49ers Lb Tatum Bethune Reveals Fred Warner's Stern, Helpful Advice For Year 2

49ers LB Tatum Bethune reveals Fred Warner's stern, helpful advice for Year 2 originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

Being a professional football player requires more than meets the eye.

On top of the physical and mental toll the game takes on a player’s body on the field, it requires even more commitment to their body off the field. That includes diet, as 49ers second-year linebacker Tatum Bethune has learned.

After not having the rookie season he had hoped for last year, Bethune was ready to turn the page and take that next step in his career in Year 2. So he turned to one of his mentors, 49ers All-Pro linebacker Fred Warner, for advice.

But it came with a cost.

“I used to ask Fred about the tactics he would use off the field,” Bethune told reporters after practice Wednesday. “And Fred told me that he’s not telling me anything else until I get my nutrition and my hydration together. I took that serious because he’s right. If I can’t do the simple stuff right, what makes me think I can go out there and do all the things he’s buying to help his body be better?

“I started on that, and I’m very grateful for Fred, honestly. I’m thinking about it now. He’s helped me come a long way.”

Bethune has made dramatic changes to his diet over the past year, admitting he’s a “real sweet tooth guy” who had to cut candy out of his diet.

Now, bracing for a bounce-back sophomore season, the 24-year-old acknowledged his growth from his rookie season but knows he’s still got a long way to go to get to where he wants to be.

“I’ll just say, my mentality, really,” Bethune said when asked what the biggest difference is between his rookie season and where he’s at now. “I knew I always could play, and run and hit. But it’s the way I approached it last year — and now it’s totally different. I was a rookie. I thought it was going to be sweet, but everybody’s good and I really had to check myself and reevaluate myself after the season and see the things I was doing.

“And I compared it to Fred’s film and I thought it was trash. So this offseason, I tried to be a sponge and do everything Fred does, from the way he carries himself off the field to on the field.”

Sometimes a little tough love is what you need. And Bethune — and the 49ers — hope Warner’s stern advice and influential presence will serve the young linebacker well heading into the 2025 NFL season.

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