The Super Bowl is right around the corner, which means that millions of Americans are getting ready to host parties in which they eat buffalo wings, chips and enough fatty foods to make any fast-food restaurant chain feel gross and pay more attention to million-dollar commercials than the actual game. For the players participating in the NFL's biggest game, it isn't always all business. There are plenty of parties for them too. However, there are a select few players are the 49ers roster that are stressing restraint when it comes to the non-football side of the Super Bowl so they can focus on what's important: bringing a sixth Lombardi Trophy back to San Francisco.
Super Bowl XLVII: 49ers Jonathan Goodwin, Bruce Miller stress responsibility heading into game
With all of the parties revolving around the Super Bowl, especially when the game is played in New Orleans, a couple 49ers players are stressing restraint heading into the biggest game of many players’ careers.
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One of those players is Jonathan Goodwin, the team's center, who is one of only a few on the team to have played in a Super Bowl before. He was on the 2009 New Orleans Saints team that defeated the Colts in the Super Bowl. He said that there were a few players that missed the bus to the team's Media Day, which brought on the wrath of Saints coach Sean Payton and quarterback Drew Brees.
“Payton yelled at us, got on us and left,” Goodwin said. “As soon as he left, Drew spoke.”
Payton and quarterback Drew Brees set the tone and made sure that everyone else fell in line.
“(Payton) stressed that it’s a business trip, we’re there to win the game, not to enjoy the parties,” Goodwin said. “We had some issues early on, and he kind of gave us a speech at media day and it got us back on track.”
Second-year fullback Bruce Miller knows that New Orleans is known for a party atmosphere and players will have many opportunities to have some fun outside of football. However, he also knows that he doesn't want to be the guy who becomes the distraction and ends up hurting some of the veteran players' chances of winning their first rings.
“You don’t want that on your shoulders, to be the one who causes a distraction or anything like that,” Miller said. “Yeah, you don’t want to see those guys coming.”
Miller also knows that his chances of playing in more than one Super Bowl are slim and he believes the entire team is going to take the same approach, which would be to wait and party once they win the Lombardi Trophy.
“The chances that you’re going to be flying to another Super Bowl in your career are very small,” Miller said. “I like to think that everyone is going to take the same approach and after the game we can celebrate a Super Bowl win for a long time. That’s the approach we’re going to take.”
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