49ers’ Brock Purdy reflects on going from last draft pick to Super Bowl
from Zac Wassink, with YardBarker.com/www.yardbarker.com
San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy spoke with NBC Sports’ Peter King after Sunday’s NFC Championship game about going from being the final pick of the 2022 NFL Draft to a QB1 starting in Super Bowl LVIII next month.
“It’s been a roller coaster, really,” Purdy told King following San Francisco’s come-from-behind 34-31 win over the Detroit Lions in Sunday’s conference title matchup. “You finish your senior year in college. You get drafted last. Um, you think maybe there’s no shot to get drafted, then all of a sudden, there is. You make the team. You’re a backup. Then you’re getting thrown in. Then obviously you’re one win away from going to the Super Bowl your rookie year. You tear your arm. You go through the rehab process. You make it back.”
Purdy unexpectedly rose to the top of the depth chart as a rookie in early December 2022 after both Trey Lance and Jimmy Garoppolo suffered season-ending injuries. While the 24-year-old helped the Niners qualify for last January’s NFC Championship game, he went down with a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow early into that contest.
Purdy then became a Most Valuable Player candidate this past fall but couldn’t escape takes claiming he was little more than a “game manager” who allegedly showed what he really is and isn’t when he tossed four interceptions in the Christmas Day loss at the Baltimore Ravens.
More recently, Purdy engineered a game-winning drive in a 24-21 divisional playoff victory over the Green Bay Packers, and King mentioned the second-year signal-caller completed 13-of-16 passes for 174 yards and a touchdown in the second half of Sunday’s game versus Detroit. Purdy also rushed for 49 yards across the contest’s final two quarters to help erase a 24-7 halftime deficit.
“I’ve just tried to do my best to take it one day at a time and be where my feet are at, whether it’s going good or not,” Purdy continued during his chat with King. “I’m not defined by my circumstances. More than anything, I just try to have a grateful mindset. That’s allowed me to enjoy this last year and a half.”
As of early Monday afternoon, DraftKings Sportsbook listed the 49ers as one-point favorites against the Kansas City Chiefs for Super Bowl LVIII.
If San Francisco ultimately enters Feb. 11 as a betting underdog, Purdy and his teammates could use such lines as bulletin board material heading into a game versus an opponent that’s hoisted the Vince Lombardi Trophy twice since February 2020.