GO BEYOND THE FIELD

Ducks and Daughters: What Makes Jake & Colton Happy 

Ask SF 49ers starter Colton McKivitz where he's happiest and the answer is immediate:

"A couple hundred acres surrounded by lots of ducks. That is my peak happy place. That is my heaven on earth."

Ask his teammate Jake Brendel the same question and you get something completely different:

"My happy spot definitely would just be with family. Anytime I spend time with her, time flies. She's just the most amazing thing I've ever come across right now."

He's talking about his 19-month-old daughter.

Two guys. Two completely different versions of paradise. But both have learned the same crucial lesson: You can't be "on" all the time. The off switch is as important as the grind.

Colton's Evolution

For Colton, the outdoors has always been home. Duck hunting, specifically, is where he finds peace.

"One thing that I love to do is to share that experience, my happy place with others," he says. "And I got to do that with you. I got to do it with Brock, I got to do it with Charlie."

There's something about sitting in a blind, surrounded by nature, that creates the kind of bonding that can't happen in a locker room. It's the 49ers offensive line, but without pads and pressure. Just guys, outdoors, present.

"That cohesiveness and bringing guys out and being that locker room feeling, but outside the locker room, that's what I love to feel in that happy place," Colton explains.

But this season, something's changed.

"Last year was more in the outdoor space," he admits. "But I think this year I've kind of changed that into, just because I could do it doesn't mean I should with my body."

The realization hit him hard: Sitting in a blind for four or five hours isn't conducive to playing his best ball on Sunday.

"I think this year I've changed my mindset in that thinking of now I've got my day planned out, 30 minutes of whether it's reading or just having quiet time with my dog and my girlfriend or fiancée."

(Jake chimes in: "There you go." They laugh. He got it right this time.)

The evolution isn't about giving up what he loves. It's about recognizing that everything you do off the field affects what happens on it. Recovery matters. Rest matters. Those quiet moments—walking the dog, getting coffee, just being still—those matter too.

"Just kind of those quiet moments when we do get it, take advantage of it instead of doing something detrimental to my body just because I can," Colton says. "I think that's the biggest mind shift for me this year that's going to pay off."

Jake's Chaos

Jake's happy place is louder, messier, and more unpredictable—because it involves a toddler.

"She's in such a weird phase now where everything you say she repeats and her brain's moving a mile a minute," Jake says, his voice lighting up. "And it's just crazy that this came out of my wife. It's just nuts to think about that."

The amazement in his voice is genuine. This is a guy who's seen a lot—been cut five times, fought his way to the NFL, competed at the highest level. But nothing compares to watching his daughter discover the world.

"And it just makes you want to have more kids and have a bigger family and it's such a great thing to come home to."

For Jake, family isn't just his happy place—it's his anchor. It's what keeps him grounded when everything else in his life is high-pressure and uncertain.

Colton notices the change in his friend: "It was crazy from the beginning. We all come down to lunch, or breakfast we're like, 'Hey, where's Jake?' And she had already gone into labor by herself and then you were gone, came back and we're like, 'Dude, what happened?' Just had your daughter."

Missing team breakfast because your daughter is being born? That's the kind of priority shift that matters.

The Off Switch

Both guys have learned something critical: the off switch is real, and you need to use it.

"It's the on-off switch they always talk about," Colton explains. "And even we can say we're at home and we're relaxed, but mentally we can still be thinking about work or thinking about plays that we had or plays that we need to be going over. You're thinking about work without being there."

That mental loop—replaying plays, worrying about the next game, never truly disconnecting—is exhausting.

"I think that's one thing. Another thing this year for me is turning that off when you get home. Being mentally present when I'm home instead of bringing work home with me. I think that's another thing that athletes have a hard time doing is it's always go, go, go. And then you get home and you can't turn that switch off."

Jake had to learn this too. "I was a very high-strung guy. I was always nervous about this or nervous about that and worried about the next minute."

Through his career—and especially through becoming a father—he's learned to consciously relax.

"Just calm down, take a deep breath. And it's really not as important as you might think."

Two Different Paths, Same Destination

Colton finds peace in nature, in quiet mornings with coffee, in small moments of stillness.

Jake finds it in the beautiful chaos of fatherhood, in watching his daughter learn to speak, in the simple act of being present with family.

Both have learned that recovery isn't just physical. It's mental. It's emotional. It's about protecting the parts of yourself that make you human, not just an athlete.

"Just having it be quiet, whether it's just going for a walk with the dog or going to get coffee," Colton says. "Just kind of those quiet moments when we do get it, take advantage of it."

That's the lesson: Take advantage of the quiet. Protect the off switch. Find your happy place—wherever and whatever it is—and make time for it.

Because you can't go 100% all the time. Even NFL players need to rest.

Especially NFL players.

Coming Next in the GO BEYOND Series: How Jake and Colton approach recovery, and why passive recovery changed everything for them.

Get the GO Sleeves Used by Jake Brendel & Colton McKivitz: