For the first 54 years of the Super Bowl era, no NFL team had ever vied for the right to hoist the Lombardi Trophy in its home stadium.
That all changed, of course, when Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers earned a trip to Super Bowl 55 at Raymond James Stadium and capped off the 2020 season with a dominant 31-9 win over the Kansas City Chiefs.
And just one year later, the Los Angeles Rams took down the Cincinnati Bengals at SoFi Stadium in Super Bowl 56.
With Super Bowl 60 being contested at Levi's Stadium, the San Francisco 49ers were naturally hoping to become the third team to play for a title in their own venue, but the Seattle Seahawks put a stop to that with an emphatic 41-6 victory over the Niners in the Divisional Round.
And after a 31-27 win over the Rams in the NFC Championship game, the Seahawks are now set for a date in Santa Clara with the New England Patriots, who took down the Denver Broncos in the AFC title game to earn the franchise's 12th trip to the Super Bowl, thus extending their record for the most appearances in The Big Game.
In an interesting side note, the Pats' win over the Broncos marked the 40th postseason win in franchise history, thus tying them for the most all-time with none other than the 49ers, who picked up their 40th in the Wild Card round with a 23-19 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles. So, San Francisco could actually lose an NFL record if New England wins.
Now, as far as former 49ers returning to Levi's Stadium for Super Bowl 60, there actually aren't that many. But one of the few names on the list could very well end up taking MVP honors.
Every former 49ers player set to suit up in Super Bowl 60
Seattle Seahawks
Easily the most high-profile former Niner suiting up for Super Bowl 60 is Sam Darnold, who spent the 2023 campaign in San Francisco backing up Brock Purdy. That season basically served as a career reset for the former No. 3 overall pick, and it's obviously worked out well.
Darnold signed a one-year deal with Minnesota in 2024, and after rookie J.J. McCarthy went down with a season-ending knee injury during the preseason, the USC alum stepped in and led the Vikings to a 14-3 record, setting new career-highs in in completion percentage (66.2), passing yards (4,319), TD passes (4,319), and passer rating (102.5).
After the Vikes let him leave in free agency, Darnold signed a three-year, $100.5 million deal with Seattle and led the Seahawks to a 14-3 regular-season record with another strong season, completing a new-career-best 67.7 percent of his passes for 4,048 yards and 25 touchdowns.
After a solid performance against the Niners in the Divisional Round, the 28-year-old was absolutely phenomenal against the Rams in the NFC title game, completing 25 of 36 passes for 346 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions.
If Darnold plays like that against the Pats, he's got a Super Bowl MVP trophy in his future.
The only other former 49er on Seattle's active roster for Super Bowl 60 is is backup tight end Eric Saubert, who appeared in all 17 games for San Francisco in 2024, catching 11 passes for 97 yards and a touchdown.
New England Patriots
As for the Patriots, the only former San Francisco player on their active roster at this time is backup quarterback Joshua Dobbs, who spent the 2024 season with the 49ers, making three appearances and one start in Week 18 against the Arizona Cardinals, a game in which he completed 29 of 43 passes for 326 yards with two touchdowns and two picks in a 47-24 loss.
Wide receiver and special-teamer Trent Sherfield, who caught nine passes for 87 yards and a touchdown for San Francisco during the 2021 campaign, is also with New England but resides on the practice squad.