Perhaps there’s more to the San Francisco 49ers’ 2019 success than meets the eye.
Meet ZoĆ«, the NFL’s first-ever emotional support dog. The 49ers adopted the pup earlier this year, and she’s been an instant hit with the team.
And yes, she even has her own Instagram account.
Zoƫ already has gone on plenty of adventures in her early days with the team. 49ers director of player management Auston Ross was one of the catalysts behind the move, adopting the dog for one specific reason.
“Given this environment and how stressful it is whether, you know, itās youāre trying to make the team or just the daily grind of being a player, we found that it has brought a lot of value to the total wellness portion,” Moss said, per The Athletic’s Lindsay Jones. “In player engagement, one of our main pillars is total wellness — mental health, physical health, emotional health. ZoĆ«ās been a great addition for us and weāre seeing some positive results from it.”
Defensive end Solomon Thomas has been open about his recent mental health struggles, and says Zoƫ has helped him cope. He even helped name the pup when she was adopted.
“This is a very stressful job, itās very hard for a lot of guys,” Thomas said in August, per Jones. “A dog could be a perfect getaway for some guys, and sometimes you donāt know what a dog could mean.”
But most importantly, ZoĆ« is a registered emotional support animal, meaning she can accompany the team on flights. She’s already started training to become an official therapy dog, too.
We think this is a trend all NFL teams ought to follow.
