San Francisco 49ers waited until NFL play-offs to unleash frightening secret weapon

The San Francisco 49ers caused a seismic shock against the Green Bay Packers last weekend - and one play at Lambeau Field almost caused the ground to physically shake.

As the dust settled on a chaotic and frantic game, it was a run of around five yards by Elijah Mitchell that got traction on social media.

Not because of Mitchell, however, but because of the sight of Trent Williams, the 6ft5in, 145kg left tackle sent in motion with a 10-yard running head start to leave a path of destruction in his wake.

Apart from those on the 49ers sideline, there was perhaps only one man who saw it coming and leapt out of his seat at home in excitement.

That’s because former 49ers left tackle Joe Staley, who retired in 2020 and was replaced by Williams, had been made aware by his replacement that the plan was in the works weeks ago.

“That was amazing,” Staley explains. “I had actually interviewed Trent earlier this year and he had, off camera, brought that up to me.

“He told me he was already working on getting that play installed with Kyle and I was like, ‘oh, what did Kyle say?’

“And he said, ‘yeah, he’s going to put it in, but it’s going to be in a big game in a big moment’, so when I saw Trent report eligible I already knew what was coming.

“I jumped out of my seat and I was like, ‘oh this is going to be amazing! Watch Trent!’ And sure enough he absolutely unloaded on that guy, Rashan Gary, lifted him off his feet.”

“He’s probably the best guy you could imagine ever doing it. I can’t believe it’s legal. It’s scary even for me to even watch,” head coach Kyle Shanahan said of Williams in motion this week.

And Staley now wants Williams to be used as a further weapon for the 49ers to build off against the Los Angeles Rams in the NFC