Controversial 49ers star Brandon Aiyuk has seemingly taken a vile shot at head coach Kyle Shanahan’s car crash as he continues to pursue a move away from San Francisco.
Aiyuk, who recently went AWOL from the 49ers amid his desire to be traded away, has sparked concern in recent weeks after firing his long-time agent and vowing to tank his own career.
The 28-year-old also faced backlash after appearing to feed raw chicken to his two dogs and kick one of them in the head in a concerning video, just days after he dared California police to come and get him following a warrant put out for his arrest.
Now Aiyuk has made light of Shanahan’s recent car crash, which left the 46-year-old with multiple injuries. He broke his nose, three ribs, his hand, required more than 40 stitches in his face and suffered a severe concussion.
Earlier on Tuesday, Shanahan admitted to a small group of 49ers reporters that he was to blame for the car crash in northern California on July 14 after briefly looking away from the road to pick up his cell phone.
And Aiyuk, who hasn’t hidden his desire to join the Washington Commanders, quickly responded with two Instagram stories that were clearly interpreted as making light of Shanahan’s terrifying crash.
Brandon Aiyuk has seemingly taken a vile shot at head coach Kyle Shanahan’s car crash
Aiyuk posted two Instagram stories that were clearly interpreted as making light of the crash
The first read: ‘You can’t win the race if you crash out’. He then followed it up with another post that read: ‘Keep yo head up and stay in yo own lane. You gone win.’
Shanahan, who shares three children – son Carter and daughters Stella and Lexi – with Mandy, told reporters that his cell phone slid off his lap and fell between the seats while he was driving.
‘I was going 20 miles an hour,’ Shanahan said. ‘I was not on my phone, but I dropped my phone and it was stuck in my seats.
‘It’s on my lap and it slid off. And I went down to look for it and took my eyes off the road for two seconds.
‘As I was coming up, the airbags hit me in my face, and they broke my nose and then they said the visor really gashed me. I took my eyes off the road looking for my phone, and my car veered into someone.
‘It’s one of those roads where there’s no forgiveness. When I hit her, the impact was just so, I’ll just never forget how violent it was.’
A clerical error in the local law enforcement’s database had attributed the crash to the female driver of the SUV, prompting Shanahan to clear it up. ‘I hit her. I don’t know why it was reported that way [on the collision report database]. The police report doesn’t say that.
‘It just crushed me hearing the girl get blamed for it. I’m just lucky that I survived, that she didn’t get hurt and that I didn’t lose my eye.’
Aiyuk has played just seven games in the last two seasons after tearing his ACL in 2024
The 49ers’ general manager, John Lynch, told reporters on Saturday that he expects Shanahan to be healthy enough to coach the team in their opening game against the Los Angeles Rams in Melbourne on September 10.
‘The timeline kind of takes care of itself. He’s got to meet certain markers,’ Lynch told reporters on Saturday. ‘But I think the expectation is that long before that he’ll be better.’
One man who will not be in Melbourne, however, is Aiyuk as he continues to make himself less and less appealing to potential NFL suitors.
He recently accused the NFL Players Association of starting a ‘smear campaign’ against him in another explosive rant on social media.
The wide receiver shared an alleged conversation he had with the organization after telling them he didn’t want to appeal the 49ers’ voiding of his guarantees.
‘They was like “BA we’re taking 30 mil out of your contract..” I was like “okay..”‘ he wrote. ‘[NFLPA] was like “do you want me to appeal it and try to get it back??”
‘I was like “nah I’m just gone go to DC” – They was like “okay.. we’re gonna start a smear campaign to try and tarnish your NIL”‘.
He added: ‘I was like “okay.. that’s gone make me sad but I’m still going to DC” – NFLPA was like “zipped-mouth emoji”‘
The wide receiver has sparked concern with some of his behavior online in recent weeks
Aiyuk has been lashing out on social media and was recently the subject of an arrest warrant over a December YouTube post purportedly showing him driving a Cadillac at over 100mph.
It was around that time the 49ers placed him on the reserve list with a ‘left squad’ designation as Shanahan admitted he had not seen him ‘in forever.’
He’s since fired his long-time agent, which he revealed in the online rant while daring police to arrest him.
Aiyuk’s career was undeniably impressive from 2020, when he was a third-round pick by the Niners out of Arizona State, and 2024, when he signed a four-year, $120million extension only to tear his ACL and MCL.
He’d go on to miss the entire 2025 season and has since ordered the team to trade him, while demand for his services has yet to materialize.
