Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images/USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
49ers coach Kyle Shanahan and Mitch McConnell
Earlier this month, 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan suffered a slew of injuries after he was involved in a car crash in California. He landed in the hospital as a result, but contrary to what one news station in Chicago would lead you to believe, he did not pose for a picture while sitting in bed next to Mitch McConnell’s wife.
Last week, we learned the 49ers dealt with a bit of a setback as they were gearing up for training camp after Kyle Shanahan was involved in a car accident in Palo Alto on the evening of July 14th.
The man who is preparing to kick off his tenth season as the head coach in San Francisco was diagnosed with a concussion after fracturing his left hand, nose, and three of his ribs, and he also needed 40 stitches to repair a sizeable gash over his right eye.
None of those injuries were life-threatening, and while the 46-year-old appears on track to make a full recovery, he will have to take it easy while overseeing the training camp proceedings.
The 49ers managed to make the incident into more of a story than it needed to be by sitting on the news for close to two weeks, and Shanahan also had to go out of his way to clarify the accident was his fault after police originally pinned the blame on the 21-year-old woman he collided with.
One news outlet in Chicago attempted to sum up that miniature saga on Wednesday, but they created a story of their own thanks to a picture that managed to infiltrate the broadcast.
WGN aired a picture of Kyle Shanahan’s head Photoshopped onto Mitch McConnell’s body and sitting next to the senator’s wife
There’s another hospitalization on the opposite side of the country that’s been a very hot topic of conversation in the world of politics over the past couple of months, as there are still plenty of questions concerning Mitch McConnell’s health after an ambulance transported him from his home in Washington, D.C. on June 14th.
There was a swirl of rumors concerning the condition of the senator from Kentucky after he essentially disappeared from the public eye for close to a month. However, he attempted to put them to rest when he posted what was essentially a proof-of-life picture on July 12th, where he was sitting in a bed with that morning’s newspaper next to his wife, Elaine Chao.
On Monday, a guy with the handle @EastBayChris posted an altered version of that photo that featured Shanahan’s head superimposed on McConnell’s body while joking it was the “first image” taken of him since the accident (a photographer who posted up outside the coach’s house snapped what appears to actually be the first image on Tuesday).
First image of Kyle Shanahan recovering in the hospital after his accident has been released: pic.twitter.com/s43m8H6fM3
— East Bay Chris (@EastBayChris) July 28, 2026
The fact that Shanahan didn’t have any visible head wound in that photo should have been a tipoff it wasn’t real, along with the fact that, you know, he was sitting next to McConnell’s wife in a photo that made national news when it was released.
However, that didn’t stop the WGN Morning News from including it in a segment where it provided viewers in the Chicago area with a breakdown of the accident and the ensuing developments on Wednesday morning.
WGN posted a meme of Kyle Shanahan as Mitch McConnell when reporting on his car accident. pic.twitter.com/GmeIPhNvlw
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) July 30, 2026
Oops.