During his fourth year in the league, Brandon Aiyuk has established himself as one of the San Francisco 49ers 2023 star wide receivers.
"B.A. has been playing really good," head coach Kyle Shanahan said. "When we've come to B.A., he's done a hell of a job."
Keep reading to learn more about San Francisco's receiver.
The wide receiver has been savvy with money since a young age. On the 49ers You've Got Mail podcast, Aiyuk shared the creative way he was able to negotiate a higher allowance as a child.
"I didn't get an allowance, but I would get lunch money," Aiyuk said. "My parents would give me $5, I would get $25 dollars for the week. So pretty much, it was $5 a day. In California, you're not getting any lunch for $5 a day. So I went to my parents and just asked. I would come home and act like I'm starving every single day. Five dollars was not cutting it for me, so I needed at least $7 to $8 a day. I said $9 because I knew I wanted $7 to $8."
Aiyuk wasn't always a wide receiver. When beginning to play youth football, he started as a running back.
"I was really short my whole life," Aiyuk said. "When I first started playing football, I was smaller than everybody. I was fast though, so that was really the only position that I could play. That was the position that I wanted to play. I liked LaDainian Tomlinson, so I was No. 21. Just a little dude running around, playing running back."
Aiyuk began supporting the 49ers at a young age, thanks to his mom.
"My mom's been a huge 49ers fan her whole life," Aiyuk said. "So that kind of bled on me a little bit when I was younger."
When he got the call informing him that he would be a member of the team during the 2020 NFL Draft, Aiyuk realized a childhood dream that he wasn't sure would come true.
"There were a lot of people telling me all week that it was going to happen. So, it's crazy that it actually did happen."
In Aiyuk's first year with San Francisco, he notched seven touchdowns on the season, finishing with the third-most total touchdowns by a 49ers rookie since 1970.
Additionally, with 60 receptions and 748 receiving yards in 2020, the wide receiver etched his name in 49ers record books for the third-most receiving yards and second-most receptions by a rookie in franchise history.
Over the 2022 offseason, Aiyuk took up a new hobby and purchased his first camera, a Canon EOS RP. The receiver's passion for photography was inspired by the photo albums his mother created from Aiyuk's childhood.
"Just around the house, I'll take pictures of my son. I plan on taking pictures of my son as he grows up so he can have a whole collection of pictures. Growing up, my mom did the same for me, I'm pretty sure she used the disposable ones. She had a big photo book of us growing up and I want to do the same thing."
Aiyuk hopes his journey into photography doesn't just capture the precious moments in his family's life, but also creates special memories for his son, Braylon. Growing up, some of Aiyuk's fondest memories with his family were from the pictures they took together.
"I remember photos my mom took of me in the car with my dad, the same type of pictures I'm taking, just being around the house with my siblings. I'm happy I get to look back at those memories."
