Backup quarterback C.J. Beathard loves his teammates and the 49ers’ organization more than ever after he shared his grief with them.
Beathard’s brother, Clayton, was stabbed to death in Nashville on Dec. 21. Beathard traveled home to be with his family, returning to the team Jan. 2.
“You’ll feel normal for, like, five minutes,” Beathard said, via Matt Maiocco of NBCSportsBayArea.com. “Then, something will just creep into your head and you just feel like . . . the worst feeling ever. It’s a battle each and every day and every second of every day.
“Being on the practice field kind of takes my mind off it a little bit. But I’ll be sitting there sometimes, and I think of my brother. I’ll hear something, and it’ll be like, ‘Dang, this is Clay’s song. He loved this song.’ That kind of stuff is real tough, and it’s a daily battle.”
Beathard watched the 49ers’ victories against the Rams and Seahawks on television. The team remembered Beathard with touching tributes and shows of support while he was away and since he has returned.
“It says a lot about the culture of this team, just about the guys here, and all the guys reaching out, not talking about football or anything, but talking about real-life stuff, and how I’m feeling and asking about my family,” Beathard, 26, said. “When I got back here last week, it was unreal, the support, and just how real they were. Kyle [Shanahan] and John [Lynch] put so much on creating the culture and getting the right people in here. And when you get the right people, culture takes care of itself. That’s really how it’s worked around here. You see that not only through a season in the NFL, but you see it when tragedies happen like this, just how awesome they are.”