Ex49er comes to terms with retirement
Family time suits lineman Person following Super Bowl start, release
Mike Person grew up flyfishing around his small hometown of Glendive, finding peace and solitude in the rivers, streams and creeks of eastern Montana.
This summer, around Dublin, Ohio, where he lives with his wife and three young children, the 49ers’ justretired right guard has spent time on the Mad River, the state’s best trout stream, and at Darby Creek, a prime spot for smallmouth bass.
“I’ve definitely reflected these past few months,” said Person, 32. “That’s kind of the reason why I like to get out on the water. It gives you that time to decompress and really think.”
Person’s past six months have provided six years’ worth of reflection: He went from the euphoria of starting in Super Bowl LIV in February, to the devastation of being released in March, to announcing his retirement with mixed emotions in June.
Two months later, during the first August since junior high that he’s not preparing for a football season, he recently acknowledged the physical toll exacted by his nineyear career and the coronavirus pandemic made it a logical time to leave the NFL.
And yet, the journeyman, a seventhround pick from Montana State who was waived or released on six occasions, admits he wasn’t completely ready to be done with his journey.
A few NFL teams offered him a veteranminimum salary and a chance to compete for a roster spot in training camp after he was released.
“Part of me thinks this was a good year to be done with it,” Person said. “It’s kind of a blessing. But there’s always that itch deep down inside you that wants to keep playing. We love to play football.”
Of the 44 offensive and defensive starters in last season’s Super Bowl, Person is one of two who no longer is employed in the NFL.
The other, his teammate, 35yearold Pro Bowl left tackle Joe Staley, retired in April, and his exit inspired a long news release from the team, a wave of testimonials from his peers and a tearful news conference.
Person, like most NFL players, quietly faded away.
As with many players, he was deemed expendable because he could be replaced by someone younger, cheaper and healthier.
The 49ers saved $2.5 million in salary cap space by releasing Person, who missed the final two regularseason games last year with a neck injury that involved a disk issue that was causing numbness in his left arm. Person also was dealing with pain in his knees, elbows and wrist, standard wear and tear from nearly a decade in the league. He returned in January and played through pain for the 49ers’ three postseason games.
Person started 30 games over the past two seasons and signed a threeyear, $8.2 million extension in 2019. He likely will be replaced this season by Daniel Brunskill, 26, who will earn $675,000.
Person isn’t naive to the NFL’s cold realities, but he wasn’t expecting to receive backtoback calls in March from general manager John Lynch and head coach Kyle Shanahan, who explained their reasoning for his release.
“The path that I’ve taken, (being released) is always in the back of your head, and you always kind of joke about it,” Person said. “But I’d just resigned last year, so I was pretty surprised. But I’m never going to have hard feelings for anyone in that building. It’s just one of those things that happens. And you just have to learn to get over it.”
Part of Person’s mind would like to keep playing. But his body has told him otherwise: After resting for a month after the Super Bowl, his first offseason workout caused his pain to resurface, as if he hadn’t taken any time away.
His neck is stiff some mornings. And it can flare up when his children, Sean, 5, Nora, 3, and Eli, 1, climb on him. He has been told the discomfort will fade now that he’s no longer consistently colliding with 300pound defensive linemen.
His father, Jim, was his football coach at Dawson County High School, and Person plans to get his master’s in education. He wants to coach at the prep level and possibly move on to college or the NFL.
As the 49ers begin preparing for another Super Bowl run, he’s thankful to be with his children and wife, Kelly, whom he probably
“I wish the path could have been a little bit easier, but that’s something I can be proud of.”
Mike Person, a seventhround pick who was cut six times
wouldn’t have seen for six months if he played this season during a pandemic.
The 49ers are returning 18 of 22 starters from last year’s team, and most fans can quickly tick off three no longer on the roster: Staley and two other Pro Bowl players, defensive tackle DeForest Buckner and wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders.
Person, of course, is the one most likely to be forgotten. But his improbable career, filled with pain and perseverance, is worth remembering for those in need of inspiration.
He was a player drafted 239th overall whose career lasted longer than all but three of the 51 players who were selected with him in the seventh round of the 2011 draft.
He dealt with powerful anxiety early in his career, sought help from a sports psychologist and, finally, went from the roster fringes to a vital role: Including playoff games, he made 33 of his 51 career starts in his final two seasons.
He was cut by three teams that reached the Super Bowl before realizing a dream of playing in the NFL’s biggest game.
In his penultimate start, a 3720 NFC Championship Game win over Green Bay, he was part of an offensive line that paved the way for 285 rushing yards, sixth most in a playoff game since 1970.
Person recently thought about the bookends of his NFL life when he was out fishing. He entered the league during a players strike, and he left when it was dealing with a pandemic. He figured that’s fitting: In between, he had a career that he has said could best be described as “chaotic.”
What does that all mean? He’s not sure. But this is where his mind wanders when he’s out on the water, quietly reflecting on a journey worth remembering.
“I wish the path could have been a little bit easier, but that’s something I can be proud of,” Person said. “To be a kid from Glendive? It was a hell of a ride. And I’m pretty damn proud about it.”