49ers’ Javon Hargrave recalls when Patrick Mahomes shined vs. Steelers in 3rd career start
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Sunday’s Super Bowl will be the fourth time Javon Hargrave has faced Patrick Mahomes.
By now, Hargrave joins the rest of the NFL world in recognizing Mahomes’ future Hall of Fame bona fides.
Things were quite different the first time Hargrave played against Mahomes — and not just because at that point (in 2018), Hargrave came off the bench as a young, rotational defensive lineman for the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Now one of football’s highest-paid defensive tackles and with the San Francisco 49ers, Hargrave this week looked back on when an unproven 22-year-old made his third career start Sept. 16, 2018, at what was then called Heinz Field.
“I tell everybody how during that game, nobody knew who (Mahomes) was and (Steelers coaches) had all these plans of, ‘He’s a young quarterback,’ and what we were trying to do to confuse him,” Hargrave told reporters this week in Las Vegas heading into the Super Bowl. “And he just came out and killed us the whole game.”
Hargrave flashed one of his grins and laughed.
“I think all the game plans were like torn to pieces by halftime. … We knew during that game that he was going to be special.”
On Sunday, Mahomes will play in his fourth Super Bowl in what is only his seventh pro season and sixth as a starter. His Kansas City Chiefs go for their third title with him under center when they play San Francisco at Las Vegas’ Allegiant Stadium.
While he hasn’t gone on to become one of the world’s most recognizable athletes like Mahomes has, Hargrave also has come a long way since his early days with the Steelers. A third-round pick in 2016, Hargrave joined the two players taken ahead of him by the Steelers (first-round cornerback Artie Burns and second-round safety Sean Davis) as immediate starters on defense that season — albeit, in Hargrave’s case, at the more and more obsolete position of nose tackle. But Hargrave is the only member of that Steelers draft class to have a long run as an NFL starter.
A two-time Pro Bowler, Hargrave is on track to earn more than $127 million in his career if he plays three more seasons under the terms of his current contract.
Hargrave also is playing in the Super Bowl for a second consecutive season. He was on the losing side last season when the Philadelphia Eagles were beaten by Mahomes’ Chiefs.
“It’s definitely a different feeling this year,” Hargrave said. “Last year, it was just that everything was so new. But this year, I just know everything that is about to come, everything that we get to do this week, and how to be more prepared for it.
“It’s moreso just not wanting to feel that feeling anymore, making it all the way to this game. I just want to feel that other side of how it feels to win instead of being all sad.”
Barring an unexpected transaction before Sunday, Hargrave will be joined by just one other former Steelers player at this year’s Super Bowl. But that player might have the distinction of being the first one whose hands will touch the ball during Super Bowl LVIII.
Ray-Ray McCloud serves as the 49ers’ primary returner and therefore could be catching Harrison Butker’s opening kickoff if San Francisco is the team receiving it.
McCloud served as the Steelers’ return man in 2020 and 2021. He also had his most significant offensive production as a pro when he was with the Steelers, catching 59 passes over those two seasons.
Three other former Steelers are on a practice squad of one of the Super Bowl teams. Veteran offensive lineman Jesse Davis appeared in 14 games as a backup for the 2022 Steelers and has been with San Francisco (appearing in one game) since Oct. 31.
The Chiefs practice squad has two former Steelers draft picks: defensive tackle Isaiah Buggs and quarterback Chris Oladokun. A sixth-rounder in 2019, Buggs appeared in 29 games with seven starts over three seasons before being released in January 2022.
Later that year, Buggs became a starter for the Detroit Lions. But they cut him last month, and he has been on the Chiefs’ practice squad since.
Oladokun was the final pick of the Steelers’ 2022 draft class after fellow QB Kenny Pickett was their first. After getting sparse reps in his rookie training camp, Oladokun was released. He has been Kansas City’s scout-team quarterback since.
“He works hard,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said earlier this season. “He works hard every day at working to improve his game. He’s obviously in all of the meetings, and then I think the training camp time that he got to play was valuable for him.”