Anquan Boldin was in Dakar, Senegal with fellow Pro Bowl wide receivers Larry Fitzgerald and Roddy White learning about the gold-mining process and slave trade when he found out he had been traded from the Baltimore Ravens to the San Francisco 49ers.
Boldin told the Palm Beach Post on Friday that he was "shocked initially" by the trade but understands the business side of the game after a decade in the NFL.
"I thought I would finish as a Raven -- that was my full intention -- but like I said, the business part didn't allow for that to happen," Boldin said. "The same thing happened when I was in Arizona -- that Super Bowl team got dismantled quickly. It's just the way that the NFL is."
Boldin insists he bears no ill will toward the Ravens and plans on attending the championship ring ceremony this June in Baltimore.
Now that he's joining a franchise "drenched in tradition" like the 49ers, Boldin is in position to compare new head coach Jim Harbaugh with former head coach John Harbaugh.
"You see how similar they are -- personality wise, coaching style. I think it's cool," Boldin said. "If I'm going to get traded anywhere, that's a perfect spot. You want to go somewhere where you have a chance to compete for a championship every year, and the style of football they play fits me to a T."
Follow Chris Wesseling on Twitter @ChrisWesseling.
