Super Bowl Hoopla A New Experience For Most 49ers
SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS) - San Francisco 49ers fans know all too well that it's been 18 years since the team has gone to the Super Bowl. So it's not too surprising that so few people in the organization has any experience with the phenomenon of Super Bowl week.
Only five of this year's 49ers have ever played in a Super Bowl. The 48 who haven't appear to be trying their best to downplay their nerves, and instead focus on the task at hand.
Super Bowl a New Experience For Many 49ers
"We're doing a pretty good job of limiting distractions, I mean we have been the whole time (Coach) Harbaugh's been here, we've always talked about that," offered left tackle Joe Staley, among those without Super Bowl experience. "You know, we have distractions, we have adverse situations, we have to deal with it and move on and prepare to win a game."
"I'm sure that when we get to game day and all that, I'll be feeling nerves and the excitement and anxiety of all of it, just because it's such a huge game," he added.
It can help, though, to put it all into perspective.
"This is football," stressed linebacker Tavares Gooden, who plays mostly on special teams. "At the end of the day, it's just football. A game that we've been playing since we were little boys."
"Everybody who made it here is because they have a switch they can turn on and off, you know we know when it's time to play and when it isn't. That's the job. That's part of being a professional," Gooden reasoned.
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