Brydon Durst was 17 years old, watching football from his family's living room in Carey, Ohio, when his father delivered news that changed everything: the San Francisco 49ers had called, and Brydon was going to Levi's Stadium to be on the field and meet the whole team. For a teenager who was born with a rare brain condition and whose parents were once told he might never walk or talk, the invitation to the team's home opener against the Miami Dolphins is being described by his family as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
Brian Durst, Brydon's father, surprised his son with the news himself, telling him the 49ers had called and that Brydon would get to be on the field and meet the whole team, according to KTVU. The team is providing tickets for four family members plus Brydon's coach, a stadium tour, and a pre-game experience for the September 20 game. Brydon, now a junior in high school, will meet tight end George Kittle, linebacker Fred Warner, general manager John Lynch and head coach Kyle Shanahan during the visit.
Brydon has agenesis of the corpus callosum, a congenital condition present at birth in which the corpus callosum — the white matter bundle of nerve fibers that bridges the brain's left and right hemispheres and allows the two sides to communicate — fails to fully develop. The condition can involve learning difficulties, developmental delays and seizures, and it affects about 1 in 4,000 infants born in the United States, per the reporting. Brydon's parents were told their son might never walk or talk, but the outlet reports he has defied every expectation since.
A Bond Built Long Before the Invitation
The Levi's Stadium trip is not the 49ers' first gesture toward the family. Back in February, the team surprised Brydon with a care package that included team apparel, an autographed 2025 team yearbook, and a football signed by Kittle and inscribed to Brydon, at the time reading “To Brydan, Bang Bang.” Brydon has identified Kittle as his favorite player and wears his number 85 jersey, and his love for the 49ers was inherited from his father, who has supported the team since childhood despite growing up surrounded by Cleveland Browns fans.
The family's connection to the team has also been amplified through music. Brian Durst is a musician who runs his own independent record label and records original songs with his son, including a track called “Overcame it All” that tells Brydon's health story, and another titled “Throw Them 2's Up,” both released this past February. The father and son perform live and use their social media presence to share music and inspirational messages, a platform that has helped carry Brydon's story to a wider audience.
Kittle's Track Record of Off-Field Giving
The invitation lands within a broader pattern of community outreach tied to the 49ers organization and specifically to Kittle. The tight end was named the recipient of the NFL's 14th Annual Salute to Service Award in February 2025 for his outreach to veterans and active military members, an honor that came with $50,000 in combined donations to military charities, according to the 49ers. Northern California nonprofit Operation Freedom Paws separately commended Kittle in 2025 for his ongoing financial support of its program pairing rescue dogs with veterans and people with disabilities. Kittle's family also runs the Hidden Pearls Podcast & Studio, which hosted an inaugural “Football for Change” retreat in Los Cabos, Mexico, focused on youth wellness and inclusive sports clinics. Team community relations records show 49ers players logged more than 700 hours of direct community service across the Bay Area during the 2025 season, with nearly every player on the roster taking part.
First Trip Outside Ohio for the Family
Brydon lives with his family in Carey, a small village in Wyandot County roughly 50 miles south of Toledo with an estimated population of about 3,500 people spread across roughly two square miles, according to World Population Review. Founded in the 1840s, Carey carries a distinct Luxembourg heritage and hosts an annual religious pilgrimage to the Basilica and National Shrine of Our Lady of Consolation, per municipal historical records published by Citizen Portal. The trip to Levi's Stadium will mark the Durst family's first time traveling outside Ohio.
The family plans to fly out two days before the September 20 game and stay extra days in the Bay Area, paying for their plane tickets and hotel with money they have been saving since the previous year. Brian Durst and his wife took four days off work to make the trip possible. Brian Durst called the visit a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and thanked the 49ers organization and its fans for showing his son love, while sharing that the family's countdown to the trip is officially on.
Away from football, Brydon enjoys music and video games, including playing Madden NFL. The National Organization for Rare Disorders notes that treatment for agenesis of the corpus callosum is symptomatic and supportive rather than curative, typically relying on physical therapy, special education, speech therapy and anti-seizure medications, with genetic counseling also recommended for affected families. StatPearls research describes the condition as associated with more than 200 distinct genetic and congenital syndromes, underscoring the medical complexity behind a milestone as simple as walking onto an NFL field.
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