San Francisco 49ers star offensive tackle Trent Williams insists the club's 2023 season should be viewed as a success even though the Niners lost Super Bowl LVIII to the Kansas City Chiefs.
"That's the biggest loss you can take but at the end of the day, you look at it for what it is," Williams said on the latest edition of "The Shop" podcast, as shared by Tristi Rodriguez of NBC Sports Bay Area. "I'm a realist. There were two teams left out of 32 teams. Two teams fighting for that one trophy. Yeah, it sucks but you got to look back and say, at the end of the day, it was a successful season."
The 2023 49ers finished the regular season at 12-5 en route to earning the NFC's No. 1 seed for the postseason tournament. San Francisco then rallied from behind against both the Green Bay Packers and Detroit Lions during playoff matchups, and the Niners also held an overtime lead over the Chiefs in the Super Bowl before quarterback Patrick Mahomes worked his magic.
"I used to think, just get me to the Super Bowl," Williams continued. "I don't care if we win or lose. I just wanted to feel that atmosphere. I had never won a playoff game in the first 10 years of my career."
Williams originally joined the 49ers in the spring of 2020. Since then, the franchise has played in the last three NFC Championship contests and this year's Super Bowl.
While Williams may not want to downplay all that San Francisco has accomplished during his time with the organization, the 35-year-old also isn't satisfied with coming up short on the sport's biggest stage.
"I put so much into this game," Williams added during the podcast. "I sacrificed so much. I haven't felt the pinnacle yet. I wanted to be there. I just wanted to experience it. Then when you get there, you understand it's just another football game and now, you want to win that game as bad as ever."
As of Friday morning, DraftKings Sportsbook listed the 49ers second among the betting favorites at +600 odds to win the next Super Bowl.
San Francisco's championship window as its roster exists today may be closing, but Williams and Co. should have at least one more chance to pursue the trophy that's eluded the franchise since January 1995.
