By Steve Keating
LAS VEGAS (Reuters) – If a movie were to be made about the San Francisco 49ers’ season, quarterback Brock Purdy said it would be called “You Just Never Know”.
That title would actually better describe Purdy’s Cinderella career going from NFL’s Mr. Irrelevant to Mr Irreplaceable in just two short years, leading the Niners to Sunday’s Super Bowl against the Kansas City Chiefs.
As the last player selected in the 2022 draft held in Las Vegas, Purdy earned the dubious distinction of Mr. Irrelevant, a brief moment in the spotlight before slipping into the shadows like many of the final picks before him.
Often Mr. Irrelevants do not even make it as far as training camp as they are released by the team that drafted them long before the season starts.
San Francisco coach Kyle Shanahan saw something unique in Purdy that kept him with the team but well down the pecking order behind starter Trey Lance, the third player selected in the 2021 draft and veteran Jimmy Garoppolo.
But last season when Garoppolo and Lance both went down with injuries, the rookie stepped in and seized his chance to take the starter’s role and never let go.
“It starts with yourself being able to believe in yourself,” said Purdy, looking over a crowd of reporters and television cameras during Super Bowl Opening Night on Monday.
“People are going tell you that you may not be good enough or anything like that but if you believe and you keep putting in the work then anything is possible.”
It seems the stars are aligning for Purdy.
While Shanahan rolled the dice on Purdy and hit the jackpot, it is doubtful anyone else bet on the 24-year-old returning to Las Vegas as a first string quarterback.
“I think it’s just cool how it all is in a way full circle,” said Purdy. “I got drafted here last and then now here.
“We are two years later to get ready to play in the Super Bowl.”
In helping San Francisco get back to the Super Bowl and a chance to win their sixth Lombardi Trophy, but first since January 1995, Purdy put himself into the most valuable player discussion directing a Niners high-powered attack.
While Purdy enjoyed a solid but unspectacular college career that saw him overlooked by many scouts, it is his unflappable, humble demeanour, clinical skills and high football IQ that have made him an NFL success story.
“I love Brock,” said Shanahan. I have so much respect for Brock as a player, as a person.
“Just to watch someone like Brock do what he’s done the way he is, I mean, he got undersold.
“You can’t be great in this league unless you don’t have like 20 things so Brock’s got it all.”
(Reporting by Steve Keating in Las Vegas. Editing by Pritha Sarkar)
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