Former West Virginia and current San Francisco 49ers offensive lineman Colton McKivitz spoke on the CityNet Statewide Sportsline this week to discuss how he and the 49ers are preparing for Super Bowl LVIII in Las Vegas.
McKivitz has had quite a journey to get to where he is now.
After a willing career at West Virginia from 2015 to 2019, McKivitz was drafted by the 49ers in the fifth round of the 2020 NFL Draft. As a rookie, he was credited with playing 14 games and starting three of them.
Before the roster cutdown the following year in 2021, McKivitz was waived by the team and then signed to the practice squad the next day. He was then elevated to the active roster midseason and started the team’s regular-season finale.
McKivitz was resigned by the team in 2022 and appeared in 13 games while starting one of them.
He then got a contract extension in 2023 and became the starter at right tackle for the 49ers after some departures in free agency. McKivitz has started every game for the 49ers this season and is set to make his debut in the NFL’s grandest stage, the Super Bowl.
McKivitz talked about the pressure that the team is facing as they return to the Super Bowl for the first time in four years when they lost Super Bowl LIV to the Kansas City Chiefs 31-20 in 2020, the season before he was drafted.
“The pressure is there. It is no different than a regular season game when it comes to the plays,” McKivitz said. “But it is that much bigger of a stage, and it means a lot more. We talk about in the beginning of the year that your games mean so much. And then once you start getting into December and January and now the Super Bowl, obviously the stakes are a lot higher.”
McKivitz is set to become the third consecutive former Mountaineer to appear in the Super Bowl. He will look to become the first former Mountaineer to win a Super Bowl since Keith Tandy did it as an assistant coach with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Super Bowl LV.
Kickoff for Super Bowl LVIII in Las Vegas is set for 6:30 p.m. EST with the game being televised on CBS.
Photo from WVU Athletics
