San Francisco 49ers defensive end Keion White is healthy and prepared to play despite being shot in the foot during a February incident at a bar and nightclub. The shooting occurred after an argument between White and rapper Lil Baby, reportedly stemming from Lil Baby’s entourage attempting to enter White’s private party.
White described the experience as different from typical sports injuries. “It's different because it's trauma instead of just, like, breaking an ankle with a sports-related injury,” he told Vic Tafur of The Athletic. “When you hurt yourself in football, there's a protocol for damn near everything. Football players don't just get shot every day. . . . I mean, I guess they do on this team.” He referenced a prior incident where 49ers receiver Ricky Pearsall was shot during a robbery attempt two years ago on Labor Day weekend.
White sustained a broken talus bone in his foot, requiring surgery and two screws. Despite the injury, he downplayed the severity of the situation, even joking about it while being transported to the hospital. “It was a gunshot to the foot,” White said. “I broke my talus bone, so I had to have surgery — two screws in there. But, yeah, brush it off. [I] literally was making jokes as I was going to the hospital.” He stated he never feared for his life and declined to identify the shooter, claiming he was “calming everybody else down” and didn’t realize he’d been shot for five minutes.
White joked that he now has “screws in each ankle, so I’m symmetrical.” He acknowledged the recovery process was challenging, “a touch-and-go situation right up to the beginning of training camp,” but confirmed he is now able to practice. The 49ers are particularly reliant on White’s return, given injuries to other defensive ends: Mykel Williams (knee) is out, Nick Bosa (knee) is recovering from an ACL tear, Sam Okuayinonu (foot) is out, and rookie Romello Height has an ankle issue.
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