If you can’t beat ’em, well… you might as well grab a mic and break it all down.
That’s exactly what 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan and linebacker Fred Warner did as part of NBC’s five-hour Super Bowl 60 pregame coverage. After a disappointing end to their season - a 41-6 loss to the Seahawks in the Divisional Round - the two prominent Niners turned analysts for the day, offering insight, humor, and a little self-reflection from the sidelines of Levi’s Stadium.
Seattle, not San Francisco, took over the 49ers’ home locker room ahead of their Super Bowl clash with the New England Patriots. For a franchise with five Lombardi Trophies in its case, the drought since 1994 continues to sting - especially for Shanahan and Warner, who’ve been on the losing side of two recent Super Bowls (54 and 58), both against Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs.
In both games, the Niners held 10-point leads. In both games, Mahomes flipped the script.
Shanahan, no stranger to Super Bowl heartbreak, leaned into the moment with a bit of humor. “You guys are making me bring up some dark Super Bowl memories,” he said.
“I’ve been able to go to nine of these. I went to six with my dad and three on my own.
He got blown out in his first three and then won his next three. I’ve got my three losses out of the way.”
That’s a coach who’s seen it all - from the sideline collapse in Super Bowl 51 with Atlanta (yes, the infamous 28-3 lead), to walking the Super Bowl sidelines as a kid while his father, Mike Shanahan, coached with the Broncos and 49ers.
Warner, meanwhile, brought the player’s perspective - and the pain that still lingers. He recalled a moment from his first Super Bowl appearance, when he picked off Mahomes in the first half and thought he was on his way to the game of his life.
“I was so jacked up, thinking, ‘If I get a few more tackles I might be the Super Bowl MVP,’” Warner said with a laugh. “Boy, it was just so naive of me, because of course, we know where that went, and the lore of Patrick Mahomes began.”
Even with the sting of recent losses still fresh, both Shanahan and Warner offered sharp insight into this year’s matchup - especially Seattle’s defense, which held the 49ers to just 32 points across three meetings this season, including just nine total in the last two.
“Expert opinion? I haven’t scored a touchdown in the last two times we played them, so I don’t know how good that is,” Shanahan quipped.
“But it’s a grind versus these guys. You look at film, they stay in two-high safety all day.
It’s a huge challenge. You can’t stay in this defense very long and stop the run, but they do.
And when you go deep, Julian Love is always there. He’s the smartest safety I’ve seen.”
That’s high praise for a Seattle secondary that’s quietly become one of the most disciplined units in football.
As for quarterback Sam Darnold, both Shanahan and Warner were curious to see how he’d handle the moment - and cautious about the risks of trying to do too much. The Super Bowl stage has a way of speeding things up, and both men know how quickly momentum can turn.
On their final segment, the duo split on their picks: Shanahan took the Seahawks, 23-17. Warner went with the Patriots, 28-24.
But beyond predictions, the two dropped some quality football nuggets. Warner, for instance, pointed to New England’s power back Rhamondre Stevenson as a potential X-factor over the more explosive TreVeyon Henderson.
“I actually played him on this field a year ago and I could feel the force when I was trying to tackle this guy,” Warner said. “It was almost like he had a heavy head, the way he could fall forward for an extra one or two yards. TreVeyon can hit the home-run ball, but I think what’s important today is to take the singles and doubles with Rhamondre.”
Warner also had praise - and a bit of frustration - for Seattle’s Jaxon Smith-Njigba, who burned the 49ers deep in one clip shown during the broadcast.
“Everybody talks about how smooth JSN is, but it’s a deceptive speed that you feel when you’re playing against him,” Warner said. “You think he’s running the out route, but nope, he’s running the go-ball. Of course they’re trying to show me up on my Niners right here.”
Both men also touched on the emotional toll of the Super Bowl experience - especially for first-timers. Warner admitted he was overly hyped in his first trip, while Shanahan said he’s seen players gas out from adrenaline after just one play.
“I’ve seen guys after the first play come out and need oxygen tanks,” Shanahan said. “Everything’s about breathing, relaxing, and trying to keep that pulse down so when you get to the game, you’re ready to go.”
And once the game actually kicks off? That’s when things finally feel… normal.
“To me, this is the first time after the NFC Championship Game, you feel normal,” Shanahan said. “You go through this whole dog and pony show, you’re doing all this traveling, all your schedules are off a little bit. Now you’re kind of in your element, you’re going over openers, all the situations, and you’re doing what you’ve done your whole life.”
For Shanahan, that means sticking to the basics - and that starts with the run game.
“You can’t get explosive plays unless you run the ball, unlock them, bring them up,” Shanahan said. “You lean on them, get those 40 runs in and that was how we were able to beat them in Week 1.
Weren’t able to do that the last two times. You saw the result.”
The pregame show also took a moment to honor the late John Beam, the former Laney College coach and athletic director who was tragically killed in November. Marshawn Lynch narrated a powerful tribute to Beam, who was a beloved figure in the Oakland football community.
“Where others stopped looking for potential, Beam found it everywhere,” Lynch said. “Beam looked at a kid the world had already counted out and said, ‘Nah, come here, you’ve got more in you than that.’
But football was never the destination, it was the vehicle. He helped young men become better people, better leaders.”
Marvel Smith, a two-time Super Bowl champion who played for Beam at Skyline High, fought back tears remembering the man who helped shape his life.
“The best part of it was that he was there, him and his family were there on the field with the confetti falling, like everything had come full circle, because this is a man I owed everything to,” Smith said. “Coach did so much for me but he never asked for anything.”
In a pregame show full of laughs, analysis, and honest reflection, that moment hit differently - a reminder of the impact football can have far beyond the field.