Bosa makes big impact on 49ers with speeches
From staff and wire reports
Nick Bosa has been making a high-profile impact for the San Francisco 49ers on Sundays ever since entering the league as the No. 2 overall pick in 2019.
Bosa also has been making more hidden — but still important — contributions every Saturday the past two seasons by breaking down the team with a speech at the end of the final walkthrough before each game.
“I hear every one of them,” general manager John Lynch said. “You don’t miss those because they’re special. They really are. The kid, he doesn’t say a lot, but when he does, it’s very prophetic.”
The soft-spoken Bosa was given the assignment for the first time during the 2022 season as coach Kyle Shanahan liked to randomly call on players to keep them all on their toes.
Bosa’s first was followed by a win so Shanahan called on him again the following week. The Niners won again and it hasn’t stopped as he grows more comfortable each week.
“It’s become our tradition,” Shanahan said. “Nick’s gotten really good at it. I remember he has always been good at it. But it’s funny how guys who are so confident in everything they do, they’re just not used to always speaking in front of groups. He used to tell me that was the most nervous he’d be throughout the whole week . ... I think earlier this year he thanked me. He was like, ‘Hey, thanks for doing that by the way. I’ve gotten better at it. I’m not as nervous anymore.’
“He is really good at it. Everything he says he thinks through. Nick doesn’t waste words because he doesn’t use many of them.”
49ERS INJURY UPDATE
>>
Safety Talanoa Hufanga, who sustained a season-ending knee injury in November, is one of the 49ers’ most positive-thinking players, so it’s no surprise how he feels about watching this Super Bowl run.
“It’s great. There is no bittersweetness,” Hufanga said. “This is the Super Bowl. We’re going to win a ring. That’s our goal — as a player, you never want to come in and lose. I’m very happy for my guys.”
Hufanga is one of eight players on injured reserve who likely won’t play for the 49ers today against the Kansas City Chiefs in the Super Bowl. Defensive tackle Kalia Davis has been practicing for two weeks and is questionable to come off IR if needed.
No other 49er required an injury designation. Practicing fully Friday were tight end George Kittle (toe), defensive tackle Arik Armstead (foot, knee), cornerback Ambry Thomas (ankle) and Davis (knee).
— Bay Area News Group
During today’s game, sharp-eyed fans may spot a patch on the players’ jerseys bearing the letters “NKH.”
The initials, in gold letters inside a football, aren’t a fancy new logo — they’re a tribute to Norma Knobel Hunt, a former minority owner of the Chiefs whose life and career were deeply intertwined with the Kansas City franchise and the early history of the National Football League.
Hunt died last June at 85, leaving a remarkable legacy. She is believed to be the only woman who’s attended all 57 Super Bowls. And she’s credited with indirectly helping her late husband, Chiefs founder Lamar Hunt, come up with the “Super Bowl” name for the championship game.
“Norma was a football fan first and foremost. And she will forever be linked to one of the greatest franchises in sports history,” said Lyndsey D’arcangelo, a women’s sports advocate and author of “Hail Mary: The Rise and Fall of the National Women’s Football League.”
“Her legacy isn’t just about being an NFL owner, but more as an invested fan of the game. Women were often kept on the outside in all
EXPLAINING ‘NKH’ >> aspects of football. Only recently have we begun to explore and recognize the contributions and participation women have made to the game,” D’arcangelo said.
The Super Bowl was born after the venerable National Football League agreed in 1966 to merge with its upstart rival, the American Football League. The Chiefs won the Super Bowl in 1970 — and then didn’t win another for 50 years.
But Hunt said she attended 40 Super Bowls with her husband over the years, describing the event as the “epitome of shared joy.”
SUPER BOWL LOSS HAUNTS HARBAUGH >>
Jim Harbaugh won a national championship at Michigan last month and returned to the NFL to coach the Los Angeles Chargers.
He still agonizes over losing a Super Bowl with the 49ers 11 years ago.
Harbaugh is in town and will be watching closely when San Francisco faces the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday.
He was on the sideline coaching the 49ers when they rallied from a 28-6 secondhalf deficit only to fall short against his brother, John Harbaugh, and the Baltimore Ravens on Feb. 3, 2013.
Colin Kaepernick threw an incomplete pass to Michael Crabtree on fourthand-5 from the 7 with under two minutes remaining in that game and the Ravens prevailed 34-31 after taking a safety to secure the win.
“There’s probably not a day that goes by that I don’t think about that game and what we could’ve done down at the end, (7) yards away from getting into the end zone,” Harbaugh told The Associated Press on Friday. “You leave that field and you go, there might be other days. Then you start thinking that might be the only day. Just wanted another shot at it, take another crack. My brother, my best friend, I love him, I’m proud of him. He earned that and he deserved that and his team did . ... When I say it motivates me every day, it’s every day.”
Gabriel Chaidez guessed correctly.
The 6-foot-3 sophomore goalkeeper dove to his left to make the save that won the shootout as Ganesha defeated Rancho Cucamonga 1-1 (3-2 on penalty kicks) in a CIF Southern Section Division 3 second-round match Friday night.
“It was a straight-up guess,” Chaidez said. “I’ve been getting them all wrong, but I just had a gut feeling to dive left. I went left and I saved it.”
Chaidez finished with nine saves for Ganesha (15-2-4 overall), which has eliminated Rancho Cucamonga from the postseason each of the last two years.
“Last year, I was in a shell,” Chaidez said. “This year, I knew my team needed me and I was able to step up and make plays.”
The Giants are riding a six-match winning streak. They will host Animo Leadership in Tuesday’s quarterfinal round.
“Right now we have all the momentum that we need, and this game
RANCHO CUCAMONGA >>
Correspondent