DeForest Bucker, 49ers realize their best chance at Super Bowl glory is with each other

The last time DeForest Buckner stood behind the lectern that he did Monday afternoon, he was a lot younger — some six years — and a whole lot poorer, say by $140 million or so.With age comes wisdom, and over his time away Buckner seemed to have learned a lesson.There’s always green in the bag, but that doesn’t always apply to the other side of the grass. The only person happier than the 49ers Faithful and the existing inhabitants of their locker room in Santa Clara to hear the news of their trade for Buckner might have been Buckner himself.“I’ll be honest, I just fell to my knees and started praying,” the current and former 49ers defensive tackle said of his reaction to the trade that sent him from the Colts, where he signed in free agency back in 2020, to San Francisco, the only other organization he has known.“It’s just crazy the way everything happened.God, he’ll open doors you thought were closed, and he was able to open this one back up for me.”When Buckner left for the Colts, the 49ers were coming off their first trip to the Super Bowl under Kyle Shanahan, a run fueled in large part by a dominant defensive line.

San Francisco thought it could reallocate the money and replace Buckner through the draft.In Indianapolis, Buckner saw a team that “obviously wanted me” and “invested in me.” He “gave that organization my heart and soul,” earning first-team All-Pro honors in his first season and appearing in all but two of a possible 68 games over his first four years there.Yet, Buckner had one playoff game to show for it — a wild-card round loss in his first season.At 2-6 this season, his frustrations seemed to grow in each of his postgame sessions this season.Finally, his prayers were answered.As was the specific request he made to principal owner Carlie Irsay-Gordon and interim general manager Ed Dodds.“When everything kind of unfolded, I made it pretty – I mean, I stated it – that I wanted to come here,” Buckner said....