The San Francisco 49ers have experienced a rash of retirements and free agent departures over the past few months. The surprising announcement by right tackle Anthony Davis that he is stepping away from the game was the latest in a string of bad news for the team.
Davis adds to the list of other recently retired players, including Justin Smith, Chris Borland and Patrick Willis. Additionally, the 49ers are now without Frank Gore, Chris Culliver, Ray McDonald, Michael Crabtree and Perrish Cox from a season ago.
Due to all of these losses, critics are already predicting a downfall for the 49ers this season. Defending his new team, veteran defensive tackle Darnell Dockett took to Twitter to address all of the naysayers:
Don't ask me about who's retired and what's going on with football this and that…. We will still WIN! Just watch! #savage #adversity
— DARNELL DOCKETT (@ddockett) June 6, 2015
The story in the end will be that much better!!!!
— DARNELL DOCKETT (@ddockett) June 6, 2015
Of course, it was natural that Dockett’s tweets received both negative and positive responses:
@ddockett The story will be the same, Seattle wins, you lose.
— 12th Man (@_InTheClink) June 6, 2015
https://twitter.com/kweg93/status/607294195666018304
The team has taken a huge hit as far as losing some of its top playmakers. It is worth noting that the players who are no longer with the team accounted for a combined 20 Pro-Bowl appearances during their tenures in San Francisco.
It won’t be too long before we see if Dockett and the 49ers can overcome what has been a disastrous offseason for the team. However, his optimism in light of what’s been happening around San Francisco is refreshing.
Photo: USA Today Sports