Cal Football: How His Time in Berkeley Prepared Mitchell Schwartz for Super Bowl

Chiefs offensive tackle Mitchell Schwartz says his time at Cal - especially in practice - helped get him ready for the biggest game of his life: Super Bowl LIV.

Schwartz was an iron man for the Cal football team (2008-11) and he's handled his business in the same way in the NFL (2012-19).

Over those 12 seasons, Schwartz started every game in each season. He started 51 straight games for the Golden Bears, where he learned valuable lessons practicing against defensive linemen Tyson Alualu and Cameron Jordan, who went on to NFL careers.

Schwartz called Jordan "a freak of nature."

Schwartz has started 128 straight regular-season games in the NFL, the first 64 of them with the Cleveland Browns, the past 64 with the Kansas City Chiefs.

Now 30, Schwartz will achieve the high point of his career Sunday in Miami when the Chiefs take on the 49ers in the Super Bowl.

Right tackle Schwartz and the Chiefs' O-line will be responsible for protecting quarterback Patrick Mahomes against a 49ers' four-man rush that produced 48 regular-season sacks and already has nine more through two playoff games.

Schwartz, who has taken more than 8,400 snaps in the NFL, was a first-team All-Pro selection in 2018 and earned second-team All-Pro honors from the Associated Press this season.

The 6-foot-5, 320-pounder was a second-team all-conference pick as a junior at Cal, then won first-team honors his senior season in 2011. A native of Pacific Palisades, Schwartz was Cal's Brick Muller Award winner, as the team's most valuable offensive lineman, three straight seasons.

He was drafted in the second round in 2012 by the Cleveland Browns and immediately found his way into the starting lineup. He hasn't missed a start since.