Brandon Aiyuk's improbable journey from prep honorable mention to NFL All-Pro (2024)

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Kyle Shanahan isn’t about that awards life. He understands their value. But the coach in him, the football purist, won’t let him put too much stock in recognition. Awards aren’t encompassing enough, and certainly not necessary, to know who’s a different breed.

“I don’t think much about that stuff,” the San Francisco 49ers coach said, beginning his explanation, “because, for lack of a better word, I think it’s kind of a joke. Just in terms of it’s not automatic. There’s so many good players who haven’t made it (to an All-Pro team), and then there’s some guys in years that shouldn’t have (made it) who do. Most of the time they get it right. … But just because they don’t make it doesn’t mean you weren’t one of the best players in the league.”

But all awards aren’t created equally. All-Pro is the most meritorious of NFL accolades, and thus the most prestigious. For some, it is an expected plateau based on otherworldly talent. For others, a reputational reap.

For Brandon Aiyuk, it’s validation. Earned spotlight after years of toil in the shadows. The prize for his willingness to grow. He felt spurned by not making the Pro Bowl this season, but last week’s second-team All-Pro honor officializes what has already materialized. That’s why Aiyuk getting recognized hits Shanahan a bit differently.

A wide receiver? Who had to grind for everything? Who worked his way to a level most didn’t see for him?

“I was so happy for BA,” Shanahan said. “All-Pro is the real one. I was just so happy he got that because he definitely deserved both. I think he’ll get it next year too because of it.”

To think, Aiyuk was never projected to be here. He’s 6-foot, 205 pounds of athleticism, an impressive mix of size, speed, strength and quickness. Still, he’s never worn the hat of a prodigy. His road wasn’t paved by his potential.

Of the top 300 high school players ranked by ESPN for the class of 2016, 62 played wide receiver. N’Keal Harry, No. 22, ranked highest of them all. Mecole Hardman, A.J. Brown, Michael Pittman Jr. and DK Metcalf — all now in the NFL — were among the prep star receivers. So was Trevon Diggs, the Dallas Cowboys cornerback, and Divine Deablo, the Las Vegas Raiders linebacker.

Not included: Aiyuk. When he graduated from McQueen High, he wasn’t ranked among the best receivers. Not nationally. Not in Nevada. Barely in Reno.

Waaaay at the bottom of the Las Vegas Review-Journal’s 2015 All-State team, after the 60 players chosen for the first and second teams, seven of which were receivers, you can find Aiyuk’s name among the best high school players in Nevada. It’s listed with the 67 players who received honorable mention.

“In high school, my coach was trying to tell me to go play NAIA in Oregon,” Aiyuk said. “Luckily, it didn’t work out that way. That was the only level of football that had interest in me playing for ‘em. My senior year, it wasn’t no schools coming to talk to me, calling me. … My coach said, ‘At Southern Oregon, you could continue to play football.’ But that conversation never got any further than that. That was the only college that was talked about to me in high school.”

Aiyuk’s origin story makes his current clout sparkle even more. It’s been an improbable journey.

A week ago, he was named among the best receivers in the NFL after a career-best 1,342 yards and seven touchdowns. From eighth-fiddle in Nevada to second-team All-Pro, in seven years. Once unknown, now renowned. Once unheralded, now undeniable.

But for Aiyuk’s story, the ends highlight the means. The recognition he is now receiving is the fruit of a diligent process. The rewards coming his way are proof the wildest of dreams sprout from earnest hearts and invested talent. He has the respect. The lucrative contract is coming. So might be a Super Bowl, as the No. 1 seed 49ers open their playoff run Saturday night against the Green Bay Packers.

Aiyuk’s arrival, becoming a pivotal cog on a championship favorite, is a culmination of the work he’s done but also a confirmation of what he can do. If he can make it here from where he began, no telling what he can do next.

Joey Salgado, one of Aiyuk’s private trainers since 2021, knew this big season was loading. He could feel it, literally. The ease in Aiyuk’s muscles. The equanimity of his vibe. The certainty in his flow.

“He looked so smooth. His mindset was so focused,” Salgado said. “There wasn’t this, like, rush. You know how when you’re pressing up on like a deadline? When you’re pressing up too much, I know something is off. Energetically, it’s like, ‘What are you feeling is running away from you right now? That s— is waiting for you to arrive, bro. So we need to continue to go through our process together. In God’s timing, it’ll show up.’ But this guy was not pressing. He was just flowing.”

Weeks after the 49ers’ loss to Philadelphia in last year’s NFC Championship Game, Aiyuk was back to work and locked in. His career season ended with a thud. Not just a disappointing loss, but his Pro Bowl and All-Pro snubs were followed by an underwhelming postseason: six catches, 109 yards, no touchdowns in three playoff games. With a dire quarterback situation for most of the Eagles game, Aiyuk had just one target.

It would’ve been reasonable for Aiyuk to be foaming at the mouth. Still, Salgado sensed no anxiety. That he was already back to work was evidence of urgency. But it was his homeostasis that popped.

Salgado is the founder, co-owner, and head of growth for Progressive Motion Physiotherapy. Salgado’s specialty, in the physical therapy practice, is movement. If Salgado talks long enough, you’re going to hear about the value of breathing, proper alignment, enhanced resilience, reorganizing and resetting. This stuff is spiritual for him.

That’s why he could feel the difference in Aiyuk.

“So when I saw him getting after it, I was just shaking my head, smiling,” Salgado said. “… Mentally, his relationship to the work has continued to change because he knows it’s just something he has to do. There’s no negotiation. He’s honed in, bro. He just expects greatness out of himself. I saw just this pure joy that he was playing with this offseason. Him opening himself up was so dope to see.”

Aiyuk has an intense stare. When he’s thinking. When he’s listening. When he’s waiting. When he’s talking trash in his head. He has a way of summoning his ferocity and beaming it through his gaze. He can soften it with a smile, turn it up with a scowl. He’s efficient with his words, chill with his tone. But his eyes can be loud.

And they were screaming at his Sierra College coaches back in September 2018.

“He wouldn’t talk to us for like the entire week,” said Daniel Diaz-Romero, who’s been the offensive coordinator at Sierra, a community college in Rocklin, Calif., since 2013. “Finally, coach (Ben) Noonan, our head coach, asks him, ‘Brandon, man. What’s up? Why you giving the stink eye?’

“He’s like, ‘You took me off returns, coach. I can change the game.’”

Aiyuk started returning kicks a few weeks into his freshman season with the Wolverines. He opened his sophom*ore season cooking: 210 yards on six returns over the first two games — including an 80-yard punt return for a touchdown. But he was even more pivotal to Sierra’s offense. By the end of Week 2, Aiyuk totaled 204 receiving yards and four touchdowns on nine catches. Both were Sierra losses. So imagine if he got hurt.

“We’re like, ‘C’mon, man,’” Diaz-Romero continued. “ ‘We want you to stay healthy. We need you out here. You’re a big part of our offense.’ And he wasn’t having it.”

Eventually, finally, Noonan relented. After two weeks, Aiyuk was back returning kicks as Sierra traveled to Santa Rosa. He spoiled homecoming with a 5-yard touchdown catch, a 29-yard touchdown catch, and a 76-yard kickoff return for a touchdown. Sierra won 52-30.

“And he had another punt return and a kickoff return for touchdowns that got called back,” Diaz-Romero said. “It was a pretty incredible feat. Even though all five of those touchdowns didn’t count, it was like, ‘Oh my God. That guy is different. That dude’s pretty special.’”

Aiyuk went off in his second season in his hometown of Rocklin, Calif. He totaled 1,750 all-purpose yards in 10 games with 18 touchdowns, 14 of them receiving.

He had unlocked a new level. New doors started opening.

It was the first time his love of football was changing his life. Sacramento State came calling. So did Nevada, Middle Tennessee State and Idaho. Eventually Fresno State and Arizona State.

Football was getting real for Aiyuk in a way it hadn’t before.

“I was a young kid. I was just playing football,” he said. “I was just young. Struggling in school. Not even thinking about college. Not even thinking about what’s next. Just living day to day. I didn’t even realize that I wasn’t being recruited. I didn’t realize that there were kids out here going to college. I didn’t see it. I was just living.”

As recruitment picked up, it became clear Aiyuk could move up to Division I.Before long, Kansas was in the picture. He found himself on campus in Lawrence being swooned by Jayhawks. And in Fort Collins, Colo., trying out Colorado State. And in Knoxville, Tenn., getting courted by Volunteers.

But his football taking off meant his academics needed to take off, too.Enrolling at the next level required playing some catchup. Aiyuk needed to take something like 18 units his final semester and needed at least a B in each class.

“He had to do some pretty incredible stuff academically to make it happen,” Diaz-Romero said. “And he did.”

So when Aiyuk was presented with a new layer of responsibility, a high expectation, he was again faced with the challenge of meeting it or missing the opportunity. The 49ers saw more in him and wanted more out of him. Shanahan, the former receiver with more diligence than natural talent, pushed Aiyuk in a way he’d never been.

But as long as it was up to hard work, Aiyuk would be fine. That’s been his story the whole way. Compete, adapt and endure. Then compete some more.

“He was a kid that had big dreams, but I don’t think he knew exactly how good he was,” Diaz-Romero said. “You could tell he loved football. He wasn’t skipping nothing. Not when it came to football. He was always about it. … And he was so, so competitive. He didn’t care if it was practice, a bye week. When we were going against the defense in practice, he was competing against our defense. Everyone didn’t always like that. It’s so funny when I see him and, like, Fred Warner would have a spat. It was such similar stuff going on at our practice.”

During training camp, it’s customary for the receivers to go back out to the field in the evening and walk through routes together. Leonard Hankerson, the 49ers wide receivers coach, was behind his starting wideouts, Aiyuk and Deebo Samuel, as they headed back to the field.

“BA, by himself,” Hankerson said, “and Deebo just all of a sudden decided they’re gonna switch positions.”

It can vary by offense, but the X receiver is the wideout who is tethered to the line of scrimmage. The Z receiver is on the opposite side, usually the same side as the tight end, and off the line of scrimmage. In Shanahan’s offense, Aiyuk, the best pure receiver on the team, is exclusively an X. You won’t see him go in motion much.

“He’s like, ‘I’ma go to the Z and you go to the X, Deebo.’ And I’m like, ‘OK, let me see how this gon’ work out.’ It’s not easy to be able to do that. When you can go out there and it’s clean? You don’t have many mistakes? Then I understood that it’s coming easier to him.”

Shanahan’s offense is centered on concepts. A tree of options blooms from each formation. Mastering it requires understanding the concepts, what the offense is trying to accomplish, and the variety of pieces. Samuel, Christian McCaffrey, Kyle Juszczyk and George Kittle exemplify their mastery of the offense by their ability to play different roles in multiple formations.

What Hankerson was watching was not only Aiyuk executing another role, he was witnessing a matured understanding of the offense, a new level of mastery.

“Once you get down the formations,” Hankerson said, “you can actually go out and play. It’s him having the grasp of where everybody’s lining up, as well as the concepts. Now, guess what? He can go out there and be himself. He can play fast. He can now focus on the technique part of the game.”

Aiyuk has come a long way from the doghouse of his rookie year. The chip on his shoulder is still there, but he’s learned to trust the effort more than the results. His competitive fire still burns the same. Maturity and perspective have shaped how he defines victory.

In the 49ers’ offense, he’s going to have weeks where he doesn’t jump off the stat sheet. But those days don’t feel so empty anymore. Because if he practiced hard, if he blocked well, if he ran his routes with purpose, if his energy was positive — and of course if he didn’t have any drops — he’s come to understand the value in that.

“His routine is so dialed in, man,” Salgado said. “… He does a lot of work that people don’t really see.”

That work is why when it’s money time, Aiyuk can deliver. He knows it. Brock Purdy knows it. Shanahan knows it.

Aiyuk finished the season with 75 catches — seven for a touchdown and 61 for a first down. His 17.9 yards per catch was topped only by Pittburgh’s George Pickens (18.1), minimum 50 receptions. His two drops tied for second fewest. Targeting Aiyuk resulted in a 124 passer rating, bested only by Dallas’ CeeDee Lamb (124.3) and Houston’s Nico Collins (129.6).

It’s a safe bet he’ll score his first postseason touchdown soon.

“Early on, he was going through some challenges with the offense and learning the system,” Hankerson said. “Everybody saw what was going on then versus what is happening now. He has taken steps towards being better at his craft. He’s got the physical tools, without a doubt. It’s just the mentality and effort he put into himself — off the field, in the meeting rooms and on the scheme. It’s paying off. He had the mindset to get better every day. Once he got down the scheme, it was going to come natural to him because he is an absolute stud as a receiver.”

To think, Aiyuk didn’t grasp the reality of the NFL until he was at Arizona State. He was in his room watching the NFL Draft. He watched N’Keal Harry, his fellow Sun Devil receiver, get selected No. 32 by the New England Patriots. Aiyuk spent a year with Harry. Worked with him, competed with him, produced with him. If Harry could make it, he said, “That’s when I said I could definitely go to the NFL, too.”

And now he’s an All-Pro.

(Top photo: Mark Goldman / Icon Sportswire)