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SANTA CLARA — Thousands of 49ers fans, most clad in red jerseys, celebrated in their Superdome seats long after last season’s most entertaining victory in New Orleans.
They didn’t want to leave, and once they did, they took their after-party to Bourbon Street, regaling in the 49ers’ 48-46 thriller that strengthened their NFC playoff positioning.
That same scene won’t repeat Sunday, and not just because the injury-plagued 49ers (4-5) are 9-point underdogs against the NFC-leading Saints (6-2).
COVID-19 precautions mean only 6,000 fans are allowed at this game inside New Orleans’ 74,000-seat echo chamber, the Saints confirmed Wednesday.
“It probably won’t be the same craziness that was last year in New Orleans and what that atmosphere was like,” right tackle Mike McGlinchey said.
Still, that will be 6,000 more fans than the 49ers have played in front of this season. Fan bans were in effect at their previous nine games – with no change in sight for Levi’s Stadium’s remaining three games in December.
“It is exciting, just the fact we haven’t been able to play with fans the entire season,” linebacker Fred Warner said of any New Orleans crowd. “Even if it’s just a few (49ers fans in the crowd), that’s still great to me. As players, we feed off fans, regardless if it’s the other teams’ or not.”
If there’s any chance a crowd could become an “X” factor, the 49ers surely will embrace it. Injuries all season made them shift from Plan A to Plan B to Plan C. Offensive dynamos Jimmy Garoppolo, George Kittle and Raheem Mostert are among those out this return trip, as well as possibly Deebo Samuel.
“It will excite the guys a little bit,” coach Kyle Shanahan said of fans’ presence. “It’s been a little different playing in front of no fans this year, so I think it gives a little bit more energy.
“I love fans being there. Hopefully (Saints fans) won’t be as loud, 6,000 of them, as they were last year. I’d be surprised if they were. But, I think the guys would rather there be opposing fans than no fans as long as we can hear.”
Don’t count on many 49ers’ fans invading that space and taking over like last year, as they did in New Orleans and so many other venues. Resale tickets are going for between $200 and $1,500. If that doesn’t prompt fans to balk, a pandemic sure does.
The 49ers’ fan club, Niner Empire, is hosting its first “Virtual Invasion” because so many Faithful don’t want to risk gathering as the coronavirus again surges across America.
Conor McGale had booked his annual flight over from Omagh, Ireland to see the 49ers, but “of course, with COVID, it had to be cancelled,” McGale said in a text message.
Any #49ers fans or Empire chapters going to see Sunday’s game vs #Saints?
Likely only times to see 49ers in person this year: at Saints, at Cardinals, at Cowboys (and … at MRI machines) https://t.co/xr6qKT37Nq— Cam Inman (@CamInman) November 10, 2020
The 49ers’ McGlinchey is excited to play in front of any crowd, noting that football “was made” for fans to be at games. Not having 70,000 hollering could help the 49ers, however.
“Anything like that from an offensive lineman standpoint is actually OK going down there, because it’s tough to block people when you have to look at the football the whole time to see if it’s snapped or not,” McGlinchey said. “Fortunate that we’re not going to have deafening noise but it will be exciting to hear some, for sure.”
