NEW ORLEANS -- Twenty feet from the buzzing mob of lights and microphones surrounding quarterback Colin Kaepernick, center Jonathan Goodwin faced significantly less fanfare.
Goodwin has been an anchor for a mostly dominant San Francisco 49ers offensive line this season, but reporters on Sunday night were more interested in hearing about his perspective on Kaepernick.
"He knows what to do at the right time," Goodwin said. "When he needs to take control of the huddle, he's firm, loud, demands things out of guys. And he also knows when to be silly. For a guy ... in just his second year (to) control some grown men, it says a lot."
That calm guidance from Kaepernick was on display last week, as the 49ers worked themselves out of a hole to beat the Atlanta Falcons on the road in the NFC Championship Game. Goodwin said the team has grown accustomed to that leadership and has seen strains of it not only in games, but away from the lights, in practice.
If Sunday night's media session is any indication, 49ers players will be pummeled with Kaepernick questions all week. That's no surprise. Goodwin didn't seem to mind, knowing that his quarterback's heroics are just one of the reasons his team is here in New Orleans for Super Bowl XLVII.
