49ers’ Kyle Juszczyk reflects on ‘worst 3 days of my life,’ why he returned to San Francisco

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STATELINE, Nev. — The longest-tenured San Francisco 49ers player returned to the American Century Championship this weekend, the peaceful setting of the Lake Tahoe pine trees a nice contrast to what had been a tumultuous offseason.

A year after the 49ers asked fullback Kyle Juszczyk to take a pay cut (and he did), the team brass was forced to take it a step further and released the popular nine-time Pro Bowl selection on March 11.

“It was the worst three days of my life,” Juszczyk, 33, said Thursday afternoon.

He then smiled, because he did, after all, re-sign with the team on March 15, and wound up getting an extra year of security out of it. One of the first players signed after coach Kyle Shanahan and general manager John Lynch took over in 2017, Juszczyk had 19 catches and three touchdowns last season.

We talked, along with two other reporters, on Thursday afternoon on the driving range shortly before he teed off at the celebrity golf tournament:

So, it seems like everybody on the 49ers golfs now?

Yeah, there’s probably like 40 players who golf. Nick Bosa started playing in January and he already broke 90. He is very controlled … he did it the right way, where he got lessons first. Whereas everyone else, like, you play for a number of years and then it’s like, “Maybe I should get lessons,” but then you already have all these bad habits. He’s very technical.

How cool is it for you having Kittle out here for the first time?

It’s awesome, yeah, I’m so stoked that he’s here, you know, I have my best friend out here. It was obvious that he would be a fan favorite, and I figured he would drink a couple on (hole) 17. We all know George.

He was talking about while there a lot of new faces on defense, you didn’t lose that many guys on offense and he feels pretty good about where the offense is …

I feel great about where the offense is. I think we had one of the best summers that we’ve had in a long time. Everybody was there (at workouts), the camaraderie was through the roof. I love the guys that we added. I feel really good about where we’re at. … Brock (Purdy) got paid, and we don’t have to worry about that.

Does that new deal change the expectations around Brock, that he has to elevate the team more than normal?

Not really, just because we all expected last year that he was going to get paid. But his expectations are always gonna be high for himself, and it’s always going to be more each year. But we just expect Brock to do what he’s been doing.

You also got a new deal, but you were cut first. Was that whole week emotional and hard for you to get through?

Extremely … extremely. It was the worst three days of my life, but I’m genuinely grateful for it now. It gave me so much perspective to kind of step back and see how good I had it — and then get the chance to come back to it. So few people have that opportunity. We jokingly called it a living funeral. I got all my goodbye texts — “how much we loved you and appreciated you” and all that type of stuff, but then I got to come back.

So I got to feel that love from everybody. And I’m locked up for two years. I don’t have to deal with this next year and I’m thankful for it now that it’s over.

Kyle Juszczyk enjoyed his free-agent visit with the Steelers but the pull to return to the 49ers was too strong. (Eakin Howard / Getty Images)

You actually took a visit with the Steelers. What was that experience like, and how close were you to signing there?

It was a different experience. It was a chance to go look at a different team and I felt a lot of love from them. I got excited for a second about what possibly could be, about new beginnings and fitting into a new offense, all that type of stuff. And I genuinely enjoyed my time with Arthur Smith and Mike Tomlin so much. I have so much respect for those guys. But at the end of the day, it just wasn’t enough to trump what I had in San Francisco. I just couldn’t pull the plug.

Even the day I was released, the door wasn’t shut. There was always an opportunity for me to come back. Kyle was very open about that. We didn’t know how it was going to work out … though I told myself after a day or two that wasn’t going to happen. I think deep, deep down, that’s what I was hoping for, is that there would be an opportunity to come back.

What made it so hard to leave, the system, the familiarity …?

It’s so much. Everything you just said, being able to walk into the building, and I literally know everyone. I know the chefs, the custodians, the PR team, the community team. I know all the players, like it’s just a familiarity. My home is there. We bought a house back in 2017, and like, that’s home. And to be in California, to be on what I think is a really good team, a team that I think has a really great opportunity this year. So there’s just too many good things.

One of those is blocking for a healthy Christian McCaffrey again. Kittle said that changes the whole equation this season …

Christian is arguably the best player in the NFL. He was the offensive player of the year two years ago. He changes everything, and he looks incredible. He looks so healthy, he looks so explosive.

You guys did lose some key players early in free agency …

Hey, change is a good thing. We weren’t too good last year. And we still have a good combination of change and centerpieces. You still got Fred Warner and Nick Bosa and Brock and George and Christian, myself, Jauan (Jennings) … I could list a ton of names of guys that have made some huge plays for this team over the last four or five years that are still right here and still playing at a high level. And then it’s good to inject some new blood in there. It is kind of a young man’s league, so you need some young guys to come in and make contributions. That’s a big role for us this year, bringing those guys along quickly.

Is there some fuel because of the way last year went?

I do think so, yeah. I think we’ve been extremely hungry this whole offseason. The fact that everybody was there and everyone was grinding, there was that little extra motivation to really get this thing going.

The Super Bowl is at Levi’s Stadium this season. Have you guys talked about that at all?

I think we’ve been talking about it since we found out two years ago or whatever. That’s the dream scenario, that it ends there. And I hope that’s how it works out.

But, you know, it’s July and I’ve got to give you the classic, “We can’t look that far ahead. … It’s all about training camp in two weeks.”

(Top photo: Eakin Howard / Getty Images)

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