Logan Ryan stopped the party early to land 49ers shot
Logan Ryan didn't officially retire, but he was certainly enjoying getting away from the grind of the NFL when he got the call that the San Francisco 49ers were interested. The veteran defensive back, who can play safety and cornerback, signed with the Niners on Tuesday, giving them extra depth at safety after season-ending injuries […]
Logan Ryan didn't officially retire, but he was certainly enjoying getting away from the grind of the NFL when he got the call that the San Francisco 49ers were interested.
The veteran defensive back, who can play safety and cornerback, signed with the Niners on Tuesday, giving them extra depth at safety after season-ending injuries to Talanoa Hufanga and George Odum.
San Francisco made the decision to add the two-time Super Bowl champion following a successful workout, the 49ers having interrupted his vacation by revealing their interest.
Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Ryan said he was on a cruise to The Bahamas when he got the call.
"Once I knew that the 49ers were interested at that point there wasn’t any drinking on the cruise unfortunately and I occupied that gym quite a bit," Ryan said. "So it was cool, first Thanksgiving on a cruise."
Not only did Ryan drastically alter how he spent his vacation, he also revealed he had to give up a successful coaching role in another sport to join the Niners for their Super Bowl push.
Asked if he had thought his career was over, Ryan replied: "No. I didn't officially retire. Fortunately, I'm in the position in Year 11 to have some financial success in the NFL. Relatively healthy.
"Financially, I had the choice of whether I wanted to continue to play or move onto other things like running my non profit, I have a police-training company with my father — I was kind of going into entrepreneurship. Coaching my kid's soccer team, my five-year-old's soccer team. We're undefeated. There's two games left, so I had to leave the kids in the middle of the season so my wife's gonna finish that out.
"So I had many other opportunities going for me, and it was a decision to walk away when I wanted to, but I left my phone on and the right team had to call at the right time for me to come out here. For me to move all the way to the West Coast, never played for a team out here, it's a big move for me, and I think it's for the right reasons and I'm super focused and dedicated to help make this team better and find a role."
Head coach Kyle Shanahan is clearly confident Ryan can find a role, pointing to his experience and versatility as the primary reasons for bringing him on board to back up Tashaun Gipson and Ji'Ayir Brown.
Shanahan told his Wednesday press conference: "Just losing the safeties that we have this year and knowing that there’s a guy out there like Logan who I don’t know personally, but played against him a bunch. Whether it was at corner, nickel or safety, you could just always tell he was a very hard guy to schematically be a very aware player, very similar to how Gip was before we got him and things like that.
"So, when you do lose a lot of guys, you’d love to have an option to bring in a guy who’s played some football and doesn’t have to learn everything for the first time. He’s been around enough to understand it and I was glad we were able to get him in here.”
First 49ers injury report for Week 14, vs. Seahawks
One starter will almost certainly be out.
