Cornerback Darqueze Dennard wasn’t with the 49ers for long. The team signed him to their practice squad on January 4 and his contract expired when their season ended January 30. His four-week stint in Santa Clara had a significant impact on the veteran cornerback though.
Dennard, a former first-round pick of the Cincinnati Bengals, on the Thursday after San Francisco’s 20-17 loss to the Rams in the NFC championship game took to Twitter to shoutout the 49ers for rekindling his love for football despite spending just one month and playing in two games with them.
S/O to @49ers ‼️‼️ made me fall In love with football again. 🙏🏾 ✊🏾❤️
— Darqueze Dennard (@Queze) February 3, 2022
Dennard saw action in Week 18 against the Rams and actually played 32 percent of the defensive snaps with nickel corner K’Waun Williams sidelined. He didn’t play in the wild-card round, but earned 12 special teams snaps in the divisional round against the Packers.
The tweet from Dennard, now an unrestricted free agent, is a sign of the strong culture the 49ers have built. It’s also a sign of the type of player Dennard is.
Long snapper Taybor Pepper used Dennard’s tweet to spin some optimism for the 2022 season:
If this isn’t a testament to what’s going on in Santa Clara I don’t know what is. Something special is brewing… #QuestForSix #FTTB https://t.co/6bQehonhAx
— Taybor Pepper (@TayborSnapping) February 3, 2022
Cornerback Emmanuel Moseley’s response to the tweet makes it seem as though Dennard is a candidate to return this offseason. when the 49ers will need to add some veteran CB depth.
My brother a true leader ❗️ https://t.co/tcNwd8YZCu
— Emmanuel Moseley (@Mannymoseley) February 3, 2022
If Dennard had the impact on the 49ers’ secondary that the team had on him, the eight-year veteran could easily find his way back to San Francisco for a much longer stint next season.
