© Kyle Terada | 2020 Jan 19
All’s well that ends well. That’s certainly how Raheem Mostert feels at least.
The running back threw his own future with the 49ers into doubt just a few weeks ago, when his agent made clear that Mostert wanted a trade if San Francisco would not rework his contract. The demand came as a surprise to the organization, and admittedly “ticked off” general manager John Lynch. Eventually cooler heads prevailed, and Mostert got the around $2.5 million in added incentives that make his contract look more like one for a running back and less like one for a special teamer.
Still, it’s the kind of move that could lead to some bad blood between the two parties, at a time when both the Niners and Mostert are experiencing mutual success. That didn’t happen according to Mostert, who told Paul McCaffrey and Mark Willard on Thursday morning that a lack of communication due to COVID was the primary issue, and that both sides are family.
“We weren’t talking, on the same page,” Mostert said. “It was more so during this whole COVID stuff, everybody just trying to figure everything out. Especially me. I was just trying to figure out my family and how I’m going to go about it and listening to NFLPA calls, everything like that.
“It was one of those things where yeah it was a little bit of a deterrent, but like I mentioned yesterday it’s like a family. Families are always going to have fights and arguments. The one thing you do know is that the family loves each other, no matter what. That what we have here.
“Like I mentioned yesterday, I’m going to argue with my little brother all the time, just because he’s my little brother and I’m the big bro, and the same thing with the organization. I might be the little brother in the case but it doesn’t matter. At the end of the day you work things out and you may duke it out here and there, throw some punches and blows, but at the end of the day I’m going to hug you and tell you I love you and I’m proud of you no matter what.
That’s what we’ve got going on here too. It’s a family, it’s family based. I saw John today and I wanted to give him a big hug but COVID won’t allow that to happen,” Mostert laughed. “Same with Kyle (Shanahan) and everybody else. You have love for each other.”
Listen to the full interview below.