Why Warner believes Greenlaw fit 49ers' Dwight Clark Award

Why Warner believes Greenlaw fit 49ers' Dwight Clark Award originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

Star 49ers linebackers Fred Warner and Dre Greenlaw are extremely close, and their friendship was on full display at the annual Dwight Clark Legacy Series event on Thursday night at the California Theater in San Jose.

Warner, last year’s recipient of the Dwight Clark Award, which "honors the current 49ers player who best exemplifies Dwight’s spirit of teamwork and camaraderie,” detailed what makes Greenlaw such a special person and worthy of this year’s honor.

“Yeah. Dre is everything to me,” Warner said of Greenlaw to NBC Sports Bay Area’s Laura Britt. “I’ve always said, ‘There is no me without Dre.’ I know a lot of people saw in the Super Bowl when he got hurt, that video of me on the sideline, you know, getting emotional about him -- those were real feelings. This is a brother to me. This is a guy -- me and him go out to war every single Sunday, Monday, Thursday, and we go out there and try to knock some people out.”

“Nobody’s more deserving of this award, because [Dre’s] the ultimate teammate. Dre cares so much about his teammates, rallying the guys and we all feed off of his energy and the way that he plays the game, so I’m really excited for him to win this award tonight.”

When Greenlaw suffered a torn left Achilles tendon during Super Bowl LVIII, Warner was in disbelief, absolutely heartbroken for his teammate. Contrarily, it goes to show how much Greenlaw means to Warner and the 49ers.

The two have been tight-knit 49ers teammates since 2019, and have anchored some elite San Francisco defenses that have been worthy of two Super Bowl appearances.

Warner has zero doubts that Greenlaw deserved the Dwight Clark Award, as No. 57’s energy and devotion to the 49ers is infectious.

“On the field, he’s a little bit crazy, I’ll just go ahead and say it,” Warner hilariously said, eliciting heavy laughter from the crowd. “That’s what makes him so great, there’s a little something off about him, right?

“But Dre is just such a genuine human being, and I think that’s something that people can connect with Dre -- when he is in the locker room, when he’s in the weight room [and] when he’s on the field, [he’s] just being himself -- that’s what I’ve connected with. Like I said, this is a brother to me and [Dre] always will be.”

Warner loves how his “brother” Greenlaw is as authentic as they come.

Besides being a big-time player on the field and an amazing teammate in the locker room, Greenlaw carries himself with a passion that fans of any extent can admire.

Greenlaw’s drive to be the best person he can be will be key for his rehab heading into the 2024 NFL season.

And Warner, alongside San Francisco, can’t wait for the reigning Dwight Clark Award recipient’s return to the gridiron.

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