It was 790 days between starts for CJ Beathard of the San Francisco 49ers, who entered Saturday’s game against the Arizona Cardinals. Meanwhile, Beathard endured the pain of a lifetime.
Earlier this week, Beathard observed the one-year anniversary of the death of his younger brother, Clayton, who had been stabbed to death in front of a bar in Nashville, Tennessee, on December 21, 2019. On the same day as that painful anniversary, Beathard learned that he would start against the cardinals.
On Saturday, Beathard, backed by a stifling defense and a career performance by runner Jeff Wilson Jr., led the Niners to a surprising, cathartic 20-12 victory over Arizona at Glendale’s State Farm Stadium.
“It means more than I can really say in words,” Beathard said. “Everything I’ve been through for the last year and being the anniversary of the year my brother passed, is just one of those things you can’t really put into words … You can’t write any different script. I couldn’t choose this to go the way it did. “
While 27-year-old Beathard looked for the best way to explain his emotions after going 13-of-22 on 182 yards and three touchdowns, the significance of Saturday’s victory could be found in his haircut and in the jacket he wore.
On Thursday, Niners coach Kyle Shanahan mentioned that Beathard had his hair cut for the first time in a year. Asked why he chose to cut it this week, Beathard said he grew it because his brother liked long hair, so he wanted to keep it.
When he chose to cut it this week, Beathard acknowledged that it was part of his healing process.
“I said to myself, ‘It’s been a good year, so I can cut it,'” said Beathard.
Sitting on the podium, with freshly cut brown hair, Beathard he was wearing a black jacket with the word “King” inscribed on the right and an image of Clayton on the left. It was a gift from Clayton’s pastor, near where he went to college at Long Island University, a gift that Beathard shed tears when he received it.
“It makes a lot of sense to me,” Beathard said. “First of all, the King is our master and savior Jesus Christ and he has a lot of irony with me just because my younger brother’s first name is King. He was Clayton. King Beathard was his full name. And my other brother, Tucker, dedicated his album to Clay and was called “The King.”
Beathard had not started a game since October 28, 2018, which, by chance, was an 18-15 loss to the Cardinals in the same building where the teams met on Saturday.
It was Beathard’s last start after five consecutive losses to replace Jimmy Garoppolo, who broke his ACL in Week 3 of that 2018 season. Nick Mullens replaced Beathard for the rest of the season and won the job. no. 2 behind Garoppolo away for 2019 and this season.
But with Garoppolo injured in the ankle and Mullens landing in the injured reserve this week due to an elbow problem, Beathard returned to the mix against the Cardinals because Niners had no choice.
The fact that Beathard managed to organize such a performance after a devastating year was not a surprise for Shanahan and Beathard’s teammates.
“You could feel yourself during the training week, he came on Wednesday when he got his rehearsals so ready to go,” Shanahan said. “I think you could tell how hard they played for him. I was very impressed with CJ and very happy for him today.”
Beathard is set to be an unlimited free agent after the season, which he won’t worry about until the 6-9 Niners make it to the end of next weekend against the Seattle Seahawks.
For now, he leaves an indelible mark on his teammates in an otherwise painful season in San Francisco.
“I’ve always been so inspired by CJ,” said defender Kyle Juszczyk. “Just like this guy eats, no matter what happened to him or the circumstances. The guy has been through a lot in the last two years. I felt he was being unfairly judged in his early years in the league and how tough it was to play as a beginner and a sophomore with the list I had then.
“When she had the opportunity like tonight, I felt like she was going to run with her. I’m sure she could tell you about all the songs she’d like to play better. But I’ll just tell you the guy inspires us so much. for a long time and we are so happy to go out there and perform for him. “