49ers have players who have been there before
SANTA CLARA — Beware of Miami’s vice.
Two-time Super Bowl veteran Emmanuel Sanders took a somber tone for the briefest of moments Sunday night in the San Francisco 49ers’ raucous locker room to send a message that teammates will be hearing all week as they prepare for the tidal wave about to hit them.
“We’re going to a place — Miami — where it’s dangerous and bad things can happen,” said Sanders, a wide receiver who has experienced the highs and lows of the Super Bowl. “The team with the least distractions will more than likely win.”
Sanders, 32, is one of a handful of 49ers veterans who have tasted the richness of a Super Bowl. They plan to share their collective wisdom to help the newbies appreciate what they are about to experience at Super Bowl LIV after the team dismantled the Green Bay Packers 37-20 in the NFC Championship.
“The big part is winning the football game and not worry about running all over the place and doing appearances,” said placekicker Robbie Gould, who was in Miami in 2008 for Super Bowl XLI when his Chicago Bears lost to the Indianapolis Colts. “Just understand why you are there.”
Four years ago, Sanders led all receivers with six catches for 83 yards as the Denver Broncos bounced the Carolina Panthers 2410 in Super Bowl 50 at Levi’s Stadium.
Sanders, 32, did not enjoy as productive a day Sunday at Levi’s as the run-happy 49ers steamrolled the Packers in front of 72,211 fans.
Sanders also appeared in Super Bowl XLV, in 2011, with the Pittsburgh Steelers, who fell to the Packers 31-25 in Arlington, Texas. He had two catches before leaving in the second quarter with a fractured foot that required surgery.
Sanders, a two-time Pro Bowl player who grew up in Bellville, Texas, was not disparaging Miami when calling it a dangerous place. He was issuing a warning against the pitfalls of a sporting extravaganza that has become something of an American bacchanal. Gould added that players must keep their wits about them when facing the temptations to veer off the path to victory.
Cornerback Richard Sherman probably will not change the messaging that he has given to teammates all season. After all, as he said Sunday night, playing in the NFL takes a toll most fans never realize.
“You give up your body, you give up your health, you give up your time and you give up your mind,” he said. “You usually are somewhere between going psychotic and locked in. It’s such a crazy edge.”
Sherman, 32, played in back-to-back Super Bowls in 2014 and 2015 with Seattle. The Seahawks defeated Denver 43-8 in ‘14 in East Rutherford, New Jersey. They lost the next year to the New England Patriots 28-24 in Arizona in a game in which Sherman suffered a left elbow injury that led to surgery.
Sherman said that while advancing to the Super Bowl is great, “it doesn’t matter unless you win the game. It’s the best day of your life if you win and the worst day if you lose.”
Sherman, a Stanford graduate, plans to highlight his perspective this week as the 49ers focus on stopping quarterback Patrick Mahomes and Kansas City. The Chiefs took down the upstart Tennessee Titans 35-24 on Sunday to win the AFC title.
“At the end of the day it is going to be a challenging game,” said Sherman, who had his second interception of the NFL playoffs against the Packers. “It’s going to be a dogfight.”
For anyone satisfied with simply reaching the Super Bowl, Sherman had one question: “Why go?”
Sherman has another incentive to win: Son Rayden turns 5 three days after the game and asked his father for a Super Bowl ring for his birthday.
Rookie defensive end Nick Bosa said he has been soaking up Sherman’s words all season and expects more lessons come Monday.
“Sherm’s always just keeping our emotions low,” Bosa said. “When in the playoffs, everybody is fighting until the last second. The biggest message he gave us is to keep the foot on the throttle the entire game.”