The defending NFC Champion San Francisco 49ers have been hampered by injuries to start the NFL season. Most notably, the reigning Offensive Player of the Year Christian McCaffrey and NFL All-Pros Deebo Samuel and George Kittle all missing time.
But that has not stopped Pro Bowl quarterback Brock Purdy from putting up numbers that rank him among the league’s passing leaders.
On the field, Purdy has certainly excelled. Last season, he threw for 4,280 yards and 31 touchdowns while leading the San Francisco to the Super Bowl. Purdy earned Pro Bowl honors and finishing with the league’s top passer rating. Off the field, his marketing portfolio has certainly diversified as of late.
While most athletes have one footwear sponsor, Purdy has taken a different route, partnering with both adidas for cleats and sneakers and leading western and work apparel brand Ariat for boots.
Sports Illustrated’s Kicks On SI spoke with Purdy about his multiple footwear deals and how he takes care of his body during the grind of the NFL season.
Coming from a Nike school in college at Iowa State, what was the process like for signing with adidas as you entered the NFL?
“I had a great experience with Nike cleats and apparel at Iowa State but once I got to the NFL Combine, adidas was handing out some cleats – in high school I wore adidas cleats and I loved them – I just remember how light they were. They handed me some cleats at the Combine and they were extremely comfortable and my feet were feeling really good in those cleats.
So, going into OTAs and Training Camp with the Niners, I was still wearing adidas cleats. I absolutely loved them. I felt quick in them and when I became the starter in week 13 – from there, I was like, ‘Oh man, I’m rolling with adidas, I’ve worn these cleats all year.’
I feel great in them still and obviously I’m having success on the field with them so it was pretty authentic. I just love their cleats, shoes and apparel in general. We’ve had a great partnership for going on three years now.”
What was it like to have an all-adidas Super Bowl quarterback matchup with you and Patrick Mahomes earlier this year?
“I thought it was pretty cool. I mean, obviously Mahomes and what he’s done and to be able to match up against him in the Super Bowl and both of us representing adidas was pretty cool. I know it meant a lot to the brand.
Obviously, you have two of their guys meet up in the final game of the year, the championship game. So for the brand as a whole and for Patrick and me, I know that, we love representing adidas and we’re pretty proud that we were both able to play the Super Bowl against each other and rep our brand. So that was pretty neat.”
You are one of the rare professional athletes with multiple footwear deals – adidas and your recently announced partnership with Ariat – how did that cowboy boot deal come about?
“Growing up where I’m from in Arizona – it was like on the outside of Gilbert and Chandler in a small town called Queen Creek – there were a lot of ranches, crops and people would always go to rodeos there. It was like western-ish where I’m from.
In high school, my buddies and I started wearing Ariat. When I went to college, I wore them everywhere and just fell in love with the brand as a whole. So I’ve been wearing Ariat for forever now.
For Christmas last year, I wanted to get my lineman some presents and I thought they’d love some boots. So my agent and I hit up Ariat and set that whole thing up. Sure enough, my o-line all loved them.
From there we just started talking and then boom, it became a partnership in the off season. I love their brand, what they stand for, what they believe in. Obviously I wear their boots so it’s an authentic partnership – it’s not something that’s been forced upon or anything – I’ve been wearing it since high school.”
Speaking of your offensive line and everything on field, clearly you guys have been dealing with a lot of injuries this year. How do you personally take care of your body and what are some of the things that are part of your daily routine to keep you healthy?
“Two things are key to me: the first is just movement in general. Obviously working out and then just laying down and going through mobility exercises on my own. That’s been something that I think I just slept on in general. I think just moving in general and like mobility exercise on the ground is huge for me.
I also really love sauna and cold plunging back and forth, like contrast. I do about 15 minutes in the sauna, like three minutes cold plunge and go back and forth a couple of times. It’s just great in terms of getting the blood flow in the body moving and promotes healing in your body. So that’s something that I absolutely love and those two things are really what I make sure are in my routine throughout the week.”
In terms of what you put into your body on a daily basis, what about RECOVER 180 made sense for you from a partnership standpoint?
“I think just being an athlete, obviously performance is everything about my job. What I put into my body in terms of the nutrition side of things is so important. It’s all about longevity and your season is so long, so every little thing matters.
When it comes to nutrition and hydration for me, I want to put in whatever is most clean, pure and is good for my body – it’s as simple as that. So RECOVER 180 is exactly that – with coconut water and no sugars. I get all the electrolytes that I need from it, so I drink it before, during and after my workouts throughout the week.
Even when I’m going through my recovery process of like the sauna and cold plunge, I make sure I have my RECOVER 180 with me. I legitimately use it – it’s authentic partnership – and it’s clean so that’s what I love most about it.”
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