SANTA CLARA — Nobody has a better idea of what the 49ers are up against in the Super Bowl than Charvarius Ward.
The 49ers’ second-team All-Pro cornerback made Kansas City’s roster as an undrafted rookie out of Middle Tennessee State in 2018 and watched from the sideline on the inactive list as Patrick Mahomes opened the season as the Chiefs’ starting quarterback.
“I feel like the first day I saw him I always knew he was the best player in the NFL,” Ward said Friday. “Even back then.”
Mahomes had started one game as a rookie first-round draft pick in 2017 behind Alex Smith, with coach Andy Reid planning all along to make the switch in 2018.
The Chiefs beat the Los Angeles Chargers 38-28, with Mahomes completing 15 of 27 passes for 256 yards and four touchdowns. After the third game of the season — a 38-27 win over the 49ers — Mahomes had 13 touchdown passes.
“That’s when I was like, `I never saw anything like this,’ ” Ward said. “Ever since then he’s been winning Super Bowl and he’s the GOAT (greatest of all time), man. One of the GOATS behind Tom Brady for sure.”
By Week 4, Ward had worked his way into being active on game days and getting some time on special teams and defense. In the final two games of the season, he was a starter.
Known as “Mooney” by friends, family, and teammates, Ward was a three-year starter for the Chiefs and was the left cornerback when Kansas City beat the 49ers 31-20 in Super Bowl LIV in Miami after the 2019 season. Mahomes worked his magic with the 49ers leading 20-10 midway through the fourth quarter.
Ward has the same feeling with the 49ers in 2023 as he did in 2019 with the Chiefs.
“I know we’ve got a great team,” Ward said. “Everybody expected us to be in the Super Bowl. When I was in Kansas City and we won (against the 49ers), we just knew we were going to win the Super Bowl. That’s how this team feels this year.”
Also a starter in 2021 for the Chiefs, Ward hadn’t made any All-Pro teams but the 49ers liked what they saw enough to make him a big-ticket signing in free agency going into 2022, inking him to a three-year contract worth $40.5 million.
The acquisition did not create the kind of buzz among fans that trades for Trent Williams in 2020 and Christian McCaffrey in 2022 or the signing of defensive tackle Javon Hargrave last season. But it’s been essential for the 49ers’ secondary. Ward, 27, has started all 34 regular season games over two seasons.
This season, Ward had five interceptions, including a game-changing 66-yard interception return for a touchdown against Arizona, and was named to the NFC team for the Pro Bowl as well as being voted a second-team All-Pro.
He’s also a positive, upbeat locker room presence whose name brings a smile to the face of general manager John Lynch.
“There’s an innocence about him,” Lynch said. “I tell him all the time, walk around like you’re special — because he’s a special player.”
Defensive coordinator Steve Wilks agreed, although not necessarily between the lines.
“I still say he has that dog in him once he gets on the field,” Wilks said. “I love his demeanor once he gets out there. He’s physical. He’s tough. He fits our DNA for sure.”
While the 49ers are fond of playing zone with four pass rushers, Ward brought an element of sticky man-to-man coverage they didn’t have previously. Wilks has had Ward occasionally shadow the opposing team’s best receiver, something the 49ers didn’t do even with someone as established as Richard Sherman.
Charvarius Ward (35) pursues the 49ers’ Kendrick Bourne (84) as a member of the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LIV In Miami. Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group
“He’s a guy our scouts did a great job identifying in free agency,” Lynch said. “We all became really impassioned about what he could become. We felt like he was already a good player and he had a lot of room for growth.”
Between the Chiefs and 49ers, Ward has played in 16 playoff games — including six straight conference championship games and three Super Bowls with his team going 12-4.
The Super Bowl matchup against Kansas City came a year later than Ward anticipated. The Chiefs won the AFC title last season but the 49ers lost 31-7 to Philadelphia when Brock Purdy was lost to a right elbow injury. Kansas City beat the Eagles 38-35 for the championship.
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“It was kind of bittersweet, man,” Ward said. “I knew they were going to make it because they got a good team over there. They got Pat, and he’s the ultimate equalizer, and Travis Kelce, and Andy Reid calling plays. They’ve got a crazy Big Three.
“It would have been sweet to play ’em last year but we got the opportunity this year. I’m sure that’s what Kyle Shanahan wanted as well. I’m sure he felt he had it in his hand in 2020 and kind of let it slip through. But this is the rematch right here.”
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