I’m going to do something I don’t normally do and drop essentially everything I learned in journalism school in the name of stream-of-consciousness thoughts on the 2025 San Francisco 49ers (still did the full team name, word to Sac State J-School) after their divisional playoff loss to the Seattle Seahawks (he did it again).

This 49ers season had no business being fun.

The Nick Bosa injury in Week 3 felt like the end of their Super Bowl hopes. The Fred Warner injury in Week 6 dashed basically everything that was left of any optimism about their chances of doing something this year. It had 2020/2024 vibes, and that was miserable.

But this season, despite a blowout loss to Seattle on Saturday, was not miserable. It was super duper fun (analytics, catch the wave), and it’s easy to forget that matters.

I’m the managing editor here at Niners Wire. I also host a podcast called Candlestick Chronicles. Both are sources of income for me which turned a thing I’ve loved my entire life (the 49ers) into a job. Objectivity becomes a necessity and fandom wanes into something different than the thing that once caused the beginning of the end of a long-term relationship to end because the person thought it would be funny to put on highlights of the 49ers losing the Super Bowl only two days after the game.

However, there’s still part of me that cares deeply about the 49ers. I grew up with my mom as a 49ers season ticket holder. I went to games at Candlestick and at Levi’s Stadium. My first core football memory is watching the Terrell Owens catch against the Green Bay Packers in the 1998 wild card game. I was at Candlestick for the 2011 divisional playoff game against the New Orleans Saints (anotha one), and the next week against the New York Giants (anotha one). I watched the 2012 divisional playoff win over the Green Bay Packers (he’s on fire!) at the San Francisco airport while I waited for my mom and grandfather, who were at the game, to come pick me up. We celebrated in the car the whole way home.

There are so many other memories in the bank that have helped shape me as a sports fan and pushed me to get into the profession I currently hold. They’re part of me, which helps put the 49ers’ loss to the Seahawks on Saturday into perspective.

Sometimes in the crush of the news cycle and trying to provide objective analysis of what’s happening, the fun of football and the reason I love the sport gets lost. This season helped me remember it.

San Francisco had no business being 12-5 and playing for the No. 1 seed in Week 18 of the regular season. They had no business going to the playoffs. They had no business winning a playoff game on the road in Philadelphia. And while a 41-6 loss in Seattle is a, um, suboptimal conclusion to the season, it doesn’t erase the ride.