Brandon Jacobs rooting for 49ers to win Super Bowl XLVII
San Francisco 49ers running back Brandon Jacobs is seen during the second half of an NFL football game against the St. Louis Rams. (Dec. 2, 2012) Credit: AP
The 49ers will have plenty of people rooting for them in Super Bowl XLVII next Sunday, but one of them may come as a surprise.
Brandon Jacobs, the former Giants running back who spent part of this season with the 49ers and then was suspended and ultimately released in what appeared to be a bitter divorce, said he has no hard feelings toward the team.
"None whatsoever," he said in a telephone interview on Thursday from his home in Atlanta. "I'm rooting for them. I hope they win. It'll be good if they win. I know a lot of guys on the team, got close to a lot of guys on the team, so I'm rooting for them. I'm pulling for them to win it."
Jacobs would not dish on his departure from the 49ers -- "I'm not supposed to be talking about it right now," he said -- but it was clear he was frustrated by his lack of playing time with the team, thoughts he expressed on social media. Jacobs had five carries for 7 yards while playing in only two games and being active for just three. He was suspended on Dec. 10 and released on Dec. 31.
"I don't have any regrets about anything that happened," Jacobs said. "I just wanted to get out and play a little bit more than I was doing. I didn't mean to disrespect nobody or whatever happened."
Jacobs will be in New Orleans next week, but not for the Super Bowl. He'll be riding in the Krewe of Hercules Mardi Gras parade next Friday. He's also spending his time off from football working for PRO-NRG, a performance drink company he is invested in. But by the time his former team plays on Super Bowl Sunday, he'll be back home watching it as a fan.
Next season, though, he's hoping to be back on an NFL field.
"I want to play football," he said. "There are 31 teams out there that I'm willing to go to."
One of them is the Giants, the team for which he spent seven seasons playing and with which he won two Super Bowls. But that's unlikely because the Giants already have a good stable of running backs with Ahmad Bradshaw, David Wilson and Andre Brown. Jacobs said that unlike his signing with the 49ers, he'll be more discerning about his destination in the future and what his role will be.
"I'm looking to be productive, that's my goal," he said.
And if a team made him an offer but had a crowded backfield, Jacobs said he would "absolutely" turn them down.
"It doesn't make no sense to go there," he said. "I got plenty of money. I'm not playing for money. I'm playing to play. That's not what it's about to me. I'm looking to go and be productive and play."
That he wasn't with the 49ers is why he's not in a second straight Super Bowl.
