National Football League

Javon Hargrave on 49ers' skid, his Kobe Bryant-themed ritual, rivalry with Eagles and more

Published Oct. 26, 2023 3:20 p.m. ET

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San Francisco 49ers defensive tackle Javon Hargrave has seen a few things during his time in the NFL. Now in his eighth season out of South Carolina State, Hargrave has spent his entire professional career on three perennial contenders and household football brands — four years with the Pittsburgh Steelers after they drafted him in 2016, three with the Philadelphia Eagles, including last year's trip to the Super Bowl, and now with the 49ers after signing a four-year, $84 million contract with San Francisco last offseason.

Hargrave has been around long enough to know that he cannot get too despondent about San Francisco's recent two-game skid, which featured surprising losses to the Cleveland Browns and Minnesota Vikings after looking like one of the NFL's best teams amid their 5-0 start to the season.

"It's just week-to-week," Hargrave told Dave Helman on a recent special bonus episode of The NFL on FOX Podcast. "A couple of weeks ago, we were [seen as] God's gift to earth. Then the last two weeks, you've got to hear all this negative talk and how bad things are going with us. So I've just learned to have a short memory with all of that, not really getting too high with my highs or too low with my lows. It's just a mindset of getting better every day."

Hargrave has also been making sure to spread that mindset to his younger teammates.

"I was just telling the guys yesterday, we've been here before," Hargrave said. "I've been on two-game or three-game losing streaks before and came out on top. It's just the experience. I tell myself all the time, even when I go through tough times, I always come out on top.

"When I was in situations when I doubted myself, somehow, I always found a way to win. You're gonna go through bumps in the road like this, but you've really got to stay consistent. … Once we go on a winning streak, everyone's gonna forget about those two games."

One of the low points Hargrave is not overly concerned about was the inability of the star-studded 49ers defensive line to sack Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins despite generating constant pressure during San Francisco's 22-17 loss to Minnesota on Monday night. Rather, Hargrave said it was a credit to Cousins, his fellow NFL veteran, that he did so well. Cousins went 15-for-17 for 240 yards with a touchdown, 14.1 yards per attempt and a 138.4 passer rating when pressured Monday per Next Gen Stats (h/t NFL Media).

[Related: 49ers’ Nick Bosa is in a sack drought, but he needs some help from rest of D-line]

"[Cousins] was in the zone," Hargrave said. "We just really couldn't find ways to get off the field. He really was hunting, and you've just got to tip your hat to him. He's a veteran, he's seen a lot of things, and he had a really good game plan for us and executed real good."

Javon Hargrave on how the Vikings upset the 49ers in Week 7

"But it's a learning lesson for us, how much more we've got to work and how much more we've got to be prepared and we've got to do better in our execution."

The 30-year-old Hargrave has also learned over the years how to better take care of his body to be in playing shape on Sundays. The man who as a 22-year-old rookie would, by his own admission, "eat Chick-Fil-A every day" in Pittsburgh now preaches the value of not just healthy eating but also constant massage therapy, hot and cold tubs, acupuncture and Pilates. Part of that change in his mindset is thanks to veterans like James Harrison and Cameron Heyward on the Steelers teams Hargrave started out on.

"I used to see [Harrison] getting all these needles in his body, and I'm just wondering, like, ‘Why? Are y’all crazy? I would never stick a needle in my body," Hargrave recalled, laughing. "I'm a whole different person now. I tell people that every day. … The older I get, I just laugh at some of the things I did in Pittsburgh compared to what I'm doing now.

"I think everywhere I went I just picked up things people did. And that's been my thing, I just keep trying to learn everywhere I go and not being too ‘good’ to pick up something that other people are doing."

49ers' Javon Hargrave shares his favorite stories about Pittsburgh Steelers HC Mike Tomlin

Hargrave is a big basketball fan who used to harbor NBA dreams, to the point where he wanted to only play basketball in high school before his family pushed him to play football his freshman year, where he ended up on the junior varsity team after missing summer workouts. He then got five sacks in his first game, immediately ending his time away from the varsity team and, soon, his basketball aspirations.

But Hargrave's love of basketball endures in a game-day ritual in which he posts a picture of late Los Angeles Lakers icon Kobe Bryant to his Instagram story before every game he plays. That tribute doubles as a signal to his loved ones that he will be off social media and not return any texts until after the game is over.

"Growing up, I was an Allen Iverson fan and I hated Kobe because he beat A.I. in that [2001 NBA Finals] championship," Hargrave said. "But as I got older, I just started seeing the ‘Mamba Mentality’ and that it wasn't that he was cocky, it was about how much work he put in and how much he put towards his game, and it was really just the confidence in how much work he did. 

"So I just ended up becoming a Kobe fan a bit, because that's kind of what I believe in — just outwork everybody and do the extra that other people aren't willing to do. I just got obsessed with Kobe and started watching a lot of his videos. I guess that picture for me is like going into that ‘Mamba mode' for game time… It's hitting that switch."

Hargrave, of course, also spent three seasons on the NFL team Bryant rooted for his entire life, the Eagles. He is now on the 49ers, giving him unique insight into the budding rivalry between the two teams who seem destined for a collision course in the NFC once again after Hargrave helped the Eagles beat the 49ers in the NFC Championship Game last year.

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"I hear about it all the time," Hargrave laughed. "I can't get away from that question at all. But of course, I've still got a lot of friends over there with the Eagles and they've been talking junk to me ever since I signed here. It is what it is. I love those boys, but it comes to that game, I'm all in. I'm Niner Gang. I'm on this side now. So I can't wait to go down there and just to see everyone too, but try to come home with a win."

As Hargrave alluded to, the 49ers play the Eagles in an NFC Championship Game rematch in Philadelphia on Dec. 3, and that game can be seen on FOX and the FOX Sports App. Time will tell if it will also preview a playoff matchup soon after that — with Hargrave once again in the center of it all.

Editor's note: This interview was conducted before 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy entered the NFL's concussion protocol.

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