The San Francisco 49ers are a win away from returning to the Super Bowl. The team got there during the 2019 season but failed to hold onto a lead over the Kansas City Chiefs. Now, they have an opportunity to make amends for that heartbreaking defeat.
Fred Warner was on that last Super Bowl team. It was the linebacker's second year in the NFL. Now, three years later, Warner and the 49ers are on the cusp of another trip to the big game. So what would winning in his second trip mean to the All-Pro defender?
"It would mean everything, seriously," Warner recently told Rich Eisen. "We've been there. We've been to the NFC Championship Game three out of the last four years. I've been to the Super Bowl. And when you go so early in your career, I don't think you really—I don't want to say I didn't respect it because, trust me, when I was there, I was like I know how hard it is to get here. But it's just you don't really know. Even though you think you know, you don't know, and now being one of the head leaders on the team, and a captain, and having the role I do with the team, it would mean everything to go and to have a shot at winning it."
The season after that last Super Bowl appearance was strange for the NFL. COVID had impacted the world, and football games were being played in empty stadiums. The already tough situation was made more challenging for the Niners, who were forced to play at State Farm Stadium during that December due to COVID-related restrictions that prevented them from playing at Levi's Stadium.
State Farm Stadium, the 49ers' short-term home to close out the 2020 season, will host Super Bowl 57 on February 12. Warner had not really thought about that connection until Eisen reminded the linebacker about their former home away from home.
"That year in 2020, it was a crazy year," Warner shared. "It was unique. It was everything you could call it. Being in Arizona, that was our new home, and yeah, you mention that this year, being in Arizona, that kind of adds an extra little element there."
The 49ers will face the Philadelphia Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field on Sunday. The winner will face the AFC champions in Super Bowl 57.