Super Bowl bonus: The 49ers are giving every player and coach a Peloton bike and cycling shoes as a reward for making it to the big game. #49ers
— Matt Barrows (@mattbarrows) February 4, 2024
Now some people might take offense to being gifted workout equipment and apparel, but for professional football players, it's all part of the lifestyle. And many of the coaches, no doubt, will put the gifts to use.
David Lombardi, also of The Athletic, reported that "NFL rules allow Super Bowl gifts to players under about $1,700 in value." So the 49ers are not doing anything to break the rules. It's just another way the 49ers are showing their appreciation and gratitude to the players and coaches for all they have accomplished.
The 49ers have a history of taking care of their players and coaches. Reportedly, when former 49ers safety Jeff Fuller suffered a serious injury to his neck on a tackle during a game against the New England Patriots, Eddie DeBartolo, the 49ers owner at the time, left his luxury box, followed the ambulance to the hospital, was there for Fuller, cried with him, and eventually, under absolutely no legal obligation, arranged to pay Fuller $100,000 a year for the rest of his life. Fuller never played in the NFL after the injury.
According to a Sports Illustrated report, "When Niner fullback Harry Sydney and his wife, Nancy, had their third child, DeBartolo sent flowers two hours after the birth. 'Two hours!' said Sydney. When linebacker Jim Fahnhorst's wife, Kim, delivered twins, DeBartolo's flowers weighed 70 pounds. Every time the 49ers win their division—and every Easter, too—every player and staff member gets two dozen long-stemmed red roses for his wife or mother or girlfriend.
"When the Niners won their third Super Bowl, in January '89, DeBartolo flew every player and office staffer and a guest to Youngstown, Ohio, DeBartolo's hometown, for two nights. He brought in the pastry chef from the Beverly Hills Hotel, the head chef from the Mayfair House hotel in Miami and four other chefs from across the country. They produced a gourmet dinner for 750, including freshly made pasta, smoked Norwegian salmon, imported lobster, Belgian endive salad and homemade chocolates—all served by more than 100 models brought from New York and elsewhere and trained as waitresses for the occasion."
Those are the kinds of things DeBartolo was known for doing. The 49ers were the classiest and best-run organization in sports. And some of that has rubbed off on his nephew, 49ers CEO Jed York.
York announced this week that the team will cover the expenses to fly the entire organization to Las Vegas for Super Bowl LVIII. This isn't the first time York has done this. Four years ago, when the Super Bowl was in Miami, the 49ers flew 1,500 staff members and spouses out for the game.
York told reporters this week, "We're going to make sure that all staff and interns and everybody, they get to go. And we're doing multiple team charters that are going. I mean, I couldn't tell you all the details off the top of my head, but there's a lot of alumni that are going. People are fired up."
York has continued his uncle's tradition of taking care of his players, coaches, and staff, as well as their families. The Peloton bikes and cycling shoes are just another example of this.
- Marc Adams
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Written by:Speaker. Writer. Covering the San Francisco 49ers. Host of the 49ers Camelot show.
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