This 49ers superfan has a prosthetic eye with the crew brand

“My first recollections have been at 5 years outdated; each Sunday with my dad, we’d watch Niners video games on TV with a bowl of cornflakes. I’ve been a Niners fan ever since,” says Pena, who closed on a brand new residence in Manteca the identical day his Fan of the 12 months nomination was introduced.

Pena’s imaginative and prescient issues started at 8 years outdated. In a tragic story that he recounted to SFGATE over the telephone, Pena was by chance stabbed within the eye, which led to emergency surgical procedure and a lifetime of eye issues that culminated in a uncommon type of eye most cancers. In 2012, he needed to make the selection to take away one eye to cease the most cancers from spreading.

“After I went to the ocularist, the very first thing I requested was, ‘Are you able to do a customized eye? I need a 49ers eye,’” Pena mentioned. The physician, who had really created a Packers-themed eyeball for an additional affected person, was a diehard Niners fan and supplied to make the attention at no cost with the settlement that Pena put on it to each recreation he attended. A 2020 KRON4 story about Pena made him domestically well-known, and whereas at a tailgate listening to the music “Eye of the Tiger,” a good friend gave him the nickname “Eye of the Niner,” which ended up turning into Pena’s rap moniker.

However earlier than he obtained into music in mid-2022, Pena’s early pandemic mission was a 49ers-themed clothes model referred to as Ceaselessly Devoted Azteca. He posted a design to Fb, and inside a month, he’d offered 400 shirts, incomes about $47,000 in revenue in 2020. The majority of the enterprise is shirts and flags, however he additionally sells swim shorts, patches, rally towels and clear stadium baggage.

Final 12 months, the clothes model was placed on pause so Pena may start engaged on music. A hip-hop producer good friend named Dell G. referred to as Pena asking for leads on some Niners rappers for a compilation album. After making introductions, Dell G. requested Pena to contribute as nicely. Pena, who rapped in highschool however in any other case had little musical expertise, cites E-40 and Mac Dre as his main influences. He now has 10 songs on Spotify and over 2,000 month-to-month listeners.

When requested about his favourite lyrics, Pena introduced up a brand new monitor referred to as “49 problemz,” which is his solely music to this point that mentions quarterback Brock Purdy (“Mister Related 13, a reasonably sight. Related to the season, pink and gold shining knight”).

“I assumed that had a very nice ring to it,” Pena mentioned.

Pena’s enthusiasm was sufficient to be a focus for the NFL, which named him the Niners’ official fan of the 12 months, a distinction that comes with free Tremendous Bowl tickets. He’s nonetheless within the working for total fan of the 12 months, and makes a powerful case for why he ought to win.

“Effectively, soccer is life,” he mentioned. “My home is decked out. I spent the final three weeks portray my storage with gold. The quantity of merchandise and issues that I’ve in my home, you’d be very shocked. Even within the offseason, we do barbecues, we assist out the group, I do toy drives. Niners is all 12 months lengthy, it doesn’t cease on the finish of the season.”