Alex Mack joined NBC Sports Bay Area this week to help promote the Special Olympics ahead of Super Bowl LV. The longtime NFL center, who has been with the Atlanta Falcons since 2016, is scheduled to become a free agent next month. Whether or not he continues playing depends on the interest from NFL teams.
The San Francisco 49ers could be contemplating a change at center. Matt Maiocco asked Mack about the idea of possibly reuniting with head coach Kyle Shanahan, who worked with Mack for one season each in Atlanta (2016) and with the Cleveland Browns (2014).
"Kyle's an incredible coach," Mack told Matt Maiocco. "He's an incredible coach, great person, strong motivator, and runs an offense that is something that I'd know really well, and that I'd perform very well in. That said, they're a very enticing thing, and I'm not sure what's exactly legal to say beyond that, and we'll just see what happens in free agency. It will be interesting."
Mack, 35, is a six-time Pro Bowl selection. He has started 16 games in all but two of his 12 NFL seasons. Mack missed the final two games of this past season due to a concussion, which ended his streak of 90 consecutive regular-season starts.
Mack was asked about Shanahan's offense and what makes it so successful.
"What Kyle has done very well in the past has always been to link different plays and different schemes so they all look pretty much the same but it takes advantage of the different things a defense will do," Mack responded. "So, it's a very smart offense, which is fun."
Mack is a California native, played college football for the California Golden Bears, and lives in the state during the offseason. That could influence his decisions in free agency.
"I'm probably going to spend my life mostly in California," noted Mack.