49ers Rush Podcast with John Chapman · 49ers Chapman Media LLC

49ers Origins With Alex Lopez

February 12, 2026·43 min·3 clips

Alex Lopez recorded her mom's angry reaction to Jake Moody's field goals, creating a viral video that resonated with frustrated 49ers fans.

The conversation really gets going after the intro and ads. Alex connects her 49ers fandom to family, food, Levi's, and a junior Gold Rush cheerleading memory that still feels close to her. John grabs onto that detail right away. For him, fandom is not only about the record. It is about the odd little doors that get people into the Faithful and keep them there. His own door was a jersey in Texas when he was nine years old, which fits this show perfectly. Sometimes one object is enough. That warm origin-story lane becomes a bigger fan-base argument about why the bond holds through bad football. The chat brings up the rough years, and John follows it into the stretch from 2003 to 2010, with Dennis Erickson as the start of a miserable slide. He has Pro Football Reference open, which gives the segment its funny little texture: part memory lane, part barstool spreadsheet work. The mood stays affectionate, even when the records get ugly. The show keeps circling the same point. Once you are in, you are in, and John puts this fan base as second to none. Then Shanahan becomes the turn. John asks Alex to picture Shanahan coaching the 49ers for ten more seasons and say what feeling comes up first. It is a fan question, but it has some bite. The issue is not only whether Shanahan is good. It is what a long run with the same coach would feel like after so many uneven franchise years. Alex is positive right away. She says she loves Kyle Shanahan, calls herself a Shanahan defender, and says she would be happy, especially if that future came with a couple Super Bowls. The excerpt cuts off mid-thought, but the episode's shape is easy to read: personal origin stories turn into a live conversation about loyalty, coaching, and what fans want from the next ten years.

As heard by us

A 49ers fan conversation that turns on Lopez's path into the team and what a long Shanahan run would mean.

Alex Lopez's first appearance on John Chapman's show keeps the focus on how she became a 49ers fan, from junior Gold Rush cheerleading to family memories and the jersey that first caught her attention.

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Why you'd press play

If you want a 49ers fan story that moves from Levi's memories to a Shanahan future check-in, press play.

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