CMC emphatically declares his ‘love' for 49ers' unique locker room

CMC emphatically declares his ‘love' for 49ers' unique locker room originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

The 49ers' locker room is unique.

While there is a lot of star power on the roster, there is no dominating voice, character or ego, making it a team in its truest form. After San Francisco clinched the NFC's No. 1 playoff seed on Sunday, earning a first-round bye and home-field advantage, Christian McCaffrey explained why this group is so special.

"I love our team,” McCaffrey said. “I love this team so much. We have so many guys with the right attitude. It's such a fun team to be on. [We have] guys with the right mindset. When you turn the tape on, I think you can see everyone's character on tape.

“Everyone holds each other to the same standard and holds themselves to the same standard, and it's just a fun team to be a part of.”

There is no doubt that there are exceptional players on the 49ers roster that have earned record-breaking contracts to remain in the Bay, but the mindset truly is team oriented -- and that starts with general manager John Lynch and coach Kyle Shanahan.

The players atop the depth chart at each position set the best examples. If a player doesn’t work as hard as the stars, they generally do not stick around in Santa Clara because they are the exception, not the rule. The locker room's openness and maturity might be surprising to players that have come from other teams, but not those who were drafted and developed by Shanahan and Lynch.

For the homegrown players, it is normal to see the front office's support and involvement face-to-face. For veteran safety Logan Ryan, it’s special.

Ryan joined the 49ers before their Week 14 win over the Seattle Seahawks , providing secondary depth after Talanoa Hufanga suffered a season-ending knee injury. While the former third-round draft pick doesn’t believe the warm midseason welcome he received was an anomaly, the 49ers are unique in another way.

“You have a lot of star players that are ego-less,” Ryan said. “Your star players are your hardest workers. Your star players are your nicest guys in the building, and that’s what is special. You have a lot of like-minded, highly competitive championship [mentalities], but everyone is nice to everyone around the building and selfless. That is when you get a special team.”

McCaffrey is known as an incredibly disciplined worker, and the work ethic he shows is matched by all of the players of his caliber in the 49ers' locker room.

"I think what makes it more special is the character that you see on tape,” McCaffrey said. “There is talent, and then there are guys that are talented and have the right mindset, I think we have a lot of those guys. Guys who are selfless, play without the ball in their hands, block, carry out their fakes, whatever it is.

“When you have a bunch of talented guys that are team-oriented, it makes playing with them a lot of fun."

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