Charvarius Ward’s time with the San Francisco 49ers may be coming to an end this offseason.
As the cornerback decides what’s next for him in his NFL career entering free agency, he revealed on Monday that he may not want to return to the Bay Area at all next season. The heartbreaking reason, he said, isn’t because of anything the 49ers did.
Instead, it’s because of the PTSD he said he’s still dealing with after the loss of his 1-year-old daughter a few months ago.
Charvarius Mooney Ward goes into detail about potentially coming back to the #49ers next year, but also the PTSD he has from being here and the trauma he suffered of losing a child. pic.twitter.com/5hXhtxDjxN
— Matt Lively (@mattblively) January 6, 2025
“I got a lot of trauma in California,” he said, via CBS Sports Bay Area’s Matt Lively. “I had a lot of great times, but the worst thing that’s ever happened to me … happened in California.
“Just bringing up bad memories. Every time I get on a plane and come back to California — Santa Clara, San Jose — it just brings up bad memories. I go through that every day.”
Ward announced in October that his daughter, Amani Joy, had died. No cause of death was given. She was born with two holes in her heart, he revealed last year, and needed surgery. He had previously announced that she was born with Down syndrome, too.
Ward said that his wife has left the state in the wake of losing their daughter, and that loss is still hitting him extremely hard even months later. He’s been living alone to finish out the season.
“I get PTSD a lot,” he said. “I be throwing up, waking up in the middle of the night all the time sweating. Stuff like that. It’s tough.”
Ward recorded 54 total tackles last season, his third with the 49ers. He got his start with the Kansas City Chiefs in 2018 after going undrafted out of Middle Tennessee State. The 29-year-old picked up his first Pro Bowl nod last season. Ward signed a three-year, $40.5 million deal to join the 49ers ahead of the 2022 campaign.
Though he said he wasn’t totally against signing a new deal with the 49ers, he said that would likely be dependent on if “I can overcome a lot of that trauma.” If he had his choice, he said he’d prefer to play closer to his family.
“Stuff can change,” Ward said. “I can get stronger. I’ll probably get over this [eventually], but we’ll see.”
