Fred Warner the game wrecker: How 49ers’ star LB found his football voice

Eric Williams

NFC West Writer

Chris Hauser noticed Fred Warner’s presence as a gangly freshman at Mission Hills High in San Marcos, just north of San Diego.

He watched it grow as Warner developed into a playmaking two-way player who would eventually help lead his school to a CIF-San Diego section open championship during his senior season, earning a scholarship to BYU. 

A team leader with a commanding voice that others would follow.

“It was the right voice,” Hauser told FOX Sports. “He wasn’t over-the-top. It wasn’t ‘look at me.’ He was a work-ethic guy and a great teammate – all the ingredients that you want with your guys. That was Fred.”

An edge rusher in high school and college who used his speed and athleticism to make plays in space and get after the quarterback, Warner successfully transitioned to inside linebacker in the pros with the San Francisco 49ers.

Warner, 27, just earned All-Pro honors for a third time in his sixth NFL season. He finished the 2023 season with 132 combined tackles, 2.5 sacks, 11 pass breakups, four interceptions and four forced fumbles. On Sunday, he’ll play in another NFC Championship Game (6:30 p.m. ET on FOX and the FOX Sports app).

Warner and Bobby Wagner are the only two players to record at least 115 tackles each season from 2018 to 2023. And it’s Warner’s production that allows him to take on the mantle as the leader of San Francisco’s defense, something that head coach Kyle Shanahan saw develop for Warner when he joined the team as a rookie third-round selection in 2018.

“It’s a lot easier to be a great leader, the better player you are,” Shanahan told reporters this week. “There are not many good leaders who aren’t really good players. It’s really hard for that to last. Guys eventually aren’t going to listen to you unless you’re balling on the field. So, Fred came in with the capabilities of being a great leader. … The way he can speak to guys, hold guys accountable. He…

Source link : https://www.foxsports.com/stories/nfl/fred-warner-the-game-wrecker-how-49ers-star-lb-found-his-football-voice

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Publish date : 2024-01-26 17:36:35

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