NFL DRAFT:
Niners trade picks to acquire OL Trent Williams after stalwart Joe Staley announces retirement.
Joe Staley changed out of his No. 74 jersey a final time, put on a white sweatshirt with the 49ers’ crest, then took a seat atop a media podium to emotionally unpack the heartache of another Super Bowl loss.
This was Staley’s last image as a 49er.
It should not be the prevailing, lasting memory of the franchise’s greatestever left tackle, who announced his retirement Saturday, the same day the 49ers traded for his successor, Trent Williams, from Washington.
Staley’s service extended beyond protecting the blindsides of a dozen 49ers’ quarterbacks, starting with his good buddy Alex Smith and closing with Jimmy Garoppolo.
He was the franchise’s frontman during especially trying times. That was a chore he took on somewhat reluctantly yet dutifully, as their mosttenured veteran, amid familiar losses
and inevitable coaching changes.
Coach Kyle Shanahan spoke with Staley over the phone a couple days before the draft, learning that the 35-year-old captain was “very confident” in his decision to retire. That sparked the 49ers’ plan to pursue Williams — and eventually honor Staley in an appropriate manner after the COVID-19 lockdown.
“We’ll have our parade as soon as we can and the quarantine is over, because he deserves it more than anything,” Shanahan said. “I love the guy. It was really hard on us when we realized he wasn’t going to play this year. But talking to the man, knowing the person and his family, there’s no doubt he’s making the right decision for his health and his future.”
Staley arrived with the 28th pick in 2007, two months before the first iphone was released by Silicon Valley neighbor Apple.
Staley announced his exit via a social-media post.
“After 13 incredible seasons with the San Francisco 49ers, and many recent months of consideration, it is with very mixed emotions that I am announcing my retirement from the NFL,” Staley wrote, in part. “The game of football has been a true passion of mine since i was 8, but my body is telling me it is time.”
On the field, he used his underreported strength to stymie pass rushers, and he exhibited his athletic prowess racing way down field as a blocker or even a receiver (three career catches, 26 yards).
Remember that block he threw to spring Alex Smith’s end-around run in an epic playoff win over the New Orleans Saints? It was the first of 11 playoffs games in Staley’s career. The 49ers went 7-4 in those, including Super Bowl losses seven years ago and 12 weeks ago.
Staley was so intent on making one last Super Bowl run that he overcame a broken leg and a mangled knuckle to finish out last season.
In good times and bad, Staley knew when to be a serious spokesman, or the funny man.
“For the last 13 years, Joe Staley conducted himself in a manner that epitomizes the 49ers way and set a tremendous example for his teammates and our community,” 49ers CEO Jed York said in a statement. “A consummate professional, one of the best players in the game and a great human being, Joe has left an indelible mark on this franchise and everyone he has come into contact with throughout his career.”
When Staley walked off Seattle’s ultimate battleground Dec. 29, after his final regular-season game, he shed tears and relished the moment. Afterward, he denied he was headed for retirement. He said he was still under contract (through 2021), that “I still love playing football.”
That love resurfaced, Staley has said, once Shanahan took over as coach in 2017, igniting a turnaround that took a 2-14 franchise to a NFC Championship in just three years. Along the way, Staley developed a perfect kinship with Mike Mcglinchey, their top draft pick in 2018.
When Staley began what would be his final training camp last season, he instantly mentored defensive end Nick Bosa, the ensuing NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year. After an initial camp practice, Staley took a seat on his helmet next to his young daughters, Grace and Audrey, and they gazed into the practice field and the South Bay horizon.
“They are my world,” Staley wrote in his retirement post. “To choose to play another season when my body says it’s done, and risk my future with them and my ability to be the father I want to be, would be selfish and reckless. I want my daughters to know that I will always choose them, no matter what.”
General manager John Lynch reached out earlier in the week to Staley’s agent, Ryan Tollner, to find out Staley’s choice. Shanahan held out hope Staley would return for “a couple years.”
“When you lose a guy like Joe, there is a huge panic there,” Shanahan said. “We couldn’t be guaranteed it’d work out with Washington but (Lynch) was as persistent as he could be. We took that risk. That’s why we were excited it came through (with the Williams trade).”
Staley was such a role model to teammates that they poured out their sorrow for him after the Feb. 2 Super Bowl loss in Miami, a defeat in which they let a 10-point lead slip away in the fourth quarter.
“I love Joe Staley. He is incredible,” tight end George Kittle added. “… There is nothing more than I want than to give him a win and give him a ring. So that one hurts.”
Mcglinchey posted a heartfelt bon voyage to Staley via Instagram. Included in the caption of the two was this: “I wore your jersey number in high school with the hope that I could one day do the things that you did in this great game, and to have had the opportunity to become your teammate has been one of the greatest honors of my career.
“You are a Hall of Fame player and person,” Mcglinchey added, “and you will be missed on our team, and I am thankful that I gained a friend and mentor for life.”
Mcglinchey geo-tagged his photo of Staley as: Canton, Ohio (home of the Pro Football Hall of Fame).
Staley’s final words of his retirement missive: “I hope to be present with the organization moving forward and will always have a deep love for the San Francisco 49ers and Bay Area”
“While I am sad and disappointed my time has come to step away, I leave with my head held high, knowing I gave my all to the game. I fulfilled the dreams I had as a kid. Now, I will turn my attention to helping my daughters cultivate and achieve dreams of their own . ... With sincere love and gratitude, Joe Staley.”