KC Wolf
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- Mar 19, 2019
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The 49ers are returning to the Super Bowl for the first time in seven years. In 2012, Trent Baalke was the General Manager, Jim Harbaugh the coach, Colin Kaepernick the quarterback, Frank Gore the leading rusher and Michael Crabtree the leading receiver.
The one big thing that hasn’t changed for the 49ers from then to now is the left tackle.
Joe Staley is the lone remaining player from the 49ers’ active roster from the 2012 season.
“Going into the game, you kind of tell yourself this is another game; I’ve been doing this my whole life,” Staley said Thursday, via Matt Kawahara of the San Francisco Chronicle, “and then you go out there for pregame warmups. That was the only time, for me, that I actually felt like ‘We’re in the Super Bowl,’ just because there were so many people around.”
Staley now is in his 13th season and better prepared for what he and the 49ers face in Miami.
“You’ve prepared for this moment,” Staley said. “But once that whistle blows and you play the first snap, everything is just same ol’.”
Staley pointed out the 49ers have other players who have experienced Super Bowl week with other teams, including Richard Sherman, Emmanuel Sanders and Jimmy Garoppolo.
“I think we have enough guys here that have gone through it,” Staley said, “and we have a good enough team and quality guys that it’s not going to be a distraction.”