The San Francisco 49ers are closing their regular season with a massive Saturday night game against the Seattle Seahawks. The winner of the game not only wins the NFC West title, but will secure the number one overall seed in the conference and the first round bye in the playoffs that comes with it.
The 49ers’ success this year is coming just a season removed from missing the playoffs, and is no small part due to the phenomenal play of quarterback Brock Purdy, who is playing some of the best football of his career.
However, one prominent figure in NFL media isn’t exactly sold on Purdy’s star power.
“One of the reasons that football became as popular as it did, it is a visual sport that thrives on TV,” Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio said this week, according to Awful Announcing.
“And as it relates to Brock Purdy, for whatever reason, and this is separate from the play, there’s nothing about him that is sizzle or swag. Nothing. Even when he does the dancing it’s kind of cute. But he doesn’t have aura. I know some 49ers fans are gonna be upset, but he’s like Clark Kent who, when he becomes Super Man, he’s still Clark Kent.”
Mike Florio says Brock Purdy does not have ‘aura,’ ‘sizzle,’ or ‘swag’ https://t.co/IraWoy9BWZ pic.twitter.com/76yvnjpqxK
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) December 31, 2025
Fans reacted to Florio’s take on social media.
“Florio is the guy who also gave Kirk Cousins a hard time for spending time with his family on his day off. He thought he should have been at the Vikings facility watching film,” one fan wrote on Twitter.
“Mike is a clown that loves putting on a red nose and some make up and tap dancing for us,” someone else added.
“Interesting take. I agree NFL fans get excited when they watch QBs like Mahomes, Allen and Lamar and not so excited when they watch QBs like Purdy, Nix and Maye. That said, games like last week helpp building Purdy’s brand. He is getting there,” another fan added.
Whether he has star power or not, Purdy clearly knows what it takes to win, and at the end of the day, that’s all that really matters.
About Qwame Skinner
Qwame Skinner has loved both writing and sports his entire life. In addition to his sports coverage at Comeback Media, Qwame writes novels, and his debut; The First Casualty, an adult fantasy, is out now.