Brock Purdy met his childhood hero Sunday when Hall of Fame quarterback Dan Marino stopped by during pregame warmups in Miami to say hello.
“It was quick. We were starting to warm up and he came over and said, “I want to meet you; good luck and tell your dad I said hi to him,'” Purdy said. “It was really nice. It was cool of him to do that.
But instead of having a day to remember, Purdy was dealt another blow in the longest season of his life.
Purdy had completed a 17-yard pass to Jauan Jennings at the 49ers’ 47-yard line just before the two-minute warning, with the 49ers trailing 22-17. They had all their downtimes, George Kittle looked like George Kittle and Deebo Samuel was breaking tackles and fighting for yards like the Deebo Samuel of old.
It was first and ten. Purdy will have plenty of time to prove he can lead a team to victory in the fourth quarter, which is one of the few things he hasn’t accomplished in his third season. Purdy, coming out of the shotgun, wanted to throw to Jennings over the middle.
Instead, 38-year-old Calais Campbell crashed the potential victory party, with an off-balance throw from Purdy floating straight to Kader Kahou for an interception.
Three plays later, De’Von Achane ran 50 yards for a Dolphins touchdown and the 49ers, on a day when they were eliminated from the playoffs before kickoff, were down 6-9 in a 29 loss -17.
This season, Purdy will not make the playoffs for a third time. Will not play in the NFC Championship Game for the third time. I’m not going to the Super Bowl a second time.
And like Marino, who only played in one Super Bowl after the 1984 season and lost to the 49ers 38-16, he won’t win a Super Bowl either. Not this year, anyway. Maybe never. There are no guarantees in the NFL.
“I was trying to get over the defender and I just got hit and I couldn’t throw the ball that I really wanted to,” Purdy said. “I left it short and the guy got it.”
A week after struggling to throw the ball in the rain, Purdy looked a lot like his 2022-23 self until the interception. He was 26 of 40 for 313 yards and had touchdown passes of 16 yards to Samuel and 2 yards to Eric Saubert. His 25 yards from scrimmage were enough to lead the 49ers in rushing on a day when they were down with their fourth-string fullback, Patrick Taylor Jr.
Instead, the Purdy debate was reignited. He’s under contract for just over $1 million in 2025, but no one expects him to play for that. His counterpart Sunday, Miami’s Tua Tagovaiola, signed a four-year extension worth $53.1 million and it wasn’t entirely clear who was the best quarterback on the field.
It’s worth remembering that Purdy won’t turn 25 for another five days. He’s been agonizingly close to the top of the mountain, falling with a serious elbow injury in the NFC Championship Game two seasons ago and losing in overtime to Patrick Mahomes in Super Bowl LVIII on February 11.
He won four playoff games. He was a central figure and point man on offense who lifted his teammates even as his teammates lifted him. And now this. The quarterback of a 6-9 team, something that never happened to Steve Young or Joe Montana for the most quarterback-centric team in football.
“Football hasn’t been clean at all levels,” Purdy said. “I just feel like we get hurt offensively, and when the defense shuts down, we have to capitalize. Last year we did it really well – the last two years – and we played team football for four quarters and we felt like we were pretty dominant. This year it’s just a coincidence. »
Purdy is guilty of being the quarterback of a team that has lost five of its last six games – although he missed one in Green Bay due to shoulder soreness. He probably got too much credit when the 49ers won, and now he’s getting too much blame, because that’s how it works in the toughest position in professional sports.
After all, it wasn’t on Purdy that the 49ers committed 11 penalties for 90 yards, many of which were maddening before the snap.
It wasn’t Purdy’s fault that Ricky Pearsall lined up incorrectly twice for illegal formation calls. It wasn’t Purdy’s fault that left tackle Jaylon Moore left in the third quarter with a quad injury and left guard Aaron Banks was knocked out shortly after with a potential season-ending MCL injury. It wasn’t Purdy’s fault that the 49ers committed three defensive personal fouls, allowing Miami to extend drives when the game was being decided. Or that Jake Moody missed another makeable field goal attempt from 41 yards out.
Purdy has rejected using injuries as an alibi all season.
“It doesn’t matter who’s out there,” Purdy said. “We have what it takes to move the chains, win and score points. This is my state of mind. That’s why I’m hard on myself. It’s the NFL, man. I know I can come out and win these kinds of matches, no matter who is there.
“Right now I just have to be better, taking what the defense gives me and building guys up as I go. I’m learning a lot. It hurts to go through this, but I still have all the faith in the world in what we can do moving forward. We still have two games left to show ourselves and show who we are.
Unfortunately for the 49ers, their final win-loss record will indicate that they were the most disappointing team in franchise history based on the hope of being a Super Bowl contender.
That’s something no quarterback wants on their resume, but there’s no indication that Shanahan has soured on Purdy like he did on Jimmy Garoppolo. And that’s the only way Purdy can avoid getting a contract that puts him somewhere near Tagovaiola and others.
Purdy expressed his appreciation for Kittle and Samuel as teammates and friends.
“They were very good to me and their big brothers to me,” Purdy said.
Now it’s time for Purdy to become the big brother. A new contract will consolidate his status as the 49ers’ quarterback of the future. The pressure will then be even more intense and the debates over Purdy’s viability to win a championship will triple in volume.
That’s life in the NFL.
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