Not many football players in the NFL get to experience what a true championship week feels like, and that's okay. Thirty of the 32 teams in the NFL are already looking ahead to next season, and countless great players in history were never even able to sniff a championship trophy, let alone the week before the Super Bowl.
But the two teams that will be playing in the final game of the season, the 49ers and the Chiefs, are not new to the lights and the media attention that comes with wearing a Super Bowl patch.
With that said, you would think that certain players and members of the San Francisco 49ers organization would know how to respond to questions. More importantly, you'd think they would know not to give Andy Reid, Patrick Mahomes, and the AFC Champions "bulletin board material" like 49ers star defensive end Nick Bosa did earlier this week:
When asked about Chiefs LT and RT Donovan Smith and Jawaan Taylor, the latter being the most penalized person in the league this season, Bosa responded "They hold a lot." The comment got plenty of responses from the national media, but it also gained attention from the 49ers owner Jed York in front of the cameras later on:
York referenced the play that Chiefs fans know far and wide as the "Jet Chip Wasp" play call that gained 44 yards on a pivotal 3rd-and-15 while Kansas City was down 20-10. That play saw then-left tackle Eric Fisher on Bosa, pushing and prodding him into the middle of the depleting pocket... four years ago.
It's obvious that the play was still on the mind of York, who stated, "Hey, it's football" after bringing up just one play that helped the Chiefs score 21 unanswered points in seven minutes to win Super Bowl LIV. The rest of the Chiefs' points would have never happened in York's eyes if the call had been made.
On the other hand, the Chiefs' players know how to handle a press conference without going off script
Unlike Bosa or York, the Chiefs have been in this situation multiple times over the past half-decade. Their four trips to the Super Bowl in five seasons have prepared players like Travis Kelce on how to answer the questions that media members lob up in hopes of a juicy headline or quote.
When asked about George Kittle, the 49ers star tight end who has helped Kelce grow the Tight End U offseason program for NFL tight ends, Kelce smiled and said, "That's my guy right there." Then when asked about what it's going to be like playing against him, much like how Bosa was asked about playing against Smith and Taylor, Kelce had a gracious and non-ridiculous response:
"The king of Tight End U, he's the best tight end in the league and deservingly so this year, he's been playing lights out, playing the best football of his career and really catapulting that San Fran team through the playoffs." Kelce answered during Wednesday's press conference. "I couldn't be more proud of him, and couldn't be more honored, really, to go up against George in another Super Bowl ... I can't say a bad thing about him."
The questions were different, but could you imagine Clark Hunt coming out after the press conference and standing in front of cameras while ripping on any team, let alone the team that the Chiefs will be going up against in the upcoming Super Bowl? Not only would that be very against Hunt's character, but it would be giving the 49ers bulletin board material themselves.
Even Kansas City's 31-9 loss to Tampa Bay in Super Bowl LV has never come up when speaking with Hunt, because Hunt knows that one or two plays or calls didn't lose them the game...unlike San Francisco's York, who seems to believe that one non-call would have stopped Mahomes, Tyreek Hill and Kelce from continuing to score at will during the final seven minutes of Super Bowl LIV.