San Francisco 49ers general manager John Lynch had just dropped off friends at the airport on Monday morning when he received the heartbreaking news about one of his players. Cornerback Charvarius Ward's one-year-old daughter, Amani Joy, had passed away overnight.
"She was the best blessing we could have asked for, and her joyous spirit made us smile from ear to ear," Ward later wrote in an Instagram post. "She taught us to have patience, trust, and a positive outlook on life. She showed us true strength and bravery. She overcame adversity at a young age and was always happy, lighting up every room with her smile. Having the privilege of being her parents and seeing the world through her eyes has changed us for the better."
Lynch joined Bay Area radio station KNBR on Wednesday, expressing condolences and reflecting on Ward's too-short journey as a father.
"We had all kind of lived through this with Mooney ... he was so excited to become a first-time dad," Lynch shared. "And then, they had a fear that you're going to have a baby, it may indeed have Down syndrome. The baby was born with Down syndrome.
"But Mooney's attitude, his wife's attitude, where they were going to love this little girl—and Joy was the perfect middle name because every time he saw her, she just had this giant smile, was always laughing. And Mooney, his perspective, as it does when you're a parent, changed so much. And Mooney just had such a deep love for this young lady.
"Our organization is just shook, really shaken for the family. Amani was at the game the night before, in the daycare that we have, and it's just the unspeakable deal of going to bed and waking up [to losing her]. We were able to be around him, but you don't know what to say. You just pray, you get love, and continue to be there for the Ward family.
"Mooney is such a good, good guy, and he was such a good dad, that loved being a dad. And her memory will live on. It's still real fresh and, yeah, tough."
Lynch made it clear that the 49ers fully support Ward's need for time to grieve, noting that the team remains in close communication throughout.
"He needs to take care of what he needs to take care of," Lynch emphasized.
While football comes secondary during times like this, the 49ers can afford to give Ward the time he needs. Lynch expressed confidence in the depth of the 49ers' secondary, where players like rookie cornerback Renardo Green and standout rookie safety Malik Mustapha have stepped up admirably.
"I think we came into this season feeling as good about our secondary, and our cornerback position in particular, the depth of it, as we have in a while," Lynch explained. "We're such a team that believes in building up front that—we haven't been bad in the back end, but I just think we got really deep. There's guys who haven't even seen the field yet, like Rock Ya-Sin, who's played a lot of football in this league.
"Isaac Yiadom is [another] guy ... Renardo ended up playing so well that he worked his way on the field, but Isaac Yiadom is a really good corner in this league. And we've all seen Malik Mustapha back there at the safety position. [S Talanoa] Hufanga goes down, and there's a void.
"But Malik is a guy that we liked in the draft process, has come in and, man, he's a force to be reckoned with on the field. I think he kind of keeps taking it. He gets a little better each week, and shows us a little [more of] another element of his game. You see the physicality. It looks like [Cardinals S] Budda Baker or [former NFL S] Troy Polamalu to me."
Lynch also praised safety Ji'Ayir Brown and voiced optimism about the possible return of injured safety Talanoa Hufanga, noting that playing with a cast remains a possibility.
"We all know what a force he is," Lynch said of Hufanga. "He's kind of working through the thumb. Can you play with a cast? Do we give him a little more time so that maybe he can have his fingers instead of just a club out there? So, all these kind of things that we're working through. But we do like where our secondary is at."
