One of wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk's closest allies during his contentious contract negotiations with the San Francisco 49ers was his personal coach, former wide receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh, who spoke with Aiyuk regularly at a point when it appeared the Niners were ready to move on amid the discussions before pivoting and extending the pass catcher at the 11th hour.
No longer Aiyuk's personal coach, it's now safe to assume Houshmandzadeh is no longer an ally either.
Aiyuk's ongoing online rants against San Francisco, aimed at convince the franchise to fully release him so he'd be free to sign anywhere (the Washington Commanders, per his preference), have been the biggest stain on what's otherwise been a fairly low-key offseason for the 49ers.
And said rants have certainly tarnished Aiyuk's already-dwindling reputation as a legitimate offensive threat, particularly in light of his serious knee injury suffered back in October of 2024 from which he's yet to return to the field.
Speaking bluntly on the topic during an appearance on the Speakeasy Podcast, Houshmandzadeh didn't hold back on criticizing his former client:
He might not step foot in an NFL stadium again if he don’t shut the [expletive] up. Like, what is he doing? Like [Washington general manager] Adam Peters, you sign Brandon Aiyuk, the Commanders should fire you the day you sign him. Do it. Like, what are you thinking? What makes y’all different than the San Francisco 49ers? Y’all don’t think he’s going to do to you what he’s doing to them? I don’t understand this.
For Aiyuk's former personal coach to issue a warning to Washington, that says a lot.
TJ Houshmandzadeh's bridge being burned is 1 more example of Brandon Aiyuk's self-implosion
It'd be one thing if Houshmandzadeh merely said he didn't understand where Aiyuk was coming from with all of this, but it's entirely another for the former NFL star to issue a stern warning to Peters and the Commanders.
Indeed, Washington has to be paying attention to all this, and it's reasonable to assume Peters and Co. have been fully turned off by what Aiyuk has been doing over the last few weeks. And Houshmandzadeh was equally as confused why Aiyuk so desperately wanted out from the 49ers after inking his lucrative extension.
"He’s going to get to my age and regret that," Houshmandzadeh added. "I promise you that. He’s going to regret it because you never make that money up."
If the Commanders are heeding the receiver, turned coach's advice, Aiyuk won't be making that money up in Washington either.
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