IN THE AFTERMATH
49ers quarterback Garoppolo, other leaders swear off Super Bowl hangover
Jimmy Garoppolo and other 49ers leaders have a message for their fan base: A winning mentality is all they need to overcome the dreaded Super Bowl hangover.
“It all goes back to the mental side of it,” Garoppolo said on the 49ers’ state-of-the-franchise virtual series.
“If you have the mentality of not being satisfied — you got to the Super Bowl, didn’t win it, where do you go from here. It’s all a mentality.”
Tight end George Kittle “100%” agreed that the 49ers’ mentality will help them rebound from their Super Bowl collapse against the Kansas City Chiefs.
“We all have positive people in our locker room and it elevates everybody playing on the football field,” Kittle said.
Only three teams have won the Super Bowl after losing it in the previous season, thus producing a “hangover” effect. That said, this has not been an ordinary offseason, as players were schooled virtually and conducted workouts on their own.
Right tackle Mike McGlinchey said a hangover is “not an option, because of who we are and the way we work.”
The biggest risk to the 49ers offense will be at left tackle. Trent Williams, despite replacing
Joe Staley, does not feel a Lombardi Trophy rests on his transition.
‘They don’t need me to win. They went to the biggest game in our league last year,” Williams said.
Garoppolo, after playing the first full season of his six-year career, credits the 49ers’ winning mentality to how everyone interacts, how it’s “normal, not fake. It’s just cool and it’s very unique.”
Garoppolo led workouts the past two months at San Jose State and, more recently, in Nashville.
Added Garoppolo: “It was good just to be around the guys again. It’s refreshing.”
Training camp is scheduled to open July 28 at the 49ers’ Santa Clara facility.
“The run we made was unbelievable, but obviously one team ends the season happy and obviously we want some redemption,” defensive end Nick Bosa said. “That’s where our focus is going to be.
“We’re itching to get back to work because no one’s really taken this long of a break before, and obviously what’s going on in the country is scary. We’re just hoping to get this figured out and get to it.”
Added linebacker Fred Warner: “Our focus is to make it back to the big game and winning it this time.” FIRST-ROUND DRAFT PICKS
KINLAW, AIYUK SIGN >> Firstround draft picks Javon
Kinlaw and Brandon Aiyuk signed their contracts.
Once Kinlaw penned his, it was time to give thanks. And to do that, he took to Instagram. He captioned a picture of him holding a contract in his lap and hoisting the No. 1 sign with a pen in his right hand, all while casually sitting in sweats on the back hatch of a white, sports-utility vehicle.
Kinlaw wrote: “Somebody tell my momma I became a millionaire today. Somebody tell her that her prayers was answered.”
Kinlaw overcame being homeless as a youth in Washington, D.C. before moving to South Carolina at 13 and eventually launching his college career, first at Jones County Junior College (Ellisville, Miss.) before moving on to South Carolina.
As the 14th overall draft pick, Kinlaw is slotted to earn $15.5 million over four years, with the 49ers holding a fifth-year option.
Tight end Charlier Woerner, a sixth-round pick, is the only member of the 49ers’ rookie draft class who is unsigned.