SAN FRANCISCO — Try as you might, but you won't be able to wipe the smile off of Kendrick Bourne's face.
Not this week or next.
"Now that I’m going to the Super Bowl you going to see even more of a smile on my face. It’s just priceless. I never take it for granted," said the former EWU receiver.
Bourne has always been a character.
That hasn't changed since he left Eastern, and it certainly isn't changing on the biggest stage of all.
"I know I’m going to be dancing the whole game. I don’t care. It’s the most cameras out there. You gotta act up. You gotta enjoy," said Kendrick with an ear-to-ear smile.
"I’m going to soak it all in and enjoy it all, man and put it all on the line. One last game for 2019 or 2020, whatever you want to say. I’m just going to soak it all in. I know everybody else will too. We're going to enjoy every moment of it," he added.
It’s evident that he enjoyed his time at Eastern as well.
He'll become the fourth player in program history to suit up in the Super Bowl and the second straight player to participate in the event, as Samson Ebukam did last year with the Rams.
"Says a lot about the program," said Bourne of Eastern producing NFL level talent. "What they coach, how they teach their guys, how they develop them from freshman year to senior year. I know I developed a lot. Me, Coop, Samson and top guys, we were coached really well right when we got there. As the years went by, once we got to our senior year, we were really developed, so our transition to the league was pretty easy."
Bourne said one thing in particular really helped him prepare for the NFL.
"I really ran routes a lot at Eastern. I ran a lot of the similar routes that I ran here. My body was just really used to what it was doing when I got here. It wasn’t like I was trying to force my body to do something I wasn’t comfortable doing. I was just doing what I was always doing every day at Eastern."
Now, to be fair, Bourne didn’t run a lot of routes that provided big numbers for him personally in the NFC Championship last weekend, as the 49ers' run game took center stage.
In total, the wide receiver group had six catches against Green Bay, and Bourne only accounted for one catch for six yards.
That doesn’t bother him though, which he also credits to his time in Cheney.
"I think that's just my mindset ever since college. I’ve always had a winning mindset. Whatever I have to do to help the team win. Whether it be sitting on the bench or being in the game, I don’t really care. I want to help wherever I can. I’ve always been like that since college. When I was in college I was a role player so when I got to the league I knew I wasn’t going to be the number one guy starting off. Just being able to play my role and excel in my role."
That’s the mindset he’ll take in to the Super Bowl because only one thing, or maybe perhaps one object, matters to Bourne.
"Whether I get one catch, no catch or any of us get one catch, no catch, it don’t really matter. The scoreboard fixes everything. That's how I think."
GAME INFO
Bourne and the 49ers will take on Kansas City on February 2nd in the Super Bowl. The game will be aired on FOX beginning at 3:30 PM.