Why Warner Believes Greenlaw Fits 49ers Dwight Clark Award originally appeared in NBC Sports Bay Area
Star 49ers linebackers Fred Warner and Dre Greenlaw are extremely close, and their friendship was on display at the annual event Dwight Clark’s 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.
“Yes. Dre is everything to me,” Warner said of Greenlaw to NBC Sports Bay Area’s Laura Britt. “I’ve always said, ‘There’s no me without Dre.’ I know a lot of people saw it at the Super Bowl when he got hurt, that video of me on the sideline, you know, getting emotional with him – those were real feelings. This is a brother to me. This is a guy – me and him go. we go to war every Sunday, Monday, Thursday, and we go out there and try to knock some people out.”
“No one deserves this award more, because [Dre’s] the best teammate. Dre cares so much about his teammates, bringing the guys together and we all feed off his energy and the way he plays, 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. If anything, it shows how much Greenlaw means to Warner and the 49ers.
The two have been 49ers teammates since 2019 and have anchored some elite San Francisco defenses that were worthy of two Super Bowl appearances.
Warner has no doubt that Greenlaw deserved the Dwight Clark Award, as the number 57 energy and devotion to the 49ers Is it contagious.
“On the field, he’s a little crazy, I’ll just say that,” Warner said hilariously, drawing laughter from the crowd. “That’s what makes it so good, there’s something weird about it, right?
“But Dre is a genuine human being, and I think that’s something that people can connect with Dre — when he’s 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 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.
In addition to being a great player on the field and an incredible teammate in the locker room, Greenlaw carries a passion that fans of any level can admire.
Greenlaw’s effort to be the best person he can be will be instrumental in his rehabilitation heading into the 2024 NFL season.
And Warner, along with San Francisco, can’t wait for the reigning Dwight Clark Award winner to return to the football field.
