Getty San Francisco 49ers wide receivers coach Wes Welker is looking for his first Super Bowl ring. (Photo by Lachlan Cunningham/Getty Images)
Former New England Patriots wide receiver Wes Welker has played in three Super Bowls, and he served as Tom Brady’s favorite target in New England for the bulk of his tenure there. He just doesn’t have a ring. Brady and the Pats organization have six, and while Welker played for the Patriots from 2007-2012, and is the team’s all-time leading receiver, he was 0-2 in the big game while with New England. Both losses came to Eli Manning and the New York Giants after fourth quarter comebacks.
Welker also lost a third Super Bowl with the Denver Broncos in 2014, but he did perform well when he had his opportunities. He caught 26 passes for 247 yards in Super Bowl play, and while he didn’t get a ring as a player, he’ll have another shot in Super Bowl LIV when the San Francisco 49ers take on the Kansas City Chiefs. Welker is in his first season as wide receivers coach for the 49ers. And he couldn’t be more excited about the opportunity.
Wes Welker in Third Year as Coach in NFL
Welker has been coaching since 2017, when he worked as an offensive and special teams assistant for the Houston Texans. He was there for two years before coming over to San Francisco this season. This will be his first opportunity to win a Super Bowl as a coach.
“I express it all the time — shoot, I expressed it even in the spring, how bad of a feeling it is to not win it,” Welker said this week when asked about not having a ring. “Now we’re here. Now we’ve just got to hone in and be on top of everything and make sure we’re ready to go when the lights are on on Sunday.”
Welker has a bright young star in rookie Deebo Samuel to work with, along with a reliable veteran in Emmanuel Sanders, who also played alongside Welker with the Denver Broncos in 2013-14.
“Wes is awesome, man,” Sanders said. “I played with Wes, and now he’s my coach … He was way beyond his years as a player the way he saw the field,” Sanders said, also noting that he wanted to help his former teammate finally snag that ring.
“He’s been to three Super Bowls and never won. I want to get Wes his first Super Bowl.”
Welker wants that too. “At least when people ask me: ‘How many Super Bowls have you won?’ I can at least say one. They don’t know if I got it as a player as a coach. So I can check that off the list.”