QB Brock Purdy Press Conference
QB Brock Purdy
Press Conference – January 27, 2023
San Francisco 49ers
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How difficult is it to treat this like just any normal week?
“I mean, there’s pros and cons to it. I feel like for the most part we’ve done a good job of just keeping it simple. It’s another week in terms of preparation and the game planning and going to practice and everything. I just feel like it’s the moments of in between practice or before you go to bed thinking about man, what an opportunity that we have. You can say it is just another game, but man, there’s, there’s a lot on the line. All of our goals and dreams of everything are in front of us. So you want to do everything you can to accomplish that. So it is a little different.”
You’ve said it before, but the thought that in your position, you don’t have to do everything by yourself, is that kind of comforting to know that when you go into this game you look either side of you and there are people there who are very important to the end result?
“Yeah. that’s been the blessing of playing on this team with the amount of experience and veterans that we have. Knowing that, man, I just gotta go out, do my job, get the ball to [RB] Christian [McCaffrey], [TE] George [Kittle], trust in [T Mike] McGlinchey and [T] Trent [Williams] to block and all the boys up front. Hand the ball off, let our run game do its thing. So it’s not like, man, I got to do every little thing perfect. I can go and play my game, do what I’m asked of and get everyone the ball and let them make plays and let our defense do their thing. So, I have a great team around me and I know that, and like I said, it’s a blessing.”
Do you feed off the challenge of going together? Was a team going on the road to someone else’s stadium and trying to come out with a win? I mean, did you, like, did you enjoy it in college? Is it something that you enjoy doing?
“Yeah, I mean, I feel like that’s one of the main reasons why we all play the sport, you love to go in those environments where you got really everyone, as many people as possible watching the game, cheering, and for us in this case going on the road and being successful and it’s why you play the sport. We love the adrenaline and the excitement that comes from it. So, to go on the road and do your thing as a team, it feels really good when you’re on point and you’re doing your thing and being successful doing it. So, it’s something that we all love and yeah, for sure we feed off that.”
Head coach Kyle Shanahan was saying he was showing clips of 2002 Buccaneers. Going back to Philly in the last game of Veterans Stadium and winning in Philadelphia, I think that would put you in around two years old when that game was played. Do you enjoy that kind of stuff, that historical stuff? Does that resonate with you?
“Yeah, I mean that’s one of the best things I think coach does is go back in time and look at games and moments in time where something was on the line and you can learn from it. You could always learn from history because history tends to repeat itself whether that’s in sports or in life in general. So it’s cool to go back and try to feel where the teams were, how the environment was, and learn from the good and the bad of everything. So it’s cool how coach does that and I feel like he gets a good response out of the team when he shows those kinds of things.”
Do you ever get nervous before games or are you pretty even keel on game days?
“I’d be lying if I said I’d never been nervous before games. That’s just like part of the feeling of playing football. Man, like, we’re about to go and play this sport and it’s a violent sport and you got to be a warrior in what you do. So, there’s definitely that pre-game feeling, but as the game goes, it’s fun and you enjoy it.”
What do you recall video-wise what Shanahan showed you from the first two games? What did you do for the Seahawks and the Cowboys?
“Yeah, the Cowboys just went back and showed us the history of the 49ers and Cowboys and all the games from [Hall of Fame QB] Joe Montana’s time in the eighties all the way up to [Hall of Fame QB] Steve Young in the nineties. He just showed us the history of that. Then the Seahawks, obviously we’ve seen the last game of the regular season, I think that was in ‘19 to clinch the division. He’s just done a good job of showing those kinds of things within the organizations, whether they were here or not. We’re part of the history of playing for the 49ers. It’s cool just to look back on time, see what happened and how it resonates with us now.”
What’s been your biggest challenge and your most unexpected event that’s taken place as you’ve gone through this year?
“Man, I think probably just handling being the quarterback of an organization. It’s a challenge. It’s a new challenge every day you experience something new, especially since this is my first time going through it. So, getting the respect of the older guys in the locker room, having them trust and believe in me that we can go out and be successful. I think those were all challenges as I first took over, but now it’s like, how do I handle myself and how do I prepare right for the playoffs and all that kind of thing. I feel like there’s always a new challenge. There’s not one that sticks out, but I’m still experiencing stuff as we go. I’m trying to do my best to stay level-headed and trust that I got guys around me to help. It’s not just all on me.”
Greatest unexpected lesson so far?
“I would just say not getting too high, not getting too low. There’s definitely been times in the game where things are going well and you think, this isn’t as bad, but then you get humbled real quick. I think there’s some good lessons that I’ve learned so far where you feel like things are going well and you just got to stay even keeled. You got to go play another drive and another possession and another quarter. So it’s the NFL, everyone is good. It doesn’t matter how good you feel going to a new game, you can get humbled real quick. Kyle told me about that recently and I feel like it’s definitely stood out to me.”
In your hometown, the area of your hometown, pretty much everybody I’m sure is thinking, Brock is one game away from coming to Arizona in the Super Bowl. Does that tunnel vision stuff for you or do you just shut that stuff out?
“Yeah, it’s all cool and stuff for them to appreciate where I’ve come from. Being from Queen Creek, Arizona with honor and Gilbert, Arizona, which is awesome and I appreciate everyone, but for me and my family, it’s like, we got another game in front of us to handle and all the other stuff will fall into place how it needs to. That’s how I’m looking at it.”
What are the conversations like with your parents before big games like this? What does your dad tell you or your mom?
“Yeah, we’re a faith-based family, so everything we do is prayer and just praying to God, win or lose, understanding who we are as a family, what we believe in. We just remind ourselves with that first. We don’t get wrapped up in what people think of us or the bad that could happen. It’s what’s in front of us, how can we just be who we are and be authentic as a family. It helps me be level-headed and even keeled with everything that’s about to come. It helps me just play my game and knowing that I’m loved either way after a game, no matter how I perform.”