WVU Product Colton McKivitz Describes NFL Journey Ahead of First Super Bowl Experience

Colton McKivitz is soaking up every bit of the Super Bowl experience, mostly because he knows the adversity he had to overcome to get to this point. Leading up to Super Bowl LVIII, the WVU product appeared on the West Virginia Metro News Sportsline to discuss his NFL journey and reaching the pinnacle of the sport.

“You get your rookie year and it is kind of a redshirt year to figure it out. In the second year, they expect a jump. And that didn’t happen. So I got cut. We had an injury at right tackle so I got bumped up halfway through the year to active [roster]. I just learned the urgency of being on a team like San Francisco. It is winning a Lombardi [trophy]. That’s the goal every year for them,” said McKivitz to host Tony Caridi about his NFL career to date.

After a stellar career as a Mountaineer, McKivitz was drafted by the San Francisco 49ers in the 5th round of the 2020 NFL Draft. But not only did McKivitz face the pressure that’s placed on any daft pick to find a way to have an impact and make the roster, the Jacobsburg, Ohio native eventually started to feel the pressure mounting on the 49ers to get over the hump. San Francisco’s last Super Bowl appearance came in the season prior to McKivitz’s arrival, ironically a loss to the same opponent they will face on Sunday.

Former Mountaineer Colton McKivitz to Represent WVU with 49ers in Super Bowl

More recently, the 49ers have appeared in the NFC Championship Game three straight years.

“The pressure is there. It is no different than a regular season game when it comes to the plays. 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 explained about how the team deals with being in a constant state of “win the Super Bowl or bust” every year.

McKivitz even offered his perspective of the emergence of 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy and their past competing against each other in the Big 12. In 2018, Purdy’s Iowa State Cyclones upset McKivitz’s Mountaineers, 30-14, handing West Virginia their first loss of the season.

“He beat us as a freshman when we were No. 6 in the country at Iowa State. So he’s a winner. And as a person, he is All-World. He’s very humble. You can’t speak more highly of the guy because of how he leads us and obviously how he plays.”

To this point in his career, McKivitz has played in 40 NFL regular season games and started 17 of them.

During his time in Morgantown, McKivitz was named the co-Big 12 Offensive Lineman of the Year as a junior. In 2019, he was named a first-team All-Big 12 player.

McKivitz and the 49ers will meet the Chiefs in Super Bowl LVIII on Feb. 11 from Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. The game will air nationally on CBS.