Family affair: 49ers coach, sons, will be on sidelines, with different rooting interests.
Bragging rights, ring(s) at stake for Embrees on both sidelines
B5
MIAMI — Natalyn Embree’s youngest son, Connor, is a defensive assistant coach for the Chiefs, who will face the 49ers on Sunday in Super Bowl LIV.
Natalyn is really proud of Connor.
And she’s really rooting for his team to lose.
“It is two against one,” Natalyn explained, laughing. “And I have to side with the paycheck on this one.”
Welcome to the game inside the Super Bowl: the Embree Bowl.
Connor will share the field at Hard Rock Stadium with his dad, Jon, the 49ers tight ends coach, and his older brother, Taylor, a 49ers offensive assistant.
The odds of this happening are astronomical.
And the prekickoff emotions figure to be indescribable.
***
Before this season, Jon, 54, had spent 10 years in the NFL with Kansas City, Washington, Cleveland, Tampa Bay and the 49ers and had never been a part of a team that won a playoff game.
He wasn’t sure a day like Sunday would ever come. And he never imagined he’d share it with his sons.
“To be able to have an opportunity to coach in a Super Bowl, it’s like, ‘Holy cow,’ ” Embree said. “And then to be able to share it with your son is unbelievable. And then going against your son? It’s surreal.”
It’s also been fodder for more trash talking, a language that’s long been spoken in their hypercompetitive home.
“I just hope I’m the happy one on Sunday,” Connor said, “and they’re asking me if they can take pictures with the ring.”
Said Taylor: “Someone in the Embree household is going to have a ring. And, hopefully, it’s two of them and not one.”
The winner — or winners — won’t just get a ring. They will sport an “Embree Bowl” Tshirt designed for the occasion. Sunday will technically be “Embree Bowl II”: The 49ers beat the Chiefs in a preseason game in August at Kansas City, with Connor winning a shirt.
***
Before they were preparing to square off in the Super Bowl, the Embrees, along with much of the rest of America, watched it together at home.
Unlike most, however, their family room served as a stage to reenact the big game. Taylor, now 31, and Connor, 28, would dive off the couch for a football thrown by the other — before they began diving on each other.
“Watching football in our house was a contact sport,” Jon said. “It would turn into, ‘You guys go in the basement. I’m trying to watch the game.’ ”
The tone was set by Jon, a former NFL tight end who used sports to teach life lessons such as preparation and perseverance.
Actually, it wasn’t just sports. Games of tag resulted in broken furniture. Games of whocangetoutofthecar faster resulted in bruised feelings. Connor estimates Taylor still owes their parents several hundred dollars for Xbox controllers busted after videogame losses.
On the topic of video games: There is a story, now part of family lore, in which Taylor, perhaps in fifth grade, bet Jon that he couldn’t sink a long putt on
“I’m so proud of (my dad). I’m so proud of my brother. I’m proud of our last name.”
Connor Embree, Kansas City Chiefs defensive assistant coach
“Tiger Woods Golf.”
Jon told Taylor he’d have to run around their neighborhood naked if he lost the bet. Jon drained the 60footer ... and he did allow Taylor to wear his sneakers.
“I knew there was no way he was letting me out of it,” Taylor said. “As soon he sunk the putt, I knew I’d better stretch and run the fastest 100 I’ve run in my life because this is happening.”
Said Jon, who called neighbors to alert them of Taylor’s allskin sprint: “I guess I’d probably get arrested now . ... That might explain why he’s not a fan of Tiger like I am.” ***
Jon and his sons competed in everything: pool, cards, basketball, tennis, golf, darts, bowling and throw the wad of paper in the trash can. And they weren’t alone. Daughter Hannah Embree, 23, was an accomplished high school tennis player who reached the state finals in doubles. And Natalyn plays the sport in a competitive USTA league.
As for the boys, they became most passionate about football. And those life lessons served them well as they maximized their potential.
Taylor recalls one high school recruiting website labeled him a halfstar recruit — a ranking he didn’t know existed — before he became a fouryear starter at UCLA who finished eighth in school history in receptions.
A halfstar? Connor, ever competitive, notes he was a nostar. Still the undersized walkon (5foot10, 179 pounds) at Kansas earned a scholarship and ranked fourth in the Big 12 in puntreturn average in 2013.
Jon is proud of their grit. He says “no one wanted” Connor, who earned the nickname “Tonka” as a kid because of his toughness. And he says many thought Taylor only earned a scholarship because Jon had previously coached at UCLA.
He’s more proud of this: They both earned college degrees in 3½ years.
“You can find a million reasons why you can’t — find the one reason you can,” Jon said. “I say that all the time. And they found the one reason why they could be successful. And they held on to that. And they’re running with it.”
Taylor, like Connor, also broke into the NFL coaching ranks with the Chiefs, whose offensive coordinator, Eric Bieniemy, is a close friend of Jon. That connection helped them get their foot in the door after they’d both served as graduate assistants at their alma maters.
They are now hoping to enjoy a coaching career that could rival that of their dad’s.
***
Jon Embree’s latest success story is 49ers AllPro tight end George Kittle, a 2017 fifthround pick who has credited Embree for much of his unexpected success.
In the college ranks, Embree coached two winners of the Mackey Award, given to the nation’s best tight end, at Colorado (Daniel Graham) and UCLA (Marcedes Lewis).
Embree began his NFL career with the Chiefs with Tony Gonzalez from 200608. And the tight end, a firstballot Hall of Famer, had the most catches and yards during any threeseason stretch of his 17year career with Embree.
“Jon Embree is the NFL’s best tight ends coach, I think, ever,” said Gonzalez, who already had seven Pro Bowl seasons before Embree joined the Chiefs. “Look at his track record. Everywhere he’s gone. Just look it up. And see all the Pro Bowlers and AllPros that he puts out.
“He challenged me. I challenged myself, too. At that point I was pretty selfmotivated. But that’s why we worked so well together. I loved being coached by Jon Embree.”
***
Jon doesn’t plan to coach indefinitely. And the countdown on his career is the biggest reason Natalyn is rooting for the 49ers on Sunday, noting Connor has many years remaining to reach another Super Bowl.
“So I got the sympathy vote,” Jon said, smiling. “Hopefully they don’t put the final shovel of dirt on me before the final seconds tick off the clock.”
The Embrees are big on laughter. And love.
Jon, Taylor and Connor desperately want to win Sunday. If not, though, there will be some solace because the winning team includes family.
“I would be pissed, but so proud of Connor,” Taylor said. “I’ve always been very proud of him. He’s tough, man. He never breaks.” Theirs is a football family. And that’s because Jon Embree’s sons watched him work and decided to follow him, never imagining their paths would meet at a game that guaranteed at least one Embree would be a champion.
“I strive to be like my dad — not just as a coach, but as a person. He’s taught me everything I know in life,” Connor said. “I know he’s proud of us. And I’m so proud of him. I’m so proud of my brother. I’m proud of our last name.” Eric Branch covers the 49ers for The San Francisco Chronicle. Email: ebranch@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @Eric_Branch