Nick Bosa Wins the 49ers' Garry Niver Award
Nick Bosa won the San Francisco 49ers' Garry Niver Award for professionalism and cooperation with the media.
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00:00 Nick Bosa is this year's winner of the Gary Niver Award.
00:04 And it's something that the San Francisco Bay chapter,
00:09 the Pro Football Writers of America vote on.
00:11 I'm in that chapter.
00:12 I voted on it along with Matt Maioco, Matt Barrows,
00:16 Cam Inman, Nick Wagner, Jennifer Lee Chan, all of them.
00:21 Josh DuBow, I voted for Nick Bosa.
00:24 Nick Bosa won.
00:25 And what the award is for is the player who is the most professional and
00:30 generous in his dealings with the media.
00:33 And I'd never voted for Bosa before.
00:36 I felt like he took his media game to the next level this year.
00:39 He just got paid.
00:41 And what made him so professional is he's always the first one to talk the first
00:45 day of the week.
00:46 And on Wednesday, when you first walk into the locker room,
00:49 he's at his locker ready to get it done.
00:51 Really appreciate that.
00:53 So he talks in the middle of the week.
00:54 He talks after wins.
00:55 He talks after losses.
00:57 And my judge of who the best is, is who is the most honest after losses.
01:02 And it's always Nick.
01:04 He's also honest all the time.
01:06 What do you see from this quarterback?
01:07 How are you gonna defend him?
01:07 He'll pretty much lay out the game plan.
01:09 Why'd you lose the game?
01:11 He'll explain it.
01:12 He won't say, it's just execution.
01:15 Like to me, Fred Warner talks in coach speak.
01:17 He talks like D'Amico or Robert Sala or Steve Wilks.
01:21 Like, we got this.
01:22 We got this.
01:24 Maybe you do.
01:24 Maybe you don't.
01:25 Nick Bosa just lays it out how it is.
01:27 And I really appreciate that about him.
01:28 So that's why I voted for him.
01:30 What do you think of the way Nick Bosa talks to the media?
01:32 I love it.
01:34 He's very straightforward.
01:36 You know, when they lose, you can feel like,
01:40 you feel like he's more disappointed from a professional standpoint,
01:44 more than an emotional standpoint.
01:45 That's a good distinction.
01:47 Which you love.
01:49 When you are watching players and they lose games,
01:54 I think that players kind of make the mistake, and coaches too,
02:00 that we want an emotional reaction out of them after a loss,
02:05 rather than the unadulterated truth.
02:09 Like, that is way more cathartic than you, like, falling on your ego
02:15 and trying to act like you're more disappointed than we are.
02:18 And then you have people that chill and say, you guys got to calm down.
02:23 Nobody's beating themselves up more than the Niners are.
02:26 And it's just like, when you talk to Nick,
02:28 you honestly feel like a man who makes a lot of money
02:33 is not pleased with his performance.
02:36 There you go.
02:37 That's what you feel.
02:38 And not just his performance, but the team's performance.
02:40 Like, he really talks like, look, look, look,
02:44 I make a lot more money than the coach, OK?
02:46 I make a lot more money than Kyle.
02:48 I make a lot more money than Brock.
02:50 This is my team for the foreseeable future.
02:53 And I'm going to talk that way.
02:54 Good.
02:55 You do have the license to talk that way.
02:57 He knows exactly how to do it and how not to go too far.
03:00 He's perfect.
03:01 He's great.
03:02 Yeah, and that's what I get from Nick.
03:04 I feel as though that there's an accountability in how he speaks
03:09 to the media, where he's not necessarily trying to be your friend,
03:14 but he is using you as a conduit to get the message out.
03:18 And that's how media should be used, right?
03:20 And a lot of times what we see is we see a lot of personality traits
03:25 juxtaposed with the media trying to do their jobs.
03:28 So sometimes you see passive-aggressive correspondence with the media.
03:33 Other times you may see guys stonewalling the media.
03:36 Other times you may see guys where the only time--
03:38 Defensive.
03:40 Yeah.
03:40 Defensive.
03:42 Yeah, sometimes there's--
03:43 Combative.
03:45 Right.
03:46 Sometimes there's times where the only time you can get some of these guys
03:51 to actually talk is if you are kind of like too complimentary,
03:55 or you do have to stroke them a little bit.
03:57 And one of the reasons why I feel like this is such an apt award for Nick
04:03 is that he's steak and potatoes, man.
04:05 No frills.
04:06 He's not really going to give-- he's not going to really
04:09 want your emotional validation, nor does he seek it.
04:14 And the reason why that speaks volumes to a lot of people
04:18 is because that's what normal people have to do.
04:21 That's what 99.9% of the people that are in this chat
04:24 have to do and get up and go to work every day.
04:28 And your boss doesn't care about how you screwed up.
04:30 He just wants to know why.
04:31 And that's the reality of a lot of people's lives.
04:34 And that's why when you listen to Nick speak,
04:39 you don't mind hearing that he makes the money that he makes
04:42 because he doesn't flaunt-- and then another thing, too,
04:45 is that you really do love his persona.
04:47 Like, he doesn't flaunt his money.
04:49 He's not flaunting his status in the league.
04:51 You could tell that he's more or less galvanized by the standard
04:55 he has to keep, more or less than the trappings and the privileges
04:59 that his position gives him.
05:01 And it's good.
05:04 I'm glad that he got it.
05:05 He deserves it.
05:06 See, I think this sort of cements him as the voice of the team.
05:09 To me, I think he is the voice of the locker room.
05:12 You could say it's Fred Warner, but there's
05:15 a difference in how they talk.
05:16 Fred Warner is more rah-rah to me.
05:18 Yeah.
05:19 Rah-rah co-speak, whereas Nick Bosa is the truth.
05:24 That's the way I look at it.
05:25 He's the truth.
05:27 I agree.
05:27 The same with Eric Armstead.
05:29 I feel like Eric Armstead, you have to kind of approach
05:35 the throne just to get him to talk.
05:38 You have to almost bring up the fact
05:41 that he's the oldest 49er here.
05:43 Or you have to always have the virtue signal towards his
05:47 leadership of being an OG.
05:49 And then he'll open up and give you a little bit more.
05:52 But one thing that I do like about Nick
05:54 is that every time that I see when he's spoken to in the media,
06:00 you never see anybody warming him up.
06:04 People just ask him straight questions right away,
06:06 and he gives straight answers.
06:08 Yeah, I don't need your help.
06:09 Don't prep me.
06:09 Yeah.
06:10 I know what I'm saying.
06:11 Exactly.
06:11 I know what I want to say.
06:13 Yeah.
06:13 Let's talk about some other guys on the team
06:15 that didn't win the award, but maybe other people
06:17 would think would get some votes.
06:19 One person I didn't put in my top three.
06:22 My top three were one, Bosa, two, Trent Williams,
06:28 and three, Treverius Ward.
06:30 Four, OK.
06:31 Those are your top three votes.
06:33 Those guys are always available in the locker room.
06:35 You can go up to Treverius Ward on a Wednesday,
06:37 a Thursday, a Friday.
06:38 What's up?
06:39 He's sitting there.
06:39 What's up?
06:39 What do you want to talk about?
06:41 Trent Williams isn't that way, but he's
06:42 there after every game.
06:43 He's there every Thursday.
06:44 He's there.
06:46 And they're so engaging.
06:50 I really like both of them.
06:51 Kittle is engaging, too.
06:52 Kittle's there every Thursday, too.
06:54 Kittle talks a lot.
06:55 Kittle's really smart.
06:57 Kittle's good.
06:58 Kittle's good.
06:59 You know what I mean?
07:03 He's good.
07:03 Say it one more time.
07:07 There's just something--
07:08 I don't know what it is.
07:10 He's good.
07:13 I don't know what it is about-- so here's Kittle.
07:15 Every time he comes to the podium, first thing he says
07:17 is, howdy.
07:19 Howdy.
07:20 Howdy.
07:20 He has a persona.
07:22 That's the thing.
07:23 So Bosa isn't doing a persona when he talks to me.
07:26 It's just Nick Bosa.
07:27 Yeah.
07:28 Kittle is a whole persona.
07:31 You know how they used to talk about he was Terrell Owens,
07:33 and then it was T.O.?
07:34 Kittle needs a new name because he's not George Kittle
07:36 anymore.
07:37 He's GK.
07:39 He's something else.
07:40 And he's very charming.
07:42 He's great.
07:44 He's wonderful.
07:46 It doesn't feel like it's really him anymore.
07:49 It's his brand.
07:51 It's how he presents himself.
07:55 You can definitely see it in some of his--
07:59 this is one thing that I find hilarious
08:01 about some of these guys.
08:03 And it's because you can see he'll have conversations
08:07 where it's like, this audience deserves my real side.
08:11 So let me calm down and wear sweats with pastel colors.
08:17 Or sometimes he's like, this audience
08:19 deserves my funny side.
08:20 Let's be a comedian today.
08:22 It's like--
08:23 Yeah.
08:24 It's like, da, da, da, da, da.
08:25 You're pretty funny.
08:27 You're trying really hard to be sort of funny.
08:29 I feel it.
08:31 I understand.
08:31 It's intoxicating, honestly.
08:33 You know, I went to the--
08:34 I was at the Commanders game.
08:36 He's got his own little corner, like the Kid-A-Lets.
08:41 Like, you know what I'm saying?
08:42 So you know what I'm saying? - That's true.
08:43 His family's there. - The Kiddle Bells.
08:45 That's true.
08:45 That's true.
08:46 Yeah.
08:47 Who else could have been in the running?
08:50 For media?
08:52 Yeah, Purdy isn't there yet.
08:53 Purdy's good.
08:54 Purdy's good.
08:55 He doesn't answer-- he doesn't duck any question.
08:58 And he'll win it one day.
08:59 He'll win it one day.
09:01 He needs to find a little bit more of his voice, though.
09:03 Like, have a little more fun with it, Brock.
09:05 Have a little more fun. - I got some guys.
09:06 I got some guys, some runners-ups
09:08 that I feel like I've heard them talk,
09:10 but I don't hear them talk enough.
09:12 And I feel like with a little bit more coaxing,
09:16 they're going to find their stride.
09:18 One, Brandon Ayoub.
09:19 At first, Brandon Ayoub didn't even like talking to the media.
09:22 He's gotten a little bit better.
09:24 He can grow.
09:25 He can grow.
09:27 But he has grown a lot.
09:28 He's got a lot more confident.
09:30 Yes, yes.
09:31 So Brandon Ayoub is one that could actually get better.
09:33 He's probably 25.
09:35 When he's 30, it could be a whole different story.
09:37 OK.
09:38 Also, I think I like hearing from Talanoa Hufunga.
09:43 Oh, no question.
09:45 If he started talking more, I think
09:47 he could be a really good spokesman for the team.
09:49 I agree.
09:50 I really like how honest and succinct he is.
09:54 And you know what?
09:54 He's very personable on a human level.
09:57 I really like Talanoa.
09:59 Jair Brown is the young Fred Warner.
10:01 If he actually gets a foothold as a good player,
10:03 you're going to hear him.
10:04 He talks like a vet right now.
10:07 (upbeat music)
10:09 (upbeat music)