GM: Viral video not why 49ers signed undrafted WR

Former East Carolina wide receiver Isaiah Winstead had a frustrating weekend during the NFL Draft after not hearing his name called, then not getting any offers to sign as an undrafted free agent when the draft concluded.

That’s when he took matters into his own hands and posted a highlight video of himself on Twitter. He quickly found himself with a contract from the San Francisco 49ers after his Tweet went viral. 

While that video was credited with Winstead finally getting a look, 49ers general manager John Lynch dumped some cold water on that story by saying Winstead was on their radar all along.

“Apparently, he attacked it hard on social media, so I think people thought that maybe we were swayed by that,” Lynch said during an appearance on KNBR on Thursday morning, via NBC Bay Area. 

“He committed to some other teams for rookie minicamps,” added Lynch. “We liked him enough for a rookie minicamp invite, so how do you top that, well, you say, ‘Hey, we’ll go ahead and sign you to our 90.’ So we did.”

To be fair, the highlight video was pretty cool and did get him some extra attention. You also have to admire the persistence and energy to keep fighting for a tryout even when he did not get an initial call. 

You can see his highlights here.