49ers Shanahan Disappointed Stands Will Remain Empty At Levi's Stadium
SANTA CLARA (CBS SF) -- Up until last Sunday's win over the Los Angeles Rams, the San Francisco 49ers have simply been lackluster when playing at home in front of the empty Levi's Stadium stands.
Certainly a long list of injuries have played a role, but they were missing their usual spark in losses to Arizona and the dismal Philadelphia Eagles and Miami Dolphins.
So when California health officials announced on Tuesday that fans would be allowed to return to the stands in limited numbers for sporting events if the county has reached the Orange Tier of the state's COVID-19 reopening scale, the announcement was warmly greeted at 49ers headquarters.
Santa Clara County, where Levi's Stadium is located, was recently nestled into the Orange Tier. But the 49ers' joy was short lived. The Santa Clara County Department of Public Health announced that the county had no plans to reopen either sporting stadiums or theme parks.
"We must all continue to prioritize reducing the spread of COVID-19, creating conditions that will allow our businesses, schools, and other community organizations to operate safely," said a statement from the county's public health department. "As we see COVID-19 rates rising in states across the U.S., and as we enter the winter months when risk will increase, we cannot take chances with the health and wellbeing of our community and forfeit the many sacrifices that have been made to slow the spread of COVID-19."
On Wednesday, head coach Kyle Shanahan couldn't hide his disappointment during a Zoom call with local reporters.
"Not having the fans in your stadium is a huge deal," he said. "It's something that most of the league's had to deal with this year. It seems like most teams aren't going to have to deal with it as much going forward."
"Our fans are a huge part of, they're a huge part of every team, but I feel it a little bit different here than everywhere else I've been," he added. "Just the feeling they brought our team last year and hopefully that we did the same, I think really changed this building. Thought we earned a lot of that and it's been tough not to have them this year and just disappointing. I'm real disappointed for them, our families."
Shanahan said he hoped at least the players and coaching staff's families might be allowed to attend games in the near future.
"I understand the issues and stuff," he said. "I just hope that we can eventually figure out something. I know my family is allowed to go to restaurants right now and sit inside and socially distance there while watching the game. So, hopefully, eventually we can figure out a way to do that in our outdoor stadium where we can at least get some people like they are in the restaurants and stuff or worst case, at least our families."
