49ers guard was cut three times by Super Bowl teams.
49ers’ Person on center stage after bouncing around the NFL
Mike Person was released by the 49ers on Aug. 31, 2012.
And the 49ers went on to play in the Super Bowl that season.
“That one was tough,” Person recalled Friday.
Person was released by the Seahawks on Sept. 14, 2013.
And the Seahawks went on to win the Super Bowl that season.
“That one kind of hurt, too,” Person said.
Person was released by the Falcons on Oct. 25, 2016.
And the Falcons went on to play in the Super Bowl that season.
“That one that kind of hurt the most,” Person said.
Now, Person, 31, a nineyear journeyman who has endured plenty of unkind cuts, is finally going where three of his former teams went without him.
“Yeah,” the 49ers’ starting right guard said, smiling, “this feels pretty good.”
Person’s road to Super Bowl LIV against the Chiefs on Feb. 2 has been a bumpy journey that’s included six teams (including two separate stints with the 49ers and Colts) and three Super Bowl Sundays when he watched the big game with mixed feelings as his exteam played without him.
“With Atlanta, I had a lot of really good buddies,” Person said of watching the Falcons’ loss to the Patriots in Super Bowl LI. “And I was cheering for them, obviously. But it was just kind of bittersweet. On one hand, you want to see your buddies be really successful. On the other hand, it’s ‘I could be part of that.’ And you feel like you should be a part of that.”
Person began having serious Super Bowl thoughts this season when the 49ers started 80. Fittingly, though, in a career in which few things have come easily, it appeared in late December that Person, who had made 30 straight starts, would be a backup if San Francisco reached the big game.
Person dealt with a neck and shoulder injury this season that increasingly affected his performance until he was replaced by Daniel Brunskill for the final two regularseason games.
The plan was to hope rest provided some relief and allowed Person to play in the first postseason games of his career. But there was no guarantee his injury, which won’t fully heal until the offseason, would allow him to return to the starting lineup.
“It was tough,” Person said. “You start having some thoughts you’d rather not be having. It was definitely a stressful time. But talking with (head coach) Kyle (Shanahan), he’s going to tell you exactly what he expects of you and exactly what the plan is … And it was just, ‘We need to get your neck right.’ Just plain and simple. Because we all kind of knew we had the opportunity to do something special.”
Person, who has played through a host of injuries the past two seasons, has done it again in the playoffs. And he’s done it well: Person has been part of an offensive line that’s led the way as the 49ers have averaged 235.5 rushing yards, 5.3 yards per carry and had six rushing touchdowns in 17point wins against the Vikings and Packers, respectively.
“I’m very thankful that Mike get his shot,” right tackle Mike McGlinchey said. “The guys on this team that have been here and put that time in and dedicated their whole lives and careers to something like this, especially the grind Mike Person has gone though ... It makes it that much more special.”
It’s even more special for Person because he’s heading to the Super Bowl with the team that drafted him in the seventh round in 2011 out of Montana State. He wanted to eventually return to the 49ers because he felt the organization took care
“It was tough. You start having some thoughts you’d rather not be having. It was definitely a stressful time.” 49ers right guard Mike Person on his neck and shoulder injury
of its players, but that doesn’t mean his first stint with the team was always enjoyable.
After he was inactive for each game during his rookie season, he endured a rugged training camp under head coach Jim Harbaugh in 2012.
Harbaugh routinely had the young players stay on the field for at least 30 minutes after each practice ended and they’d continue to bang on each other to, in Harbaugh’s vernacular, “build a callus.”
“That training camp really made me question football,” Person said. “Because it’s a grinder. It was one of those famous Harbaugh training camps …
“My only experience with the NFL was his way of operating. I was like, ‘If every team does it like this, man, I give a lot of kudos to everyone else. If (left tackle) Joe (Staley) has already done this for five years? Man.”
Of course, Person was just beginning to experience the NFL grinder.
The constant anxiety he felt as a player on the roster fringes prompted him to start seeing a sports psychologist before his fourth season. And, of course, there were those three pink slips from teams that went on to Super Bowls.
Person actually turned down a contract offer from the Saints in April 2018 because he decided he’d retired. But Shanahan, his offensive coordinator when he spent part of two seasons with the Falcons, lured him back to the 49ers about three weeks later.
He’s since enjoyed a latecareer blossoming that’s included a threeyear, $9 million contract extension and, now, a longawaited trip to the NFL’s biggest game.
Would he change anything about his journey? The husband and father of two young children smiled.
“Obviously, I would have liked to avoid adding so much stress to my wife’s life by bouncing around to so many teams,” Person said. “… But this is sweet.”