Honest question: should I quit?

The year is 2054 and 49ers fans still whining about coming up short for the 24th time since 2019
😂'🤣😭🫵

Originally posted by Young2Owens:
I'm 36 years old. I barely remember 94. All I've known since is losing in the NFCCG and now 3 SBs. This team has done nothing but disappoint me. Mooch era…Harbaugh era… now Shanahan era. Nothing but losing. What's the point? It messes with my mental health and makes me unproductive at work and I neglect other areas of my life during football season.

I don't know what it's like to be a winner. You older folks should appreciate your memories because some of us don't have those.

Just be thankful you're not a Jets fan.

When I was a kid, I loved watching the WWF. I cried when the Ultimate Warrior beat Hulk Hogan at Wrestlemania. A few years later, I realized it was all staged. Fake.

the NFL isn't on the same level, but it's within the same spectrum. After watching Goodell smooch up to Taylor Swift, the 65 anthems pregame, 10 minute commercial breaks in between plays….you come to realize that it's not even about the game anymore. It's all cash baby. Whenever drives up the profits. And if you got a guy that has a cannon arm that can run whenever and wherever he wants and sounds like a muppet baby and his playing with a guy who is dating the biggest thing since Michael Jackson…yea the NFL will use that to fill their pockets.

Look on the bright side, at least the Warriors and Giants have won multiple championships since 2012

Originally posted by Young2Owens:
I'm 36 years old. I barely remember 94. All I've known since is losing in the NFCCG and now 3 SBs. This team has done nothing but disappoint me. Mooch era…Harbaugh era… now Shanahan era. Nothing but losing. What's the point? It messes with my mental health and makes me unproductive at work and I neglect other areas of my life during football season.

I don't know what it's like to be a winner. You older folks should appreciate your memories because some of us don't have those.

I understand your disappointment. One thing about this game is this: It's the really close games that you almost win, but don't that hurt the most. That's especially true if it's a big game. It may be strange human psychology, but for some reason blowout losses don't hurt as bad. Obviously, in reality, if your team gets blown out, that's a much, much worse performance than a close game. The 49ers have had a great season. They won their division, got the first seed, and became NFC Champions. Then they played such a close game in the Super Bowl that no one knew who would win until the last play of the game. It took a great team like KC going into overtime to be able to beat them. It hurts like hell because you were so close to winning it all, and then it's like that's snatched away from you.

My team (the Cowboys) got trashed by you guys in the regular season, and then went on a really good run, winning a total of 12 games and their division, only to get totally trashed by the Packers in the playoffs. It's been similar for several seasons now. They have a good regular season, only to look like a bunch of preseason scrubs in the postseason. Their loss to the Packers only made my eyes roll. It was more of the same old garbage. If a game kicks your guts out, that's only possible because your team is excellent and came really close.

The toughest loss for me was against your 49ers in 1981. We had a great year that season, and so did the 49ers. It ended up coming down to the NFC Championship game, and that game went back and forth. It could have gone either way, but you probably know the story of what happened with Montana's incredible throw to Dwight Clark. Everyone remembers that, but what a lot of people don't remember is that the Cowboys had one more possession, in which Danny White hit Drew Pearson on a slant route, and would have taken it to the house were it not for a legal shirt-collar tackle by one index finger by cornerback, Eric Wright. I have tremendous respect for Wright. He made a great play that sealed the win for his team. But his play, and the Cowboys loss, kicked my guts out. It was the most painful loss of any game I ever saw. If Pearson's jersey had ripped away, leaving Wright with a handful of shirt, and Pearson had gotten his winning TD, that would have kicked the guts out of every Niner fan, just as it did to me. The close big games are the tough ones. One set of fans is left elated, and the other set is left gut-punched.

It's a rough, rough sport. It's obviously physically rough, but it's emotionally rough as well. Pretty much every fan of every team has memories of a game that feels like a sucker punch to the gut. For my parents, it's the Ice Bowl, a championship game where Green Bay beat the Cowboys in the final seconds in - 15 degree weather. For me, it's The Catch game. If you want to really know fans who have heartache, look up the history of the Vikings and the Bills, if you don't know it already. I ended up going to college in Chico, CA, where practically everyone was a 49er fan, and I got to know some really good people who root for that team. That helped me to make peace with my disappointment. I also realized how every fan who loves his team goes through awful disappointment sometimes. In the 1990 NFC Championship game, Leonard Marshall of the NY Giants flattened Joe Montana, making him leave the game with injury. The hit made me wince, and the Giants went on to win, and advance to the Super Bowl. That had to be a kick-out-your-guts game for 9er fans. Then, in the Super Bowl, it was back and forth between the Giants and the Bills, with the Giants winning thanks to a wide-right field goal miss by the Bills to end the game. A few feet to the left, and Bills fans would have been celebrating. Instead, they were miserable.

There's no way a close loss like this won't hurt anyone who loves the 49ers. I'm not even a 9er fan, but I rooted for them, and the outcome stung. Just remember, the pain is there because you love your team and because they're so excellent that they came really close. There are 30 other teams what wish they had done as well as the 49ers did this year. And the one team that bested them, the Chiefs, are insanely good, and it took overtime for them to do it. It will hurt like hell now, but that will fade. I also think it helps to dedicate yourself to good sportsmanship. I met good people in college who are Niner fans, and I finally grew to appreciate that the game that hurt me so much made them really happy. They were due for some success. They had built some good teams in the 70s with John Brodie at quarterback, but my team beat them three times in the playoffs. The 49ers had some heartache before they were able to win their first championship. The Cowboys used to be the best-run team in the league, but today they're poorly run. I've had to accept that, at 59, I might be done seeing them win championships. I would give anything if they were run as well as the 49ers are today.

I can't guarantee that your 49ers will win a championship next season. There's just too much talent in the league for any team to be a shoe-in. Even the Chiefs aren't a shoe-in to repeat. However, at least with how well the 9ers organization is run, you'll have a chance at it. So, lick your wounds, and do what you can to make peace with your disappointment. It might help to get to know the fans of some other teams. When you respect the fans of other teams, they don't seem like the enemy, and you understand that everyone has disappointments. When people call this a rough game, they don't just mean physically and for the players. It can be rough emotionally for the fans. However, that's also the reason why it's such a huge thrill if your team can win it all.

Best wishes to you, and take care, my friend.

Originally posted by DrEll:
When I was a kid, I loved watching the WWF. I cried when the Ultimate Warrior beat Hulk Hogan at Wrestlemania. A few years later, I realized it was all staged. Fake.

the NFL isn't on the same level, but it's within the same spectrum. After watching Goodell smooch up to Taylor Swift, the 65 anthems pregame, 10 minute commercial breaks in between plays….you come to realize that it's not even about the game anymore. It's all cash baby. Whenever drives up the profits. And if you got a guy that has a cannon arm that can run whenever and wherever he wants and sounds like a muppet baby and his playing with a guy who is dating the biggest thing since Michael Jackson…yea the NFL will use that to fill their pockets.

I knew we lost as soon as the Chiefs were the opponent. The Taylor Swift garbage is way too big for them. When Vinovich was announced as the referee, it was curtains

True. Chief fans went through decades of losing before they finally got Mahomes. I guess we can be happy they get to enjoy a dynasty like we did for almost three decades.

I'm going to be honestly less emotionally invested in this team. I'm still going to cheer for them. But I know what they are. With the Yorks, Shanahan and current composition of the roster I know who they are. This is a team that will NOT win a Super Bowl anytime soon. They furthest they can get is to the Super Bowl to get BOUNCED by the Chiefs and Mahomes. Many deep playoff runs now for about 5 years. Half a decade. They are tired and worn down. I would not be surprised by a falter year. They are actually due a down year. I don't think this current group will win. NFC Championship loss or Super Bowl loss is their top out limit.

Two things stand out to me.

1. 36 ain't s**t you're not even halfway through the marathon.
2. You didn't quit after the 2016 season. Why now my friend? s**t we were 17-47 2015-18.

We are having fun most of the time now.

Yeah, I'm not going to lie... As far as sports go, I'm pretty bent out of shape. I love watching sports but at some point it just gets a little redundant putting so much energy into something just to never experience a championship. As already pointed out, it's not going to get any easier and the way these guys blew their chances being one play away multiple times, it's just frustrating and it hurts.

Originally posted by SanDiego49er:
I'm going to be honestly less emotionally invested in this team. I'm still going to cheer for them. But I know what they are. With the Yorks, Shanahan and current composition of the roster I know who they are. This is a team that will NOT win a Super Bowl anytime soon. They furthest they can get is to the Super Bowl to get BOUNCED by the Chiefs and Mahomes. Many deep playoff runs now for about 5 years. Half a decade. They are tired and worn down. I would not be surprised by a falter year. They are actually due a down year. I don't think this current group will win. NFC Championship loss or Super Bowl loss is their top out limit.

FWIW, we're not going to the Super Bowl next year. We had many things break out way this season. A mostly injury free year which never happens in Shanaland. Home field advantage with a 12-5 record only. Lucky wins vs GB and Detroit because they mismanaged their games. And then we ran into a brick wall.

the next SB appearance if any will happens after Brock signs his contract. But the team will be much different then with maybe a handful of the current starters playing on the roster.

So I agree with you. Just take a step back and relax. We have many more years or "almosts" coming up with Kyle, but that's okay because according to everyone here, there's no one better out there to replace him so keep it going for another decade…

Originally posted by Young2Rice:
True. Chief fans went through decades of losing before they finally got Mahomes. I guess we can be happy they get to enjoy a dynasty like we did for almost three decades.

I was happy for the Chiefs fans I knew in 2020 after their first SB win. I was happy for Reid then, too. Now I want them to go 0-17 for the next decade straight.

Felt the same about the Red Sox after their second WS win in 2007. Fan base became even more insufferable once they won a second WS after the 2004 win.

Dynasties of opposing teams in sports you love are insufferable, especially so when done at the expense of your team. Niners earned that reputation between 1981-1994. It's a large part of why many fan bases still despise us.

Kyle should be asking this question

Originally posted by DrEll:

Originally posted by SanDiego49er:
I'm going to be honestly less emotionally invested in this team. I'm still going to cheer for them. But I know what they are. With the Yorks, Shanahan and current composition of the roster I know who they are. This is a team that will NOT win a Super Bowl anytime soon. They furthest they can get is to the Super Bowl to get BOUNCED by the Chiefs and Mahomes. Many deep playoff runs now for about 5 years. Half a decade. They are tired and worn down. I would not be surprised by a falter year. They are actually due a down year. I don't think this current group will win. NFC Championship loss or Super Bowl loss is their top out limit.

FWIW, we're not going to the Super Bowl next year. We had many things break out way this season. A mostly injury free year which never happens in Shanaland. Home field advantage with a 12-5 record only. Lucky wins vs GB and Detroit because they mismanaged their games. And then we ran into a brick wall.

the next SB appearance if any will happens after Brock signs his contract. But the team will be much different then with maybe a handful of the current starters playing on the roster.

So I agree with you. Just take a step back and relax. We have many more years or "almosts" coming up with Kyle, but that's okay because according to everyone here, there's no one better out there to replace him so keep it going for another decade…

This team isn't going to the Bowl next year. Probably not even close. Should even fall off some. Maybe dramatically.

Ok so it's been almost a full day since I made this thread, and this is how I'm feeling right now:

The devestation effect is wearing off a little quicker than I expected. I am finding that the anxiety I had in the 2 weeks leading up to the SB was a lot worse than how I feel now. I can at least focus on other stuff now, and I don't have a rapid heartbeat thinking about the future. I think this massive anxiety buildup led to the explosion of negative emotion that resulted from the outcome of the game.

I dunno, I think maybe this experience on top of all the past losses will build some scar tissue to help with some perspective on how to deal with my feelings throughout the season. I'll temper my expectations. This team had everything going for it in how the roster was built, coaching, and injury luck to win it all. But the game came down to really bad luck (Greenlaw injury, punt bouncing off our guy's foot), mistakes made by our "all stars" at inopportune times, and coming up against the best Coach/QB combo since Walsh/Montana. There have been worse teams that won SBs and far better teams that choked just the same (18-1 patriots). Nothing is ever guaranteed for better or worse no matter what they seem. With that in mind, I'm not going to get caught up in offseason news, draft, etc. And will tune in week to week during the season, but not pay attention to any of the sports talk or hype/controversy around the team. They will either win it all or they won't, but the journey to that answer isn't worth worrying over constantly.