49ers ‘funeral’ attire ahead of Eagles game was apparently coincidence

The 49ers were dressed for a funeral. At least, that’s what the NFL insinuated, and fans said outright, on social media in response to multiple Niners players wearing all black as they walked into the Eagles’ stadium on Sunday.

However, according to the players, the truth is that the outfit coordination was overstated. Deebo Samuel told reporters after the 42-19 victory “it was just an outfit,” while offensive tackle Trent Williams said “You know me and Deebo, we just — great minds think alike.”

Williams talked more about the coincidence on “Inside the NFL” in an interview published Tuesday. While the coordination was pure happenstance, the intentions behind his outfit were definitely funeral-minded, he said.

“A couple of weeks ago, I already knew I was going to come all black,” the former All-Pro told host Ryan Clark. “I knew that was going to be my mindset. My mindset was going to be, you know, it’s time to kill. We going to a funeral, so.

“And it’s crazy, I didn’t discuss that with anybody else. It just so happened that other guys felt the same way and it was such a coincidence. But, honestly, that was the mind frame: is to come to kill the competition.”

Nobody ended up dead — though running back D’Andre Swift came close thanks to cornerback Deommodore Lenoir — but the Niners certainly crushed their biggest competition in the battle for NFC supremacy.

Given the hype, and war of words, that preceded this matchup, it’s hard to blame anyone for thinking the Niners wanted to send a pregame message when so many notable players showed up in the monochromatic color scheme. Christian McCaffrey, Fred Warner and Chase Young were among those who matched with Samuel and Williams.

As it turns out, guys just like wearing all-black outfits when being out in the cold and rainy weather that Philadelphia had that Sunday.