It’s been a bizarre couple of months for the 49ers, with the most bizarre development happening on Monday, when team owner Jed York pleaded no contest to a pair of charges arising from an effort to solicit prostitution.
Coach Kyle Shanahan was asked about the situation by reporters on Tuesday.
“I got to talk to Jed the last two days and today,” Shanahan said. “Obviously, it’s a very tough situation. I mean, views for the organization going forward is the same as usual. There won’t be any difference in that, but I know it’s extremely fresh. I think it’s a very, very personal situation. I’ve got a lot of respect for Jed. I got a lot of respect for Danielle [York]. Their family does mean a lot to me. So, with it being this personal, I’m trying as hard as I can to keep it that way.”
Shanahan added that the situation is “irrelevant” to players, especially since York has been living in Ohio and absent from training camp.
“From a football standpoint, it has no effect on us,” Shanahan said. “As far as what we do day-to-day, what we talk about. It hasn’t been mentioned in a meeting today, it doesn’t have to do with what happens on the field. Everything outside of there, I think you guys can judge that better than me.”
He insists that the York arrest won’t be a distraction.
“Well, the one thing that went on yesterday, I don’t think pertained to our players much,” Shanahan said. “And if you guys talk about me getting in a car accident, I think that’s kind of a joke that people think that’s a distraction to our team. So, I think it’s been training camp as usual.”
Right, but it’s one thing for an absentee owner to get arrested. It surely was a distraction, and a disruption, for the 49ers to not have Shanahan at full capacity in the early stages of training camp.
As to York, the fact that Shanahan was asked several questions about it on Tuesday necessarily makes it a distraction. Even if there’s no reason to believe it will be a disruption.
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