Jesse Reed
The San Francisco 49ers have been big losers so far in 2017, both in terms of on the field production and the amount of people actually showing up for games. On that note, the franchise sent out the most depressing questionnaire to fans this week, asking them how important winning is to their game day experience.
It’s a laughable question. If you have to ask, then you’re not doing it right.
So it’s no wonder rookie general manager John Lynch, who can’t be blamed (yet) for what the team’s been unable to do on the field, is distancing himself from the ridiculous survey.
“Someone brought that to my attention and that’s not something I want reflected in this organization,” said Lynch in an appearance on KNBR Friday. “There’s different aspects of an organization. I can promise you this: It didn’t come from my desk. There’s a lot of layers to this organization. I don’t know where that came from. I’m not a big believer in surveys myself. I think you put out good work and people come. And you build it and people come. Yes, winning is everything to us. It’s everything to me. And I’ll just leave it at that.”
Lynch won a Super Bowl during his 15-year career and was one of the toughest competitors in the NFL when he played. He and head coach Kyle Shanahan were both signed to six-year contracts this offseason, and they’ll need plenty of time to clean up the mess left by former general manager Trent Baalke.
Winning cures everything. And losing keeps people from filling stadiums. Those are to elemental truths that drive professional sports.
Hopefully the 49ers don’t resort to sending out ridiculous surveys to determine what any child could deduce about why fans aren’t filing into Levi’s Stadium right now to watch their winless 49ers compete.
