Fred Warner fractured his right ankle during the 49ers game against the Buccaneers last week and is out for the season. The team was understandably devastated to lose their leader, but managed to bounce back from that loss to Tampa Bay and beat the Falcons on Sunday Night Football.

Warner, a four time All-Pro linebacker, was in attendance and it's very clear that he is remaining an important part of the team despite the fact that he can't be out of the field. The crowd loved seeing him during the game. Teammates drew inspiration from and paid tribute to him throughout the night.

Here are three videos showing just how much Warner affected the game despite watching in street clothes.

Fred Warner was the 49ers most vocal fan

Warner spent most of the game in a private box with his injured leg elevated. That didn't stop him from cheering and pumping his fists. Whenever Warner was shown during the game the crowd went wild. Tight end George Kittle noted during his postgame interview the team nearly had to use a silent count because the fans were so loud when he was shown on the scoreboard and called him an "aura farming king."

A classy locker room gesture

After the game Warner quickly made his way down to the locker room where he greeted every single teammate at the door.

"There is Fred Warner on the scooter there to welcome every guy into the locker room," said Mike Tirico. "Sometimes injured players aren't around a team, but Fred Warner's presence right around... this is so cool. After a week ago he had such a devastating injury."

Rookie pays tribute on and off the field

Tatum Bethune, a 2024 seventh round pick who made seven total tackles last season, lead the 49ers with 10 tackles as he took Warner's place in the lineup. Bethune, who wears the same No. 48 jersey Warner wore as a rookie before switching to No. 54, also showed up to his postgame press conference sporting a Warner throwback jersey.

“Actually shoutout to Dee Winters," said Bethune. "Two days before he told me he got a shirt for me. He wore the 54 jersey and it was a great idea for me to wear the 48 jersey his rookie year. I feel like the rest of this season, I'm just thinking about Fred. All this, everything we do the rest of this year is for him. He’s done a lot for us. He put his body on the line for us and we just want to show him that it ain’t go unnoticed. And we learned from it and we're gonna feed of it."

The story of the 49ers season has been guys getting injured and others stepping up. Mac Jones has been the most prominent as he has replaced Brock Purdy, but at 5-2 it's taken a number of backups to get to the top of the NFC West about a third of the way through the season. Bethune is the latest and no one is cheering louder than Fred Warner.


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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Three Videos That Prove Fred Warner is Still Leading the 49ers Despite His Injury.

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