Each week, I get to sit down with different 49ers players and alumni for the team's only player-focused podcast, discussing the upcoming game week and leading players through fan-submitted questions about football, life and everything in between. Safeties Tashaun Gipson Sr. and Talanoa Hufanga joined the 49ers "You've Got Mail" podcast presented by Manscaped to share more about their 2022 seasons with San Francisco and discuss their off-the-field interests.
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Here are five things we learned about Gipson Sr. and Hufanga:
Hufanga is known for his intricate handshakes with his teammates but had to make some slight adjustments for his veteran counterpart. The duo didn't go into a ton of detail to describe the handshake because they want fans to be on the lookout for it on the field.
Gipson Sr.: "I'm really old school. Huf is new school. He watered it down, and I respect that, though... I can't be exuding that energy, so Huf tailored it to me. "
Hufanga: "Yeah, if you look at our handshake, it's very simple."
Gipson Sr. joined the 49ers in late September, and over these past few months, the duo have become best friends in the backfield.
Gipson Sr.: "Coming off my workout (in Minnesota), I dapped him up, I embraced him. He probably doesn't remember that, but things like that, the energy that Huf gave me, from Day 1, even before pen was to the paper, even before I was officially a 49er, and when I got here, he was just really welcoming... That was the start of the brotherhood."
Hufanga: "From my perspective, it shocked me how much I enjoy playing with him, so it's been a blessing for sure."
Gipson Sr. and Hufanga were asked which teammate they would want styling them for a game day, and each had a player in mind.
Gipson Sr.: "There's so many dudes with solid swag, but I like Big Trent's (Trent Williams) swag. He doesn't do too much."
Hufanga: "Mooney (Charvarius Ward). Mooney came up to me in the locker room and said, 'You like my style?' and I said, 'Yeah, your style is fresh.' Then he said, 'Guess who dressed me?' I responded, 'Who?' And then, he said, 'Me.' That was the most Mooney answer. I was like, 'All right, this guy.' I'll let him style me up.
Between Gipson Sr. and Hufanga there's been a lot of career-firsts take place in 2022, and each of them detailed their favorite milestone.
Gipson Sr.: "Certain feats in life, it's just a blessing to be able to accomplish... getting that Tom Brady ball, obviously, and shoutout to Dre Greenlaw. He got it signed for me. I had my pick-six on Drew Brees, that was my upper echelon one, so I have to replace that one."
Hufanga: "I was pretty turnt on the pick-six. My favorite play of the season was last week though (Week 15). It was the one where I didn't even do anything except for disguise."
Clinching the NFC West will go down as one of the highlights of the 2022 season for Gipson Sr. and Hufanga. They put the joyous locker room celebration into words for our podcast listeners.
Gipson Sr.: "T-shirt and hat games, those are the type of games you live for because those type of games don't come around often. When they do, you have to relish in those moments. And to see the guys, a lot of the guys like Huf, first time being able to experience that, to be on that side of the spectrum, it was a blessing to see those young guys enjoy it and myself as well."
Hufanga: "Nobody told me we had shirts and hats. I was out there playing the game just to have fun. I wanted to have fun, and the next thing, I show up and I have all these hats and these shirts in the locker room. I just couldn't wait to take a picture. That was the biggest surprise to me and the biggest smile I could put on my face."
