San Francisco 49ers fans in the East Bay have perfectly summed up the start of the team’s season with their outdoor Halloween display.
The setup on the front lawn of the home on Clinton Avenue in Alameda features a long line of injured 49ers stars, all in skeleton form, waiting to be examined in the blue medical tent, just like how players actually get checked out when they get hurt on game day. On the table in the makeshift tent is Fred Warner. In line is Brandon Aiyuk with a walker. Nick Bosa, Ricky Pearsall and George Kittle are all on crutches. Brock Purdy is sitting in a wheelchair.
The creators of the display, Casey De Shong and his wife, always put out decorations for Halloween, with the past couple years being 49er themed.
“As we’re coming into Halloween this year, we really couldn’t figure out a theme, and then it just kind of presented itself,” De Shong said. “After the first game, everybody started getting injured. And then the second game, more people are injured. And then suddenly half our team is on the injured reserve list.”
De Shong said his wife came up with the idea and he executed the operation.
“Wish we didn’t have to have that theme this year, but certainly that’s where we are,” De Shong said.
To add insult to injury, the display features a skeleton of former kicker Jake Moody, who was waived earlier this season due to his struggles, heading out of town with a suitcase in hand.
On the bright side, there is a skeleton of a knee brace-wearing Mac Jones evading a Seattle Seahawks defender and Christian McCaffrey stiff-arming another into the grass.
Warner and Bosa, San Francisco’s defensive superstars, are done for the season with ankle and knee injuries, respectively. Aiyuk and Pearsall are currently out as they rehab knee injuries. Purdy (toe) and Kittle (hamstring) have been sidelined in recent weeks.
“If there’s any 49ers that are watching this, please, we don’t need any more injured 49ers,” De Shong said. “Please, everybody get healthy and get better.”