San Francisco 49ers tackle Mike McGlinchey on Tuesday spoke with Jordan Schultz of ESPN on Instagram Live for well over an hour. The one-on-one discussion covered a myriad of topics during that time, including the recent retirement of McGlinchey's former teammate and close friend, Joe Staley.
McGlinchey may not have Staley anchoring the opposite end of the 49ers offensive line moving forward, but that doesn't mean he doesn't intend to continue utilizing the former tackle as a mentor. McGlinchey hopes that Staley, even retired, can help in his professional development.
"Hopefully, [Staley] will be up (from his home in San Diego) helping us out with the Niners as much as possible," McGlinchey told Schultz. "I'm still definitely going to lean on him and send him things that I'm thinking about. He still does want to be involved with football, but it's to the point where your body's not letting you play anymore.
"He's still a great football mind, the way that he prepared his whole career. I mean, he separated himself because of that kind of stuff, and so he's got countless lessons that you can learn from forever."
Staley's lessons for McGlinchey probably won't be limited to offensive-line play. The two still speak with each other at least a few times a week.
"He has become one of my best friends, and rarely is our conversation just about football," McGlinchey added.
As part of the conversation, McGlinchey did remember some advice Staley offered up during his rookie offseason. It came after what McGlinchey remembers to be his most embarrassing moment as a pro.
McGlinchey was in Houston as the 49ers took part in joint practices with the Texans. The tackle was immediately tasked with blocking five-time Pro Bowl and five-time first-team All-Pro defensive end J.J. Watt. That's a tall order for anyone, especially a rookie.
Watt embarrassed McGlinchey during a one-on-one drill.
"I tried to do a little reach block on J.J., and he just came off like it was the Oklahoma Drill," McGlinchey explained. "He hits me, catches me under the rib, and just plants me on my back. It's in front of the entire training camp, 10,000 people.
"There's reporters everywhere watching me because I was the first (round) pick. It was probably one of the most embarrassing things that's ever happened to me on a football field.
"And then Joe comes over to me and looks at me, and just goes, 'Well, it can't get any worse than that. So you might as well just forget about it and just keep playing football.'
"Luckily, it was the first three minutes of practice that happened on, and then we settled into the rest of the day, and it was OK."
Note: The full interview video has been removed from Instagram.