The San Francisco 49ers have four players on their current 53 man roster that have played in a Super Bowl before and one of those players is former Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker Clark Haggans.
Haggans, who was drafted by the Steelers in the fifth round of 2000 draft, has actually been on both sides of the falling confetti as he won a Super Bowl as a member of the Steelers in the 2005 season against the Seattle Seahawks and lost one to the team that drafted him just three seasons later as a member of the Arizona Cardinals.
“There’s no better feeling than that, honestly,” Haggans said, when talking about winning the Super Bowl as a member of the Steelers. “It’s euphoric; that’s the best word I got for it.”
“The win. Always the win,” Haggans later continued. “About 90 seconds after the game, you look up to the scoreboard and it’s the best feeling. It’s indescribable. I was talking to Goody (49ers center Jonathan Goodwin) about it and all you can do is shake your head, because you don’t have the words.”
Haggans, who now serves as a backup on the 49ers to starters Aldon Smith and Ahmad Brooks, spent his first eight seasons in the league in Pittsburgh before leaving for Arizona as an unrestricted free agent following the 2007 season. During his time with the Steelers he played in 107 regular season games and registered 206 tackles and 32.5 sacks, mostly at the left outside linebacker position.
After four seasons in Arizona Haggans was released by the Cardinals just prior to the start of the 2012 season and he was quickly signed to a one-year contract by the 49ers. Haggans dressed for the 49ers first two regular season games but did not play. Prior to third week of the season he was suspended three games by the NFL for a violation of the league\’s substance abuse policy as a result of him serving jail time in June after pleading guilty to DUI charges stemming from an April 2011 incident. It was the second DUI for Haggans, who also received one in 2004.
Although Haggans hasn\’t contributed much on defense for the 49ers since returning from his suspension, his prior experience of preparing for a Super Bowl surely will help the rest of his teammates. His own Super Bowl experience this time around, which will most likely be his last, will be one that he will certainly savor should the 49ers win.
“It never goes away. That type of experience, this type of experience for everyone in the locker room, living in the now, in the moment – it’s timeless,” Haggans said. “Every time you sit there and reflect and think about it, it will always seem like yesterday.
“You can probably ask guys that played from the 49ers teams that won the Super Bowl years ago, they remember it just like yesterday. You remember exactly what you wore to the game, after the game, what you ate. I know I can.”
Here is to hoping that Haggans goes out a winner a second time this coming Sunday.
