NFL coach Kyle Shanahan was involved in a nasty car crash last month. Now, the 49ers head coach is speaking out about the accident that left him injured.
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Shanahan says the whole thing could have been avoided. Speaking with ESPN, the NFL coach admitted he thought he was using his Tesla Model S's autopilot feature. That's when he dropped his cell phone and went to pick it up.
"Anytime you cause an accident that can be avoided, you feel pretty stupid, especially when you have a chance to hurt someone else," the 49ers coach told reporters. "Who knows what happened when I turned around, whether [autopilot] malfunctioned or whether I knocked it off, I don't know yet."
However, the NFL coach took full responsibility. He crashed into a SUV on July 4, breaking his ribs, nose, hand and giving himself a concussion.
NFL Coach Involved in Accident
"But regardless, it's always your fault," he said. "Whether you're on autopilot or not, you can't take your eyes off the road. It's a partnership, driving, you don't just turn it over to a computer."
Fortunately, the NFL coach is now on the mend and doing better.
"My head feels so much better," he said. "Concussions do linger a little bit. All the things I really deal with now is just headaches and fatigue, but that's why I'm not always exactly in the same routine, but pretty damn close."
"I've been told so much by these guys, 'Don't compare sports concussion to an accident like this.' I'm starting to realize that now. ... Each one's a little bit different," he explained. "And I definitely can relate to how scary it is if you don't know if you will feel right again. But it's definitely made me more educated on it."
Despite his injuries, he's pressing on with his job.
"I try not to come in here every single day because I feel like, if I did, I wouldn't be able to pull off my normal routine, which is watching hours and hours of tape and getting to walk through the night being able to watch stuff after that," the coach said. "Eventually, I will get there."
