49ers’ Super Bowl rebuild included bringing in an antagonist — but fans love Richard Sherman now
Not long ago, Richard Sherman wasn’t just the antagonist, he was the enemy. 49ers fans especially despised the man.
His bravado and look-at-me-glee in pounding his own shoulder pads was as inviting as Bay Area rush-hour traffic.
It was six years ago on Sunday that Sherman batted away the 49ers’ last-play attempt to win the NFC Championship game in Seattle while captaining the Seahawks secondary. And then he gloated about it with the mother of all postgame soundbites.
“Well, I’m the best corner in the game! When you try me with a sorry receiver like (Michael) Crabtree, that’s the result you gonna get. Don’t you EVER talk about me!”
Flash forward to Sunday inside raucous Levi’s Stadium. It was Sherman who sealed this NFC Championship rout of a bout over the Packers, 37-20, with a late interception. The polarizing defensive anchor for the 49ers then lay on his back, spent and unspeakably proud. He was engulfed by teammates. 49ers fans cheered him like a conquering hero. Many fans wore his jersey No. 25.
That’s what sports does. You can embrace those you once wanted to dropkick because he’s family now, misunderstood, right? Moments later, an NFC Championship hat on his head, Sherman took a long moment to reflect, red and gold confetti raining down.
An emotional Sherman said later, “It’s been a long road.”
Sherman’s comeback leads surprising team
The 49ers in the Super Bowl. Who would have dared think any of this would happen six years ago, or even six months ago?
That Sherman played like an All-Pro again this season speaks of his greatness, and he’ll remind you of that, too, if you have a moment. He allowed 266 yards against receivers this season coming into this one, a stunning number for a man his age, never mind the repaired Achilles tendon that washed out his 2017 season.
Sherman gave up a 65-yard play against the Packers, meaning he’s human and that Aaron Rodgers still has a cannon at age 36. But Rodgers is out of this race. He’s 0-3 against the 49ers in the playoffs. He wasn’t even born when his beloved 49ers beat the Cowboys in the 1982 NFC Championship with “The Catch” though he later dreamed of playing a roll in a championship game. He didn’t want this role.
Rodgers and his mates were sorely outnumbered and outclassed here.
The 49ers’ questions entering this season were a page long. None of them suggested any hint that a 4-12 team a year ago would emerge with home-field advantage, 15 victories, three defeats — each down to the wire — and a game in February. That’ll be in Miami for the Super Bowl.
How would Jimmy Garoppolo do after shredding his knee early in the 2018 season? Remember the five interceptions he threw in a training camp session and the social media panic that had fans wanting to ship him back to the New England Patriots for a bag of deflated footballs?
Garoppolo settled in nicely. He never had to carry the franchise, just steer the ship. He is 2-0 in his first two playoff starts. He is Bob Griese steady and his running game and defense stout. Garoppolo attempted just eight passes in looking like the Miami Dolphins’ 1970s Hall of Famer as the 49ers planned to unleash their running game, guards, tackles and tight ends.
Garoppolo hurt his knee against Kansas City, the very franchise he will face in Miami. Who projected that?
Cast of characters lifted 49ers
More questions: How would top draft pick Nick Bosa do after an injury plagued Ohio State career and a stop-and-start training camp with ailments? Well, no one can block the man, for starters. The rookie defensive end led another relentless charge on Sunday, especially in the first half when it looked like someone might urge the NFL to implement a running clock if it got any worse.
The 49ers bullied the Packers in the first two quarters, gashing them for rushing yards and buckling Rodgers’ passing pocket. The 49ers were more physical. They were faster, more efficient, and just plain better. Fox analyst Troy Aikman during the game said that the 49ers were so dominant that they had stripped the Packers of their “manhood.”
San Francisco tired in the second half on defense, but by the time Rodgers cut it to 14, it was over.
And where did Raheem Mostert come from?
He set a 49ers franchise playoff rushing record with 220 yards, the second most to Eric Dickerson’s 248 with the Rams in 1986 against Dallas. Mostert was offered a surfing contract out of high school but stuck with football. His teammates like to surf, or something like that, on the 49ers red paint in the end zone.
Mostert’s NFL career was a case study in perseverance: undrafted out of Purdue and then cut by the Eagles, Ravens, Browns, Jets and Bears, six times total. Fox analyst Terry Bradshaw handed the Halas Trophy to Mostert during a jubilant postgame moment and laughed as he said he called him, “Mozart.”
“I never gave up on my dream,” this Mozart said later. “Keep it rolling.”
A short time later, he was still rolling. Asked in the media room the last time he ran for 220 yards and four scores, Mostert replied, “About 30 minutes ago!”
Winning is a family affair
Before Bradshaw doled out hardware, Mike Shanahan did the honors, handing the Halas Trophy to club owner Jed York, never mind any sense of conflict of interest. He is the father of 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan and the offensive coordinator for the last 49ers team to win a Super Bowl, following the 1994 season. He later coached the Denver Broncos to two Super Bowl triumphs.
Father and son embraced. They are now the first such combination to be head coaches in a Super Bowl.
York spoke of a healthy culture and a united locker room. Neither was true during the tumultuous days earlier this decade, at the end of Harbaugh and during the lost Jim Tomsula and Chip Kelly coaching eras. York hired a first-time head coach in Shanahan and a first-time front-office man in general manager John Lynch before the 2017 season to six-year contracts.
This team is built to last a good while, young with plenty more to prove. The 49ers join the 1988 Bengals and 1999 Rams as the only teams to reach a Super Bowl after winning four or fewer games the previous season. Rebuilds do happen, and they can happen in a hurry. This club looks a lot like the 1981 49ers team that, two years after going 2-14, won Super Bowl XVI.
Like those 49ers, the current edition is loose. Players genuinely back each other. Winning does that, certainly. Tight end George Kittle pesters his coaches not to have passes thrown his way but to run the ball more. On Sunday night in a jubilant locker room and at the press podium, he wore a T-shirt that had a photo of a shirtless Garpollo taking a walk. Jimmy G even autographed it.
“I was saving it for a special occasion,” Kittle cracked.
This story was originally published January 20, 2020 at 4:00 AM.