49ers Coach Kyle Shanahan Voices Opinion on the Brock Purdy ‘Game Manager’ Debate

There has been an ongoing debate regarding San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy this season regarding his play—is the former Mr. Irrelevant a true star, or simply a “game manager” for a team that is full of talent elsewhere.

Coach Kyle Shanahan addressed this narrative at Super Bowl LVIII media night on Monday and twisted the term to make it have more of a positive meaning than negative.

“It’s such a weird conversation to hear the whole world talking about this,” Shanahan told NFL Network's Michael Robinson. “In my opinion, there’s no such thing as a great quarterback if you can’t be a game manager. So, I don’t get how being a system quarterback or a game manager is a negative. 

“Like, the job of a quarterback is to manage the game, and it is to run the system. The system is what you work on all week. That’s what the O-line works on, that's what your five eligibles work on—that’s everything. And at quarterback, if you want to be great, you better be able to run that system and you better be able to manage the game.”

San Francisco legend Jerry Rice dismissed this narrative last week when he was asked about Purdy’s young career. He called him an “elite quarterback.” Additionally, Super Bowl LVIII opposing coach, Kansas City Chiefs’ Andy Reid, gave Purdy some high praise ahead of the championship game.