One of the storylines leading into Sunday night’s game between the 49ers and Packers was whether the relationship between the head coaches of the two teams was negatively impacted by the 49ers’ interest in trading for Aaron Rodgers.
Both Kyle Shanahan and Matt LaFleur dismissed the notion that a call about Rodgers had fractured a friendship that goes back many years, but the topic came up again after Sunday night’s 30-28 win by Green Bay. The two men had a brief interaction at midfield after Mason Crosby’s game-winning field goal that led to more questions about their feelings for one another after the game.
LaFleur called it a “tough moment” for the losing coach and that he’s “not going to let anything come between our friendship.”
“I think I was just pissed about the game. It ended on the last play and I wasn’t trying to hang out too long in the middle of the field,” Shanahan said, via 49ersWebZone.com.
It was an unhappy ending for the 49ers on Sunday night and a warmer embrace after the game wouldn’t have done anything to change that outcome or the fact that Rodgers had just enough time to remind Shanahan exactly why they made a call about trading for him in the first place.