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The 49ers release former All-Pro safety after three seasons

This is a bit of a surprise.
Grant Cohn|
Sep 9, 2024; Santa Clara, California, USA; San Francisco 49ers safety George Odum (30) celebrates in the fourth quarter against the New York Jets at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: David Gonzales-Imagn Images
Sep 9, 2024; Santa Clara, California, USA; San Francisco 49ers safety George Odum (30) celebrates in the fourth quarter against the New York Jets at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: David Gonzales-Imagn Images | David Gonzales-Imagn Images

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San Francisco 49ers

This is a bit of a surprise.

The 49ers just announced that they have released one of their longest-tenured defensive backs after placing him on the Non-Football Injury List this Friday.

The defensive back is veteran George Odum, who had been on the team since 2022. Odum started only two games in three seasons for the 49ers, and when he played, their defense struggled. But the 49ers didn't sign him to play defense. Instead, he was one of their core special-teams players. That's how he earned an All-Pro selection in 2020 when he played for the Indianapolis Colts.

Odum will turn 32 in November, so his best days are behind him. And it's no surprise that the 49ers have released him, considering a few months ago they fired the special teams coach who brought him to the 49ers -- Brian Schneider. Odum's time in Santa Clara coincided with Schneider's tenure.

Now, the 49ers' special teams coach is Brant Boyer, who has no ties to Odum. That's why Boyer brought in his own core special teamers -- Luke Gifford, Chazz Suratt, Siran Neal, Dallis Flowers, Thomas Morstead, Greg Joseph and Jon Weeks. In retrospect, Odum probably should have seen this day coming. Perhaps he'll get picked up by the Washington Commanders, who recently signed his former coach, Brian Schneider, as their assistant special teams coordinator.

In three seasons with the 49ers, Odum recorded 50 tackles and five pass breakups. He also was a second-team All Pro in 2022.

He will be missed.

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Grant Cohn
GRANT COHN

Grant Cohn has covered the San Francisco 49ers daily since 2011. He spent the first nine years of his career with the Santa Rosa Press Democrat where he wrote the Inside the 49ers blog and covered famous coaches and athletes such as Jim Harbaugh, Colin Kaepernick and Patrick Willis. In 2012, Inside the 49ers won Sports Blog of the Year from the Peninsula Press Club. In 2020, Cohn joined FanNation and began writing All49ers. In addition, he created a YouTube channel which has become the go-to place on YouTube to consume 49ers content. Cohn's channel typically generates roughly 3.5 million viewers per month, while the 49ers' official YouTube channel generates roughly 1.5 million viewers per month. Cohn live streams almost every day and posts videos hourly during the football season. Cohn is committed to asking the questions that 49ers fans want answered, and providing the most honest and interactive coverage in the country. His loyalty is to the reader and the viewer, not the team or any player or coach. Cohn is a new-age multimedia journalist with an old-school mentality, because his father is Lowell Cohn, the legendary sports columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle from 1979 to 1993. The two have a live podcast every Tuesday. Grant Cohn grew up in Oakland and studied English Literature at UCLA from 2006 to 2010. He currently lives in Oakland with his wife.

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