By Rory Carroll Dec 10 (Reuters) – With 60 days to go until the Super Bowl returns to Levi’s Stadium, former San Francisco 49ers All-Pro linebacker Patrick Willis says he is hoping the team can join a select group of franchises that have won the NFL’s championship game on their home fields. “Obviously, I’m rooting […]
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NFL-Willis backs 49ers’ bid to play home Super Bowl as 60-day countdown begins
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By Rory Carroll
Dec 10 (Reuters) – With 60 days to go until the Super Bowl returns to Levi’s Stadium, former San Francisco 49ers All-Pro linebacker Patrick Willis says he is hoping the team can join a select group of franchises that have won the NFL’s championship game on their home fields.
“Obviously, I’m rooting for the Niners to be in it,” Willis told Reuters in an interview marking the countdown.
“I just found out there’s only been two teams to host the Super Bowl and actually play in it. I think the Niners, if they were to do it, could be the third.”
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers won Super Bowl LV and Los Angeles Rams won Super Bowl LVI on their home fields in consecutive years. The Super Bowl’s location is chosen years in advance.
The 49ers are 9-4 with a good shot of making the playoffs as a wild-card team and could even clinch the number one seed in the NFC if they win their last four games and other teams falter down the stretch.
Willis, who spent his entire NFL career with San Francisco, said the week-long build-up around the Bay Area would be a showcase for both the region and the sport, whether or not his former team makes it.
“All in all, it’s going to be a great week — a week filled with the Super Bowl Experience where fans get to come out and have a good time with former players, current players, and test your NFL combine skills,” he said.
INJURIES FOR NINERS
Season-ending injuries to star defenders such as linebacker Fred Warner and pass rusher Nick Bosa have tested the 49ers this season but Willis said the unit had held together under difficult circumstances.
“You don’t replace guys like Fred and Nick but you just continue to work with what you’ve got and try to add some pieces if you can,” he said.
“Those guys are playing hard, they’re playing with grit. It’d be nice to see them a little better on first- and second-down runs so they’re not in third-and-medium, third-and-short so much, but they’ve been making the plays they needed to make at the right time.”
HEART IN THE BAY
Willis, a Hall of Famer who anchored the 49ers defense, said seeing the Super Bowl return to the stadium he once called home carried personal meaning.
“The Bay Area hosting this event is special because it’s a chance for the community to come together and really show how amazing Bay Area sports is as a whole,” he said, citing the tradition of teams from the 49ers and Warriors to the Giants and Raiders.
“My heart is here in the Bay Area, it’s here with San Fran.”
He described Levi’s Stadium as a “state-of-the-art” venue and Santa Clara as “an amazing town, an amazing county, amazing city,” urging even those without game tickets to attend the fan festival.
“For those who are not able to make it to the Super Bowl, you’re more than welcome to make it to the Super Bowl Experience,” he said.
“Whether you’re young or old, if you think you’ve got it, come test it out.”
STILL ACTIVE
Now 10 years into retirement, Willis said he divides his time between work as an ambassador and football operations aide for the 49ers, entrepreneurial ventures and his philanthropic Patrick Willis Community Fund foundation.
“Man, it’s crazy to think I’ve been retired 10 years now,” he said.
“I’ve dibbled and dabbled in the entrepreneurial space a little bit and I’m just trying to be a good humanitarian, not cause any trouble, keep it cool, calm and collected and be grateful for the days.”
Looking ahead to Super Bowl week, Willis said he hoped visitors would leave with an experience strong enough to bring them back.
“I’m hoping when we look back that each and every person who came out had such an amazing time that it doesn’t have to be a grand stage for them to come back again,” he said.
And if that week ends with the 49ers lifting a record-tying sixth Lombardi trophy?
“I tell you what,” Willis said with a smile. “That sounds good. Anytime you can get one more than you have, you’ll take it.”
(Reporting by Rory Carroll in Los Angeles; editing by Clare Fallon)