Anquan Boldin On Retirement, Tomsula

Anquan Boldin has been the model of consistency over his 13-year career in the NFL. He’ll look to have yet another solid campaign even though much has changed around him in San Francisco. The 49ers will be led by new head coach Jim Tomsula on the sideline and will be without linebacker Patrick Willis and lineman Justin Smith on the defensive side this year. Boldin is only under contract for one more season, so his own future with the Niners is up in the air somewhat. Of course, at his age, retirement would also seem to be a possibility. Boldin spoke with Jason Cole of Bleacher Report earlier today to discuss his plans and the changes around him. Here’s a look at a few of the highlights..

On whether he’ll retire after this season:

I’ll finish the game on my own terms. I don’t want to overstay my welcome. If I’m not playing at a high level, I will leave on my terms. But I will also say for myself that when I do retire, I will have a lot left in the tank.

On how long he’ll stick around:

I think it’s kind of selfish to want to play until you’re 40 or 45. I have two boys now, and I’m 34. If I play until I’m 40 and my oldest, he’ll be in 11th grade and I’ll have missed his entire time growing up just so that I can be a football player. Being a football player takes a lot of time and sacrifice by everybody, including your family. Obviously, I can give him a lot of things by playing football, but that’s not worth the time that we can spend together. There are a lot of things I want to do as a husband and as a father, and football takes a lot of that time away. The money won’t mean as much as the time.

On why he’s confident in Tomsula:

I’ve seen how many of the defensive linemen respond to him and how good a job he did managing that group. With the defensive line, you have a lot of really out-there, aggressive personalities, and he got the most out of those guys. He did it because he knew how to treat each of those guys differently. Great coaches are the coaches who know how to work with different personalities and still find a way to get the most out of people. I don’t think you can coach every guy the exact same way, and Jim doesn’t do that. He has done a great job with all the different characters he has had.

View Comments (0)