It had been 790 days between the departures of CJ Beathard, quarterback of the San Francisco 49ers, who was going to Saturday’s game against the Arizona Cardinals. In the meantime, Beathard endured the pain of a lifetime.
Earlier this week, Beathard watched the one-year anniversary of the death of his younger brother, Clayton, who had been stabbed at the door of a bar in Nashville, Tennessee, on December 21, 2019. On the same day of that painful birthday, Beathard knew he would start against the Cardinals.
On Saturday, Beathard, backed by a suffocating defense and a professional performance from runner Jeff Wilson Jr., led the Niners to a stunning, cathartic 20-12 victory over Arizona at Glendale’s State Farm Stadium.
“It means more than I can really express in words,” Beathard said. “Everything I’ve experienced last year and that was the anniversary of my brother’s death, is just one of those things that can’t be expressed in words … You can’t write any different script. I could choose it manually to follow the path I took. “
While Beathard, 27, was looking for the best way to explain his emotions after going 13 of 22 for 182 yards and three touchdowns, the meaning of Saturday’s win could be found in his haircut and jacket that carried.
On Thursday, Niners coach Kyle Shanahan noted that Beathard has had his hair cut for the first time in a year. When asked why he chose to cut it this week, Beathard said he had been growing it because his brother liked long hair, so he wanted to continue for it.
When he chose to cut it this week, Beathard acknowledged it was part of his healing process.
“He was telling me,‘ Okay, I’ve been cutting it for a year now, ’Beathard said.
Standing on the podium with freshly cut brown hair, Beathard he was wearing a black jacket with the word “King” emblazoned on the right and an image of Clayton on the left. It was a gift from Pastor Clayton near where he went to Long Island University, a gift that Beathard said reduced him to tears upon receiving it.
“It means a lot to me,” Beathard said. “First of all, the king is our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and he has a lot of irony with me because my little brother’s second surname is King. It was Clayton. King Beathard was his full name. And my other brother , Tucker, dedicated his album to Clay and called himself “the king”.
Beathard hadn’t started any games since Oct. 28, 2018, which happened to be an 18-15 loss against the Cardinals in the same building where the teams met on Saturday.
It was Beathard’s final start after five straight losses to replace Jimmy Garoppolo, who broke his ACL in Week 3 of that 2018 season. Nick Mullens replaced Beathard the rest of this season and won the No. 2 spot behind Garoppolo throughout 2019 and also this season.
But with Garoppolo with an ankle injury and Mullens landing on the injured reserve this week due to an elbow problem, Beathard returned to the mix against the Cardinals as the Niners had no choice.
That Beathard was able to mount such a performance after a devastating year did not surprise Shanahan and Beathard’s teammates.
“You could feel it during practice week, he came in on Wednesday when he got his reps so ready to start,” Shanahan said. “I think you could also tell how much they played with him. I’m very impressed with CJ and very happy with him today.”
Beathard will be an unrestricted free agent after the season, something he won’t worry about until the 6-9 Niners make it to next weekend’s final against the Seattle Seahawks.
For now, he leaves an indelible mark on his teammates in a season that would otherwise be in San Francisco.
“I’ve always been so inspired by CJ,” winger Kyle Juszczyk said. “This guy’s kind of shredding, regardless of what happened to him and the circumstances. This guy has gone through a lot of things in the last two years. I felt like he was being judged unfairly during his first two years in the league. and how hard it was was to play as a rookie and a sophomore with the roster we had at the time.
“When she had the chance like she did tonight, I thought I was going to run with her. I’m sure I could tell you all the plays she’d like to play better. But I’ll just tell you the guy inspires us so much and we are very happy to go and act for him. “