National Football League

Brock Purdy ignores the haters, focuses on leading 49ers to Super Bowl

Published Jan. 24, 2024 5:42 p.m. ET

Haters gonna hate.

Brock Purdy has been dealing with vocal doubters of his ability since he took over as the San Francisco 49ers quarterback midway through the 2022 season.

He's a system quarterback, they say, carried by a stacked group of playmakers and an offensive guru in head coach Kyle Shanahan. He comes up small in the clutch, they say, lacks arm strength and isn't near the athletic unicorn like Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson.

Such comments usually don't illicit more than a shoulder shrug from the Iowa State product, who, as the final pick of the 2022 NFL Draft, was dubbed that year's "Mr. Irrelevant."

"For me, you're real with yourself," Purdy told reporters about how he stays on an even keel. "You understand where you're at as a quarterback, how you played.

"And it doesn't matter whether you played good or bad, you can't take that with you. It's a new game, new scheme, new environment — everything about it is new. It's almost like you've got a new slate."

All Purdy needs to quiet his critics is point to his numbers. Since taking over as the starter in Week 13 of last season, Purdy is 20-5, including the postseason. Over that time, he leads the league in passer rating (110.8) and completions of 20-plus yards (104), is No. 3 in passing touchdowns (48) and No. 4 in passing yards (6,547) and completion percentage (68.1%).

For their part, Purdy's teammates are thrilled to have him under center.

"I love playing football with him," receiver Brandon Aiyuk said. "He's the reason why I'm sitting here today feeling like I have an opportunity this weekend to play my best football, because of a quarterback like him."

Purdy's efficient play has the 49ers back in the NFC Championship Game, where they will host the Detroit Lions at Levi's Stadium on Sunday (6:30 p.m. ET on FOX and the FOX Sports app). It's the same place he found himself a year ago, when he suffered a torn UCL in his right elbow in the opening quarter against the Philadelphia Eagles.

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It's an injury common in baseball but unusual for NFL quarterbacks, and Purdy faced an uncertain future. After having surgery last March, he put in the hard work, much like he did in the lead-up to the 2022 draft, when he gained an unheard-of 5 mph in velocity.

Four-and-half-months after surgery, Purdy was back on the practice field leading San Francisco's starting offense during training camp at the end of July. His impressive play coming off major elbow surgery has been an under-the-radar storyline this season.

"I think what's crazy is it's been forgotten almost that he's coming off UCL surgery," said Will Hewlett, a mechanics and performance coach for quarterbacks with Tork Sports Performance in Jacksonville, Florida. He worked with Purdy last offseason.

"It was a short offseason for him, in terms of focusing on performance. … You have to sit back and admire how difficult that is for anyone. Your offseasons are so important at every position, but especially with a young quarterback, you're just figuring out things you can and can't do and where you need to get better. And so his offseason was just getting healthy. A knee is one thing. A non-throwing arm is one thing, but the things that pulls the trigger, that's tough."

But instead of focusing on Purdy's impressive comeback, the doubters question his proclivity for turning the ball over in high-leverage, late-game situations and speculate that Shanahan's offense could be even more explosive with one of the game's elite signal-callers under center.

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Former NFL cornerback Richard Sherman sees a kindred spirit in Purdy. Sherman was a fifth-round pick of the Seattle Seahawks who started at the bottom of the depth chart, worked his way into the starting lineup and consistently played at a high level for the "Legion of Boom."

Sherman wasn't considered an elite athlete for his position but played with a chip on his shoulder and made five Pro Bowls. He believes that Purdy isn't getting enough credit for his performance.

"You only give him blame. You never give him credit," Sherman said on "Undisputed." "So when he plays well, it's going to be everybody else. But when he doesn't play well, he's the reason why it didn't go well."

Hall of Fame quarterback Steve Young describes Purdy's superpower as his ability to quickly process each play, consistently delivering the ball on time and on target.

"He has the ability to get a football play, has studied and memorized every aspect of it, and all the tendencies of the defense that you are going to play," Young said on Adam Schefter's podcast. "And then can run that play and literally get the most out of it — figure out and decipher through the play who's going to be the one to get the ball.

"Like Indiana Jones, go through the mystery of the two-and-a-half seconds you have to decide and find that person who should have the ball. And then deliver it to him. And then do it over, over and over again to where you are unstoppable."

All the criticism has served to create an us-against-the-world mentality for Purdy and the 49ers.

While working with the QB, Hewlett has had a first-hand look at the characteristics that have led to Purdy's success. Hewlett checks in periodically with Purdy and saw him in person when San Francisco played in Jacksonville in Week 10.

And Hewlett hears the criticism regarding Purdy's game.

"He just gets to certain throws and certain plays a different way," Hewlett said. "And yeah, he's not Josh Allen or Lamar Jackson. But at the end of the day, it's your ability to deliver the ball to the elite athletes on the field and let them go do the work. That's your job as a quarterback.

"So, however that happens. If that means you don't run for a first down as a quarterback and you pass it to someone for a first down, I don't know how you can knock that. And in terms of dynamic playmaking, you see it every week with him. He'll escape and make a throw back across his body that not many other people can do in the NFL."

Eric D. Williams has reported on the NFL for more than a decade, covering the Los Angeles Rams for Sports Illustrated, the Los Angeles Chargers for ESPN and the Seattle Seahawks for the Tacoma News Tribune. Follow him on Twitter at @eric_d_williams.