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Patrick Willis humbly reacts to Fred Warner breaking his 49ers tackle record
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- Patrick Willis humbly reacts to Fred Warner breaking his 49ers tackle record
Patrick Willis humbly reacts to Fred Warner breaking his 49ers tackle record originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
Records are meant to be broken, even one held by legendary 49ers linebacker Patrick Willis .
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But who better to leapfrog the Pro Football Hall of Famer than his perhaps even more legendary successor, Fred Warner ?
With 11 combined tackles (five solo, six assisted) in San Francisco's Week 1 win over the Los Angeles Rams , Warner surpassed Willis (950) for the most combined tackles (959) in 49ers franchise history.
Willis, alongside fellow former 49ers linebacker NaVorro Bowman , joined KNBR 680's "Murph & Markus" on Thursday morning and reacted to Warner passing him as the franchise's leading tackler.
"It's one of those things that it's always awesome to set a record, but records are meant to be broken," Willis said. "I think he did it in nine years and I was able to do it in eight, but respect to Fred. It's love and I shot him a text after the game and told him congratulations. Yesterday after practice I had a moment just to congratulate him and tell him to keep up the good work and keep doing what you're doing."
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Willis played eight seasons with the 49ers from 2007-2014 before retiring at 30 years old. Warner, who turns 30 in November, is in his ninth season with San Francisco and appears to have plenty left in the tank.
While Warner already has surpassed Willis in most statistical categories, there are some, including career sacks (20.5 for Willis, 10 for Warner), Pro Bowl selections (seven for Willis, four for Warner) and First-Team All-Pro selections (five for Willis, four for Warner) that Willis still has over Warner.
However, it might not be long before Warner surpasses him in those categories, too.
