A Florida family has shown immense support for the San Francisco 49ers ever since rookie linebacker Tatum Bethune joined the team.

Bethune was the Niners’ 251 draft pick, and his mom, Shavon Bethune, flew all the way from Miami to cheer her son on in the team’s opener against the New York Jets on Monday.

“I’m excited. I want him to do his best. We always have this little thing we say, ‘Go make them remember your name. You have been doing this since you were a little boy, so make them remember your name,’” she said.

The Florida State University alumnus was drafted in the seventh round. Before playing as a Seminole, Bethune played three seasons at the University of Central Florida, where he recorded 185 tackles, 4.5 sacks, three interceptions, and two forced fumbles over 35 games.

In his final season at FSU, he led the team with 71 tackles. In the 2023 season, he also recorded 38 assists, 33 solo tackles, an interception, and three passes defended. By the end of the regular season, he was named Third-Team All-ACC.

The rookie linebacker started his football career at just 4-years-old. Now, his mom is collecting everything she can with her son’s name on it.

“I’m here to cheer on my son, Tatum Bethune. This is his first NFL game Monday night lights,” Shavon said.

The 49ers’ first game comes a little over a week since first-draft pick Ricky Pearsall was shot in an attempted robbery in San Francisco’s Union Square.

The robbery sparked commentary from city officials pledging to hold the shooter accountable and up safety measures.

The Niners’ season debut also comes amid a controversial tailgating policy.

The new policy, dubbed directed parking, would allow parking lot attendants to direct cars to the next available parking spot. The team said it hopes the new policy will help with “reducing congestion, improved safety, enhanced accessibility, time savings and improved traffic.”

Since the policy’s announcement, over 3,600 fans have signed a Change.org petition saying the policy would make it harder for groups to park near one another and that its implementation is a sign of poor communication between the Niners and fans,

Despite the recent events and controversies, Bethune’s family said they plan to be the loudest cheerers at Monday’s game.

“Tomorrow, I am going to be the loudest cheerer for Tatum,” said Ayden Smith, Bethune’s cousin.

Andrew Mendez and Robert Handa contributed to this report.

The San Francisco Giants have played better in their last two games and still hold a glimmer of hope in the National League Wild Card. Still, it’s unlikely that the Giants will make the playoffs, barring anything drastic happening over the next three weeks.

As the season comes to a close, the front office needs to assess the campaign. While there’s been some good, much of the year has been a disappointment.

The front office can blame their injuries, lack of luck, or anything else, but the fact of the matter is that San Francisco wasn’t good enough.

That seemed obvious a few months ago. However, they were still in the mix to make the postseason via the Wild Card, so they didn’t sell at the deadline.

Does the Giants front office regret that a month and a half later? Perhaps so.

With Blake Snell, the chances of returning a top-100 prospect, or even two, seemed likely at the time. Prices at the deadline were outrageous, and if he had been dealt, there wouldn’t have been much debate that he would’ve been the best pitcher moved.

A missed opportunity, especially if he leaves in free agency this winter, which many around the industry expect.

An issue, even a big one, that Kerry Miller of Bleacher Report believes San Francisco “wishes” they could go back and fix.

“There were rumors ahead of the deadline that the G-Men might be willing to move Snell and his massive player option for 2025, but it didn’t happen. Since the beginning of July, he has made 11 starts with a 1.42 ERA, including a no-hitter against the Reds. Some lot of good it’s done the Giants, though, who have played .500 baseball since the beginning of July and are now as good as dead in the wild-card race.”

Hindsight is 20/20, and obviously, if the Giants knew they’d struggle after the deadline, they wouldn’t have decided to keep him.

At the time, it seemed to be the right thing to do. The rotation was getting healthy, they were playing better, and they had the veteran talent to do the job. Instead, they fell on their faces.

With the offseason approaching, a lot needs to be done. After not moving Snell, hopefully, one of those things is bringing him back.

It remains to be seen, but his free agency will be one of the more intriguing situations around baseball this winter.

The San Francisco Giants were aggressive during the offseason leading into the 2024 MLB campaign. One of the biggest additions was ace starting pitcher, Blake Snell.

As a Scott Boras client, Snell was expected to land a massive multi-year deal. But, nothing of the sort materialized, as the lefty settled for a two-year, $62 million deal with the Giants.

While the contract was not what he was hoping for, Snell did everything in his power to maximize his earnings. His dominant performance was recognized by Tim Kelly of Bleacher Report in a recent piece.

The MLB writer shared some of the best seasons a player has ever had entering free agency. Snell’s 2023 performance with the San Diego Padres landed on his list.

“Snell went 14-9 with MLB-best marks in terms of ERA (2.25), ERA+ (187) and H/9 (5.8) for the San Diego Padres in 2023, winning the NL Cy Young Award. Paired with the AL Cy Young Award Snell won as a member of the Tampa Bay Rays in 2018, Snell became the seventh pitcher in MLB history to win the honor in both leagues,” wrote Kelly.

That certainly sounds like the kind of production that would lead to a player cashing in big-time as a free agent. But, there were knocks against Snell despite taking home the most prestigious pitching award in baseball.

Outside of his Cy Young Award-winning seasons, when he threw 180 and 180.2 innings, 129.1 innings is his high in any other campaign. He hasn’t made an All-Star team any other year, either.

While Snell has the stuff of an ace, he routinely wasn’t working deep into games. With the reputation of not being a workhorse, it was hard for some teams to justify paying him as a top-of-the-rotation player despite his skill set categorizing him as such.

It will be interesting to see if Snell can turn his 2024 season into a bigger contract this upcoming winter. He is expected to exercise the opt-out in his contract and hit free agency again.

Once again, his production has warranted a lucrative deal. He has been incredible since a second stint on the injured list, anchoring the team’s rotation along with Logan Webb.

Overall in 2024, Snell has made 17 starts and thrown 87 innings, including his first career complete game shutout. He has 116 strikeouts and a 3.62 ERA, performing as one of the best pitchers in the Major Leagues since July 9th.