There were 790 days between starts for the San Francisco 49ers quarterback CJ Beathard who entered Saturday’s game against the Arizona Cardinals. In between, Beathard suffered a lifetime of grief.
Earlier this week, Beathard observed the one-year anniversary of the death of his younger brother, Clayton, who had been stabbed to death outside a bar in Nashville, Tennessee on December 21, 2019. On the same day of that painful birthday, Beathard was told he would start against the Cardinals.
On Saturday, backed by a stifling defense and a career effort walking back to Jeff Wilson Jr., Beathard led the Niners to a surprise and cathartic 20-12 victory against Arizona at State Farm Stadium in Glendale.
“It means more than I can really put into words,” said Beathard. “Everything I’ve been through in the last year and it’s the anniversary of my brother’s death, it’s just one of those things that you can’t really put into words. … You can’t write a script otherwise. I could do this don’t hand choose to go like it did.
While Beathard, 27, searched for the best way to explain his emotions after going 13 from 22 for 182 yards and three touchdowns, the significance of Saturday’s win was reflected in his haircut and the jacket he wore .
Niners coach Kyle Shanahan noted on Thursday that Beathard has had his hair cut for the first time in a year. Asked why he chose to cut it this week, Beathard said he grew it because his brother liked his hair long, so he wanted to keep it going for him.
When he chose to have it cut this week, Beathard acknowledged it was part of his healing process.
“I was like, ‘Okay, it’s been a year now so I can cut it,’” Beathard said.
Standing on the podium with his freshly shaved brown hair, Beathard was wearing a black jacket with the word ‘King’ on the right and an image of Clayton on the left. It was a gift from Clayton’s pastor near where he went to study at Long Island University, a gift that Beathard said brought him to tears when he received it.
“It has a lot of meaning to me,” Beathard said. First and foremost, the king is our lord and savior Jesus Christ and it has a lot of irony with me just because my little brother’s middle name is King. He was Clayton King Beathard was his full name. And my other brother, Tucker, dedicated his album to Clay and it was called the “King.” ”
Beathard had not started a game since October 28, 2018, which happened to be an 18-15 defeat for the Cardinals in the same building where the teams met on Saturday.
It was the last start Beathard made after five consecutive defeats when he replaced Jimmy Garoppolo, who tore his ACL in week 3 of that 2018 season. Nick Mullens replaced Beathard for the remainder of that season, finishing the No. 2 track behind Garoppolo for the whole of 2019 and also this season.
But with Garoppolo knocked out with an ankle injury and Mullens landing on an injured reserve this week due to an elbow problem, Beathard was back in the mix against the Cardinals as the Niners had no other options.
The fact that Beathard was able to put on such a performance after a devastating year came as no surprise to the teammates of Shanahan and Beathard.
“You felt it during the practice week, he came in on Wednesday when he first had his reps, so ready to go,” Shanahan said. “I think you could also see how hard they played for him. I was very impressed with CJ and very happy for him today.”
Beathard will be an unrestricted free agent after the season, something he won’t worry about until the 6-9 Niners get through next weekend’s finals against the Seattle Seahawks.
For now, he leaves an indelible impression on his teammates in an otherwise difficult season in San Francisco.
“I’ve always been so inspired by CJ,” said fullback Kyle Juszczyk. Just how this guy just grinds on, no matter what happened to him and the circumstances. This guy has been through a lot over the years. I felt like he was being judged unfairly for his first few years in the league and no matter how hard it was to play as a rookie and a sophomore with the roster we had at the time.
“When he got his chance like he did tonight, I felt like he would run away with it. I’m sure he can tell you about all the plays he would like to do better. But I’ll just tell you the man inspires us so bad and we are so happy to go out and perform for him. “