On Saturday night, the Pro Football Hall of Fame announced the five modern-era inductees into the Class of 2020 and the National Football League handed out its annual awards. San Francisco 49ers defensive end Nick Bosa was named the AP Defensive Rookie of the Year, but that was it.
Kyle Shanahan, who has taken his team to the Super Bowl after a four-win season, was passed up for the AP Coach of the Year in favor of Baltimore Ravens coach John Harbaugh.
Quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, who returned from a torn ACL and led his team to 15 wins en route to the Super Bowl, was passed up for AP Comeback Player of the Year in favor of Tennessee Titans quarterback Ryan Tannehill.
Tannehill came back from ... the Miami Dolphins? So there's that.
General manager John Lynch was once again denied entry into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in his seventh year as a finalist and must continue waiting for his call to Canton.
None of that matters this weekend, though. Those individuals, along with the rest of the players, coaches, executives, staff, and a national following, have their sights set on something much more valuable.
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By Sunday night, we will know who the Super Bowl LIV champions are. Those men denied on Saturday night could be hoisting the Vince Lombardi Trophy just 24 hours later. Twenty-five years after its last championship, coincidentally at the same stadium, formerly known as Joe Robbie Stadium, San Francisco could earn its sixth Super Bowl championship. Only two teams — the Pittsburgh Steelers and New England Patriots — have won as many.
This squad knows a thing or two about being snubbed. It has been overlooked all season and has taken on an underdog mentality. It will do so again on Sunday against the Kansas City Chiefs, who remain 1.5-point favorites.
"Overrated," "pretenders," "lucky," the 49ers have heard it all this season. They are used to being undervalued. With so many lauding the Chiefs, their potent offense, and quarterback Patrick Mahomes, these "pretender" 49ers hope to prove their critics wrong one last time.
For Garoppolo, this game is very special. It was a year ago he was learning how to run again.
"When you look back on everything, it really makes you realize how special this moment is," Garoppolo said on Thursday. "It's one of those things you can't really take it for granted. You don't know if you're ever going to be back here, so you've got to make it count while you can."
Garoppolo and his 49ers can silence all their critics on Sunday — as Super Bowl champions.
