NaVorro Bowman wants more respect.
The San Francisco 49ers linebacker feels he isn't getting enough of it because injuries cost him all of 2014 and most of 2016.
"To not be mentioned as one of the best since I entered the league makes me feel a certain way sometimes," Bowman told Eric Branch of the San Francisco Chronicle. "… For the respect not to be presented and given, it just doesn’t make sense to me."
The 49ers selected fellow linebacker Reuben Foster in the first round of the 2017 NFL Draft, leaving many to believe Bowman's days with the organization are numbered.
"They always want fresh and new. They had a group of linebackers come out" Bowman said. "Even Reuben, being on our team. It’s still like, ‘He’s this. He’s that. NaVorro Bowman should be traded.’ Why should I be traded? I’ve done my job every year that I’ve been able to do my job."
It's hard to argue with the 29-year-old there. When healthy, he's been a tackling machine for the 49ers, racking up nearly 300 total tackles in his past two full seasons.
"A healthy Bowman is still the best linebacker in the NFL," he said. “What else has stopped me? A knee and an Achilles. What else? What else can you say about me?"
