SANTA CLARA – When Emmanuel Sanders entered his new locker room with the 49ers for the first time on Wednesday, his eyes immediately went to the cubicle that Richard Sherman currently occupies.
The only other time Sanders was in that locker room on the east side of Levi’s Stadium was Feb. 7, 2016, for Super Bowl 50.
“Right when I walked in, I was like, ‘Oh, s--t, this is the locker room I was in when we won the Super Bowl,' ” Sanders said on Thursday. “It was yesterday, so I never really had the time to think about it in the depth like we’re talking about it right now because I was so locked into the playbook.”
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Sanders caught six passes for 83 yards in the Denver Broncos’ 24-10 victory over the Carolina Panthers in Levi’s Stadium in Super Bowl 50. His debut as a member of the 49ers will come on Sunday at Levi’s Stadium against the Panthers.
“After the Super Bowl, we really didn’t get to enjoy the locker room because everybody had to do so much media to do,” Sanders said. “When I got done with my media, I literally put on my clothes and the bus was getting ready to leave.
“I had the Lombardi Trophy over my head. I remember walking out that door and getting on the bus and seeing all the fans and looking up and saying, ‘Damn, I just won the Super Bowl.’ I was ready to get on that bus and get to the hotel and party and have a good time.”
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After sharing his memories of Super Bowl 50 with NBC Sports Bay Area, Sanders went over to Sherman to tell him he used that locker space for the biggest game of his career. Sanders’ new locker is about 20 feet in front of his Super Bowl locker.
Sanders’ new spot is not exactly prime real estate in the 49ers' locker room with a regulation basketball hoop attached and the ever-present possibility he could be struck by an errant shot.
“Maybe I should make my locker into a shrine for him,” Sherman joked.