Mostert not opting out, vows to win Super Bowl
Raheem Mostert is not opting out of the 49ers season, not that it was an easy decision for the starting running back, which he proclaimed himself to be Wednesday.
“It was a very long and tough discussion with my wife,” Mostert said on a video conference. “She’s back in Cleveland with the family, with my 13-monthold son as well as we’re expecting our second child at the end of September.
“The discussions we’ve had, man, have been long and extensive. But she understands the importance of me being out here and providing for the family.”
Mostert is bunkering at the 49ers’ team hotel as training camp begins, doing his best to
shelter from the coronavirus pandemic. He’s cautiously advised his family not to join him in California, and he understands if his wife, Devon, does not want him flying home to attend the birth of their second son.
“We’ve both had nights where we’ve cried on each other, especially before I left, just talking about how we’re going to manage this whole deal,” Mostert added.
Wide receiver Travis Benjamin cited family concerns in becoming the first 49er to opt out before today’s NFL deadline, and Mostert said he’s counseled linebacker Mark Nzeocha, who also has a young son and is pondering his options.
“We just have to keep us accountable, and the guys in our locker room accountable, so we can go home and be safe and make up the lost time with our family,” Mostert added. “It’s tough to think about it but in the grand scheme of things it will all pay off. We have to do our part and make sure we’re A-OK.”
Mostert was at the forefront of athletes doing their best to mitigate exposure, as he canceled a March appearance at a Santa Clara autograph show.
He covered a bevy of topics
during Wednesday’s video session such as:
CONTRACT SQUABBLE >> Although his agent went public with a trade request before eventually landing Mostert’s deal with the 49ers last week, Mostert never envisioned himself leaving. “I knew it’d be right regardless of how it’d play out, and I’d be a Niner no matter what,” Mostert said. “It was about moving pieces, not only contractwise as a business but as a family.” STARTING ROLE >> He claimed he is the 49ers’ starter, even though he did not start any game last year while breaking out with 772 rushing yards in the regular season and setting a 49ers record with 220 yards in the NFC Championship game.
He spent offseason workouts in Cleveland working on his muscle mass and endurance so he could handle a 20-carry workload per game, if needed. “I am the starting running back, and my confidence level is up to the guys considered top backs,” said Mostert.
Running backs coach Bobby Turner told his unit Tuesday they have four to six starting-caliber rushers, which is indeed the case with Tevin Coleman, Jerick McKinnon, Jeff Wilson Jr. and fullback Kyle Juszczyk in the room. “I do feel I’m the starter. It’s no dig to anyone in the room. We’re all brothers and that’s the approach,” Mostert said.
“I just want to go out there and be dominant. When I step onto that field, I want everybody to say, ‘That’s a bad (dude). He’s somebody we can’t take lightly.’ I want to put the fear in other team’s eyes,” Mostert added.
“Even when I play gunner, I want people to know I’m the best special teams player to ever play this game. That’s the mindset I’ll have at running back. I want them to know I’m the best running back to ever play this game, even though it doesn’t show as far as my career wise, but I don’t care about that. Once I get that opportunity, I never look back.” SUPER BOWL MENTALITY >> Mostert espoused the 49ers’ defining mentality as they try avenging last season’s 31-20 loss in Super Bowl LIV to Kansas City.
“I know all the guys in this building, we have some unfinished business. We’ve seen all the different sayings of how a team doesn’t make it back to the Super Bowl the following year. We don’t care anything about that.
“As George emphasized at the Super Bowl, he will be back, and that was everyone’s mentality. I feel we’ll be back this year and we’re actually going to win it. That’s our goal and mindset. The past is the past and we’re going to move on and dominate this game the way we know how.
“The energy right now is just crazy.”