Why Dre Greenlaw left 49ers for Broncos in free agency

Why Dre Greenlaw left 49ers for Broncos in free agency

Two weeks ago, as the hours ticked away on a decision that’d shape his NFL future, Dre Greenlaw’s adopted father, Brian Early, reminded him of the first time he brought him to a water park.

It was a year or two after the Earlys took in Greenlaw from a foster home in Fayetteville, Ark., and the young man was still getting used to the concept of structure. He was wild back then, as old high school coach Daryl Patton recalled. And on that summer day, the boy climbed up to ride the slides at White Water in Branson, Mo., screaming bloody murder as the current rushed him down.

The screaming wore him out. On the two-hour drive back home, Greenlaw conked out in the backseat. Early’s kids, Avery and Cameron, fell asleep on Greenlaw’s shoulders.

And Greenlaw, dozing happily, was wearing a Denver Broncos jersey.

“Do you remember that?” Early asked him about 12 years later.

“Dude,” grown-up Greenlaw responded, “I do remember that.”

Greenlaw had called Early for advice shortly after NFL free agency erupted in March, two situations in front of him. The 49ers wanted him to return after a standout six-year run at linebacker. General manager John Lynch and head coach Kyle Shanahan, in fact, had flown to Greenlaw’s home in Texas to check in with him, multiple sources with knowledge of the situation told The Denver Post.

San Francisco, eventually, had outbid the Broncos, who’d honed in on Greenlaw to revamp the heart of their defense. But the 49ers’ brass only flew out — and their offer only increased — after the Broncos had already come after Greenlaw, sources said.

“That was, like, a last-ditch effort,” Early told The Post.

The Earlys adopted a kid, way back when, who was slow to trust, caught in a foster system that left him in a constant state of flux. That never quite changed. Greenlaw, Early said, has always been fiercely loyal to his teammates and those loyal to him, harboring deep bonds with Shanahan and fellow linebacker Fred Warner in San Francisco.

Future Broncos linebacker Dre Greenlaw, at 15 years old, sleeping on the way back from a family trip to White Water in Branson, Mo. (Photo provided by Brian Early)

But he was close, too, with 49ers-turned-Broncos Talanoa Hufanga and D.J. Jones. And as the 49ers parted ways with a slew of pieces in free agency, Greenlaw sensed an opportunity for a “fresh start” with a stacked defense in Denver, agent J.R. Carroll told The Post.

As Early reminded Greenlaw of that serendipitous day at the water park, torn between home in San Francisco and a future in Denver, the linebacker sent his adopted dad a picture of himself at 7 years old. His Little League team was the Broncos. And there Greenlaw was in the photo, even younger, wearing another Broncos jersey.

“He’s like, ‘Man,’” Early recalled, “‘I feel like it’s destiny.’”

•••

Source: Paradise Post