Why Nick Bosa Refuses to Watch Fourth Quarter of Super Bowl LIV
I love listening to Nick Bosa talk football.
He’s only 22, but he might have the most mature perspective on the sport of anyone in the 49ers locker room. Whenever the 49ers lost last season -- which was rare -- the first person I wanted to talk to was Bosa, even though he blocked me on Twitter and doesn’t seem to know my name. Because he would explain in detail exactly why the 49ers lost, and what the loss meant for the rest of the season. He’d go in depth and provide the big picture. He’s a sports writer’s dream.
Except after the Super Bowl.
That was the one time I saw Bosa genuinely at a loss for words. He sat behind a small podium in Miami after the 49ers blew a 10-point fourth-quarter lead and answered questions with monosyllables. He looked like Cameron in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off after he realized he had put hundreds of miles on his father’s Ferrari.
Bosa looked catatonic.
This week, he finally addressed the Super Bowl collapse. And like usual, his answer was full of maturity. Here’s what he said:
“I don’t like thinking about that game very much, but I have gone back and watched up until the fourth quarter.”
I love this answer. The reporter probably expected Bosa to say he watched the game in its entirety and moved on. Found closure.
But that’s B.S.
You don’t “move on” from losing the Super Bowl. You never find closure. The loss eats at you the rest of your life if you care about competition. Rewatching the game doesn’t help.
Next, the reporter asked Bosa if he felt he was held during the critical third-and-15 play in the fourth quarter when the 49ers gave up a long catch to Tyreek Hill. Basically, it was an invitation for Bosa to make an excuse for losing.
Bosa rejected the invitation.
“Was I held?” He said. “It comes down to the opinion of a human being. And that’s what refs are -- human beings. So if they think it’s holding, then they think it’s holding. It could have been holding. It could have not been holding. Just depends what he thinks. I’m not going to say that’s the reason we lost the game, because there were plenty of opportunities where I could have done better. I could have done better on that move on third and 15. I’m not going to blame the ref by any means.”
Good for Bosa. Making excuses won’t make the loss hurt any less or help the 49ers bounce back. The only way to actually move on is to win the Super Bowl in the future.
“It’s definitely good motivation,” Bosa said. “First year you get there and you’re seven minutes away, and a nightmare of a situation happens. You can bet that we’re going to come back pretty strong this year if we’re able to get 16 games in and the playoffs.”
Thanks for your honesty, Nick. Now unblock me on Twitter.
