A 300-pound 49ers lineman ran San Francisco’s hills to get into the best shape of his life

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Colton McKivitz didn’t drive his John Deere around San Francisco this offseason. That was so 2024.

A year after rumbling over Bernal Heights in a tractor with 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy while filming a commercial, the 300-pound offensive lineman from West Virginia used his own legs to power up Telegraph Hill. McKivitz drove to the city from the South Bay just so he could ascend torturous grades five times per week.

“Running Vallejo and Kearny — nothing’s going to be as hard physically on the football field as that,” McKivitz said. “Running up that concrete, I feel like I’m in the best shape I’ve ever been. The streets worked.”

The block of Kearny between Broadway and Vallejo intimidates with its 30.3% grade. While it’s not the steepest in the city (that distinction belongs to Bradford Street in Bernal Heights, which is one of the steepest in the world at 41%), Kearny is mighty enough to have kicked a starting NFL right tackle into the best shape of his life.

McKivitz cut fat and added eight pounds of muscle this offseason. Perhaps even more important, he gained a psychological edge with the unusual workouts — for which he was often joined by runners who just happened to be passing by.

“You’re dodging Waymos and bikes,” McKivitz said. “You look up those streets and you want to quit right away. Or you don’t even want to start it. And then you’ve got to run it again. And run backward. Or do broad jumps up and down it. A lot of it was mental and seeing how far you’re willing to push yourself.”

The Bay Area’s steep hills have long been a part of 49ers lore. Jerry Rice, arguably the best player in the history of the sport, famously sprinted up the inclines of Redwood City’s Edgewood Park during his playing career.

But with the 49ers headquartered in Santa Clara since 1988, players have left San Francisco’s distinguished terrain relatively untouched — at least over the past few decades.

“It’s just cool to embrace the city,” McKivitz said. “Not a lot of guys do it, but it’s just a cool place to work. I saw it and embraced what San Francisco and the 49ers really are.”

Fittingly, a proper San Francisco hill is a good metaphor for McKivitz’s improvement from 2023 — his first season as a full-time starter for the 49ers — to 2024.

McKivitz enjoyed meteoric improvement last season, vaulting from the 4th to the 56th percentile among right tackles in Pro Football Focus’ measure of pass-blocking efficiency. Another jump in 2025 could give McKivitz a puncher’s chance at his lofty goal this season.

“I’m going to be a Pro Bowler this year,” McKivitz recently told NBC Sports Bay Area’s Matt Maiocco. “I’ve told countless people. I’m just putting it out there just because that’s going to hold me accountable and get me to where I want to go.”

McKivitz stands to benefit immensely from continued improvements. For one, he’s entering a contract year. McKivitz is scheduled to bring in only about $4 million this season, which ranks almost comically far down the list of exploding salaries at the tackle position. For example, Jaylon Moore — who was McKivitz’s backup last season — recently signed a deal worth $15 million annually with the Kansas City Chiefs.

So there’s a growing pot of gold looming in McKivitz’s future if he can excel. And there’s a reason 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan readily acknowledged last month that a contract adjustment — as tricky as it might be to attain given the 49ers’ salary-cap crunch amid the overheated market — “makes sense” for McKivitz.

But unless the 49ers offer a pay raise that doesn’t extend the term of his contract, it may be in McKivitz’s best financial interest to sit tight until next year, when he’ll be able to enjoy the spoils of free agency. A good performance this season would essentially assure a huge payday for McKivitz in 2026.

The 49ers have finalized the first-string line around McKivitz in recent days. Offensive line coach Chris Foerster said Sunday that the left guard spot is Ben Bartch’s “job to lose.” The veteran, who hunted and fished with McKivitz this offseason whenever the tackle wasn’t locked into his urban hill workouts, gives the 49ers a chance take their collective O-line performance up a notch.

Thursday’s joint practice with the Denver Broncos also presents a valuable opportunity. For one, McKivitz will have a chance to catch up with his predecessor. That’s Mike McGlinchey, the right tackle who left the 49ers for Denver on a five-year contract worth up to $87.5 million in 2023.

Then, once the pleasantries subside, McKivitz and the 49ers will face a Broncos defense that ranked No. 1 in the NFL last season. The 3-4 Denver front, which will be anchored by former 49ers stalwarts D.J. Jones and Dre Greenlaw, will present the first true measuring stick of this frenetic offseason.

“It’s going to be a new defensive look for us [to face],” McKivitz said. “Three down [linemen]. It’ll be fun to go against a different team. [There may be a] little scuffle here and there, but it’ll be good to see a new defense — a change up.”

Consider it the next hill the 49ers must climb.