Super Bowl so near, yet so far for Person
All NFL players say they want to play in a Super Bowl, but 49ers right guard Mike Person is different: He really, really wants to play in a Super Bowl.
You see, Person is the king of almost reaching the Super Bowl.
After spending his rookie season in 2011 with the 49ers, Person was among their final roster cuts in 2012 … and the 49ers reached the Super Bowl.
In 2012, he spent the season with the Seahawks, but he was released after the season opener in 2013 … and the Seahawks won the Super Bowl.
Finally, he spent 2015 with the Falcons, but he was released seven games into the 2016 season … and the Falcons reached the Super Bowl.
After a recent training-camp practice, Person smiled at his unfortunate claim to fame.
“Yeah, I’ve been cut from three teams that have gone to the Super Bowl,” Person said. “I really do want to stick around for one of those.”
Person’s six-team, seven-year career clearly has been filled with some painful pink slips, but at the moment, it features an unexpected opportunity.
After seven training-camp practices, Person, who wasn’t on the roster three months ago, has emerged as a candidate to open the regular season as a starter.
The 49ers’ right-guard competition this summer was expected to pit two first-rounders, Joshua Garnett (2016 draft) and Jonathan Cooper (drafted by Arizona in 2013), but both players have had careers marked by injuries, and knee ailments are slowing them this summer.
Cooper, who was waived by the Browns and Patriots in 2016, has yet to participate in team drills after he had knee surgery following a bounceback season last year in Dallas. Meanwhile, Garnett, who missed last year because of knee surgery, has missed the past four practices with a knee ailment that appears to be testing Kyle Shanahan’s patience. On Wednesday, Shanahan said he was “surprised” Garnett didn’t practice, but expected him to participate Thursday.
Garnett’s continued absence left the majority of first-team snaps Thursday to Person, who has a history with Shanahan. In 2015, when Shanahan was the Falcons’ offensive coordinator, Person started 14 games at center. He became expendable in 2016 after Atlanta signed Pro Bowl center Alex Mack, but Person left a favorable impression on Shanahan that led to their reunion this spring.
Neither Garnett nor Cooper has played a game in Shanahan’s system.
“Obviously, I’d like to think that I’m here for a reason,” Person said. “Once they called and wanted me to come work out, I said ‘absolutely’ because I’m one step ahead of a lot of guys just coming in. I already know the basics of this offense, although I’ve got to keep fine tuning that.”
Person, who played at Montana State, is back where his career started. And he has beaten the odds to still be around, considering he was seventh-round pick of the 49ers in 2011 who told his dad as a rookie that it would be “a hell of a career” to last seven seasons in the NFL.
Person reached that benchmark last year, and his longevity is a testament to his versatility. He played tackle for his first four seasons, had made all 18 of his NFL starts at center and has started games at left guard and right guard in the preseason.
His experience at all five offensive-line positions means he could land on a spot on the 53-man roster, even if Cooper or Garnett wins the starting spot. In such a scenario, the 49ers could part with the loser of the competition, Cooper or Garnett, each of whom plays only guard, and keep Person.
“You see some guys that can only play one position, and if that’s the case you better be darn good at that spot,” Person said. “I don’t have unrealistic visions of myself. I know my talents and I know my limitations. I’m trying to find a way to stick around as a long as I can, and accept whatever challenge comes my way.”
Person obviously isn’t delusional, but he firmly believed he had something to offer a team this offseason when his phone refused to ring. For about two months after the start of free agency, he worked out in Overland Park, Kan., and wondered if he was preparing for a chance that would never come.
“After each week went by after the start of free agency, I just kind of started saying ‘I hope someone calls because I don’t feel right hanging them up right now,’” Person said. “And luckily enough, (the 49ers) are taking a chance on me. And I’m going to give them all I can.”
The 49ers made Person earn a spot: He signed after participating in a tryout that included three other offensive linemen at the team facility.
“We were chuckling it up and having some laughs in the locker room, but once we got out here you could kind of tell that everyone was kind of on edge,” Person said.
Person, who figured his career could be in the balance, agreed the tryout was filled with the pressure usually associated with a regular-season game.
Was it anything like the pressure players feel in a Super Bowl?
Person doesn’t know that, but perhaps the king of almost reaching the NFL’s biggest game finally will find out.
Now that would make for a hell of a career.