Like a parade of cars driving by someone’s house to honk birthday wishes amid quarantine, Joe Staley’s retirement drew quite a reception line Tuesday, as ex-teammates tooted his horn from Zoom rooms to other outlets.
For linebacker Patrick Willis, he recalled meeting Staley at San Francisco International airport on April 29, 2007, a day after the 49ers drafted them in the first round. Like the draft in which Willis (No. 11 overall) preceded Staley (No. 28), Willis’ plane landed first, and then came his favorite memory of their pairing.
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“He wasn’t too far behind me coming up the escalator at SFO, I remember turning around, seeing him and I thought to myself, ‘Man, they made sure they got a guy who’s big enough I could go against in practice,’ ” Willis recalled on a video conference with reporters.