San Francisco running back Raheem Mostert was cut by six teams before carving a niche for himself in the NFL as a gunner on special teams.
Over the past two seasons, Mostert’s role has changed, and he will be the X-factor in Super Bowl LIV, scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Sunday at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Fla.
“We were down a few running backs, and I remember Raheem was a guy that we believed in his talent,” 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan said. “He’d done so well on special teams.”
Once Mostert got over a rash of fumbles, Shanahan wanted to give him more opportunities.
“I just wanted to know how serious he was about being on offense,” Shanahan said. “I remember calling him and being frustrated because I didn’t think he was putting in the effort on offense. I said you need to let me know if you just want to be a special teams player.”
Mostert, who was not drafted coming out of Purdue in 2015, had a sit down, Come-to-Jesus meeting with Shanahan.
“It was pretty cool because you never know what’s going on with someone until you go one-on-one with them,” Shanahan said. “Raheem opened up to me, and it was a pretty emotional talk. (He talked about) just how much he did want to be a running back and how he’d never been given a chance. ... You could hear the passion in his voice and you could see it in his eyes.
“I knew right after this talk. My hunch wasn’t the case. He had fire in him and he wanted an opportunity.”
Mostert, who’s 5-foot-9 and 197 pounds, rushed 137 times for 772 yards and eight touchdowns during the regular season. In the NFC title game, he powered the offense as he rushed for 220 yards and four touchdowns.
The Browns, Dolphins, Ravens, Bears, Eagles and Jets all had Mostert before he landed in San Francisco in 2016.
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