For the most part, having a football career like Junior Seau’s has been a great thing for Fred Warner.
Like Seau, Warner lit up Friday night football games in north San Diego County, then went on to major-college success.
And it’s been ultra-impressive that Warner, 28, has made several All-Pro teams early in his NFL career with the San Francisco 49ers while playing the same position as the late Hall of Fame linebacker.
One more poetic touch: Warner and Seau’s son Tyler became friends and played together for San Marcos’ Mission Hills High School, then trained together on Oceanside’s beaches when Fred was ramping up his fitness for his BYU career and the 2018 NFL draft.
But there’s an unfulfilled quest to Seau’s NFL career that Warner would rather not experience himself.
Seau never won a Super Bowl in his 20 seasons in the NFL.
Rams running back Kyren Williams, middle, runs against San Francisco 49ers cornerback Deommodore Lenoir, left, and middle linebacker Fred Warner (54) during the second half of an NFL football game, Thursday, Oct. 2, 2025, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Jessie Alcheh)
Sadly, Warner’s latest bid for a Super Bowl-winning season ended Sunday when he suffered a broken and dislocated ankle in a Week 6 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
The sight of a prone Warner fitted for an air cast seemed to deflate the 49ers, who couldn’t keep the impressive Bucs (5-1) from running away.
ESPN reported that wide receiver Jauan Jennings said he had to take nausea medicine because he was “sick to his stomach” watching Warner taken away. Others expressed shock at seeing a player, who’d missed only one of 122 career starts with an injury, unable to continue playing
“It’s heartbreaking,” said left tackle Trent Williams. “Fred, not only is he one of the best linebackers to ever play the game, but he is the heart and soul of this team, not just the heart and soul of his defense. It’s one thing to see somebody go down and go to the blue (injury) tent, and nobody really knows what’s going on. When you see a guy that’s injured like that, it’s really like a gut punch. It’s really hard to continue the intensity and playing that game like it never happened.”
Warner had no chance to avoid the blow that ended his season. After a Niners safety made a tackle, he landed on Warner’s ankle.
Warner and fellow 49ers stars Williams and tight end George Kittle were mainstays on the two 49ers teams that reached a recent Super Bowl.
Running back Christian McCaffrey was a catalyst for the second of those NFC champions.
San Francisco 49ers linebacker Fred Warner (54) reacts after an NFL football game against the Los Angeles Rams, Thursday, Oct. 2, 2025, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Kyusung Gong)
This year, Warner’s intent was to team up with Williams, 37, Kittle, 32, and McCaffrey, 29, to defy skeptics who deemed the 49ers too old to go far.
The linebacker’s dream scenario was this: get to Super Bowl 60, which will be played this winter on the team’s home field in Santa Clara, and win the franchise’s sixth Lombardi Trophy and its first since the Niners won Super Bowl 29 in a rout of Seau’s Chargers.
Despite numerous injuries, this year’s Niners club started 4-1 before falling to 4-2 Sunday. But the team’s injury issues are severe. And with several NFC rivals boasting a better nucleus of young standouts, the Super Bowl outlook for next year doesn’t look bright, either.
For Warner to get that ring by 2029, the final season on his contract, it will seemingly take an A+ franchise rebuild by 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan and San Diego’s John Lynch, the general manager.
Warner not already having a Super Bowl ring — or two — by now can be explained in two words: Patrick Mahomes. In two Super Bowls against the 49ers, the 49ers led the Chiefs by 10 points in the fourth quarter. Mahomes rallied the Chiefs to victory in each game.
Seau had his own Super Bowl heartbreaker, seeing Eli Manning and the Giants win 17-14 as 12 1/2-point underdogs in the 42nd Super Bowl.
Seau was playing for the New England Patriots, who were 18-0 entering the game. The linebacker had two tackles that day. He was 39.
True greatness will get most NFL players inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Super Bowl wins? All bets are off.