The San Francisco 49ers now have two heartbreaking Super Bowl losses this century, the first coming back in Super Bowl XLVII when the Niners ultimately fell to the Baltimore Ravens.
After surrendering a 10-point fourth-quarter lead to the Kansas City Chiefs, only to lose 31-20 in Super Bowl LIV, the 49ers can add an unfortunate second heartbreaking loss to that tally.
One player, who was there for both, is veteran left tackle Joe Staley, who later told reporters it was "hard being in this moment right now" after the crushing defeat. The longest-tenured Niner was also on the losing end back in February of 2013 along with one of his former teammates, Buffalo Bills running back Frank Gore.
Gore made his way to the 49ers locker room after the loss, as NBC Sports Bay Area's Matt Maiocco reported, offering words of encouragement and comforting those players from his former team.
One of those was running back Raheem Mostert, who led San Francisco's rush attack with 58 yards on 12 carries, scoring one of the two Niners touchdowns on the night.
"He told me to just keep my head up, and he's proud of me," Mostert said of Gore, via Maiocco. "And he's been watching me work. For him to say that to me is very special because he's a Hall of Famer, and I look up to him.
"It was cool that he came up and talked to me, and makes me feel like we're going to bounce back."
Gore surely has questions about what could have been during his 49ers tenure, as his squad was on the doorstep of a would-be go-ahead touchdown back in Super Bowl XLVII, only to see a fade pass from then-quarterback Colin Kaepernick sail over the head of former wide receiver Michael Crabtree to end San Francisco's chances.
And the Niners will surely be asking plenty of their own "what could have been?" questions in coming days, weeks and months.
"It's one of those things, we didn't get the job done," Mostert continued. "It's unfortunate. We left the trophy out there."
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Written by:Peter Panacy has been writing about the 49ers since 2011 for outlets like Bleacher Report, Niner Noise, 49ers Webzone, and is occasionally heard as a guest on San Francisco's 95.7 FM The Game and the Niners' flagship station, KNBR 680. Feel free to follow him, or direct any inquiries to his Twitter account.
