The San Francisco 49ers suffered much more than a 28-18 loss in Week 7's Super Bowl LVIII rematch against the Kansas City Chiefs.
In the final minute of the second quarter, 49ers wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk received a pass from Brock Purdy for 15 yards. As a Chiefs defender dragged down Aiyuk, another Kansas City player came crashing in, hitting the receiver low and causing an injury.
It was later revealed that the former All-Pro receiver had suffered a torn ACL and MCL, promptly ending his season.
A couple of days later, Aiyuk's fiancée, Rochelle Searight, posted a video of her experience during the 49ers vs. Chiefs gameday. In the post, she left a long caption regarding her man's injury and the long contract-extension process Aiyuk went through over the Summer.
"So proud of B for handling this last 8 months of mental and physical stress so well," Searight wrote on TikTok. "I’ve never seen him experience so many highs and lows in such a short amount of time... I’m pissed off, I’m sad, but I am hopeful and have no doubts about this phenomenal man bouncing back better. I’m going to take great care of you my love xoxo."
In the two-minute video Searight created, she discussed the play in which the incident occurred while revealing what she is doing to support Aiyuk during his recovery.
"Someone went in with their helmet and tore his ACL and MCL," Searight said. "So, as you can hear, that is going to be a long recovery time, so this will be his last game. And I'm just taking as great of care of him as I can. Helping him shower. Driving him everywhere. Just doing everything I can to help him that is just harder with only one leg."
After the 49ers declined Aiyuk's trade request right before training camp began in July, San Francisco signed him to a four-year, $120M extension that will keep him in San Francisco through 2028. This new deal makes the former Arizona State star the fifth-highest-paid receiver in the league, with an average annual salary of $30M.
In seven games with the Niners in 2024, Aiyuk was having an underwhelming season, to say the least. He recorded 25 catches for 374 yards but failed to get into the end zone.
Aiyuk and Searight have been together since they were teenagers at Arizona State. In Sept. 2020, Searight gave birth to their first son, Braylon. Just a couple of weeks before signing his extension, the couple announced that they had gotten engaged.
Now, while Searight is attending cosmetology school, she will need to show her fiancée as much support as she can while he goes through a difficult recovery process.
