The 49ers Faithful took over SoFi Stadium – er, Levi’s South – on Sunday to make the NFC Championship feel like a home game in Santa Clara. From the first quarter, Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matt Stafford had to use a silent count to get the ball from his center. But the Rams ultimately prevailed in a 20-17 thriller.
Following a 30-minute press conference wrapping up the season Tuesday, 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan gave an unprompted shoutout to the 49ers fans who made the trip to Southern California.
“I did want to say one thing because I forgot after the game, and it's not just kissing up to them,” Shanahan said. “What our fans did in L.A. was not just the coolest thing for the head coach of the Niners, it was one of the coolest things I've seen in sports. To watch the commitment of a fan base try to go take over another stadium and to watch how hard they were trying not to. And for me to sit there on Saturday night and my wife to show me videos of the airport. For my friends to send me videos of the coffee shops and the streets. And then for me to go in there and see the stadium, it gave me, it gave our players, it gave us chills.”
An estimated 65 percent of fans in attendance Sunday were 49ers fans, not the usual split you would expect. 49ers fans also made their presence felt in Dallas at Jerry’s World for the Wild Card game against the Cowboys.
“It was in L.A., it was in Dallas, it was in Green Bay,” 49ers general manager John Lynch added. “It's everywhere we go. And the faithful is such an appropriate name for what our fan base is all about. The passion. They stuck with us when things were going rough and Kyle said it really well. We're very appreciative and look forward to seeing that only grow stronger moving forward.”
