Niners Wire: 49ers star has brutally honest take about team's Super Bowl window
Continue reading...
"There's only so long that we're going to have these opportunities together as this group," Warner said on KNBR. "It's funny though, 'cause I feel like every year our sense of urgency is through the roof. Ever since I've been here, we've had the standard of winning a Super Bowl. It's always been Super Bowl or bust for us."
Since Shanahan took over in 2017, San Francisco lost two Super Bowls to the Kansas City Chiefs and the NFC title in consecutive seasons in 2021 and 2022 to the Los Angeles Rams and Philadelphia Eagles, respectively. Warner has been part of that core the entire way, and the roster around him has only gotten older in the pursuit.
With Deebo Samuel's return this offseason, the 49ers are positioned to potentially start five non-quarterback skill players age 30 or older: Samuel, Mike Evans, Christian McCaffrey, George Kittle and Kyle Juszczyk. That group size and age has been matched by only a handful of teams in Super Bowl-era history, none of which found much postseason success doing it.
Warner said the volume of accolades this roster has compiled over the years — All-Pro nods, Pro Bowls, conference title appearances — carries no weight once the season starts.
"We've developed such an incredible culture and standard here for a really long time," Warner said. "You can't rest on what you've done in the past. All the All-Pros, the Pro Bowls, the NFC Championship game, Super [Bowl] — none of that means anything. This is a brand new team, a brand new opportunity for us as the 49ers to create something we want to be proud of at the end of it all."
That mindset carries extra weight this summer. Warner missed the final 12 games of last season with a dislocated and fractured ankle, watching from the sideline as the 49ers were eliminated by the Seahawks in the divisional round — one win short of the NFC title game he might have returned for.
Now healthy and back alongside longtime running mate Dre Greenlaw, Warner is framing 2026 the way he has every year in San Francisco: Super Bowl or bust.
This article originally appeared on Niners Wire: 49ers star has brutally honest take about team's Super Bowl window
Continue reading...
