49ers cornerback Charvarius Ward returned to play in five of the final six games of the season, but he said on Monday that it wasn’t easy for him to be with the team after the death of his one-year-old daughter Amani died in October.
Ward said being back in California since his daughter died “just brings up bad memories” because “the worst thing that’s ever happened to me” took place there. Ward has also been away from his family — which expanded to include the December arrival of his son — due to their trauma related to their loss.
Ward is an impending free agent and didn’t rule out a return to the 49ers, but he said those feelings would be a factor in any decision he makes this offseason.
“I go through that every day,” Ward said, via Nick Wagoner of ESPN.com. “I go home every night by myself because my girl, she doesn’t want to come back to California because of what happened. So, it is hard being alone, and she’s my strength right now. I need her, and so her not being able to be around me if I’m in California, it’d be tough.”
Ward said it “took everything physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually” for him to play out the final weeks of the season and said that he hopes to feel “a lot of love” wherever he winds up continuing his career in 2025.
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