Getty George Kittle #85 of the San Francisco 49ers.
“Coach” Joe Staley didn’t last long but the All-Decade left tackle will still be making an appearance in the Bay Area, this time as a media member.
Staley, now a San Francisco 49ers analyst for NBC Sports Bay Area, opening up Thursday’s press conference by introducing himself and asking tight end George Kittle a silly question.
Kittle had a hard time keeping it together and just laughed.
It’s hard to hear what Stanley really asked him but it sounded like nonsense. Anyway, the exchange was priceless:
.@jstaley74 was so proud to announce himself as a media member but @gkittle46 couldn’t take him serious 🤣
The two also hugged it out in the midst of other reporters asking questions. “We’re not going to get a lot done with Joe Staley at media stuff, guys,” Kittle said.
Staley also asked a question in a Canadian accent and nonetheless, Kittle responded in a Canadian accent.
It wouldn’t be a @jstaley74 and @gkittle46 conversation without the Canadian accents 😂
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Staley Explained Why He Chose to Join the Media
After 13 years in the NFL and being named to the Pro Bowl six times, Staley threw in the towel in 2020.
But it didn’t last long.
“I thought I was going to be in the background forever,” Staley said via NBC Sports Bay Area. “And then I spent one season away from football and realized I really like football. Maybe I really enjoyed that thing that I spent the last 20 years of my life competing and spending every free moment of my time doing and thinking about.
“That one year was fun but I was driving my wife, my kids, myself, nuts. And I just needed to be back around the game.”
The veteran is excited to back and share his personal experience on the line to help fans who are watching understand why certain plays went down the way they from his point of view.
“I have a pretty good insight into the anatomy of a play — and why a certain play is successful,” Staley said. “That’s something as an offensive lineman, especially, I always wanted someone who understood and can speak to the fans about why a certain play is successful.
“Yeah, we can all see the quarterback and the running back break a big play, but why was it that way? A lot of times, it’s for the work that was done up front. Just to have an offensive line’s perspective I think will be exciting.”
Staley Turned Down Shanahan’s Coaching Offer
Staley spent last week with Kyle Shanahan and the rest of the coaching staff to see what a day-in-the-life as a coach would be like.
“Joe’s someone whom I looked into this January asking if he’d be interested, and he said it was too early for him, but I know the longer he sits out, the more he misses it. I think he just wanted to come up this week and get an idea for what we’re doing and he’s been great,” Shanahan said last week, via 49erswebzone.
Shanahan added that Staley was a “freak of a talent” with an “amazing mind” who would make a “great coach,” but that actually seeing if that was something he wanted to do was a step he needed to take.
And it’s safe to say that coaching wasn’t the route he wanted to go after putting himself in Shanahan’s shoes.
“It was interesting to say the least,” Staley said. “I spent a year-and-a-half away from football and the football schedule. And going back Day 1 into that lifestyle, that schedule of football in the building, I was at 4 o’clock, looking at my watch, being like, ‘Are you guys done? This is the longest day of my life.’
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