NEW ORLEANS —In the span of 11 months, Perrish Cox went from the possibility of spending the rest of his life in prison to the reality of playing this Sunday in the Super Bowl.

Upon hearing the argument presented by attorney Harvey Steinberg, a Douglas County jury ruled March 2, 2012 that Cox was not guilty of two felony sexual-assault charges.

“My life has done a 180 since that day,” Cox said Tuesday during Super Bowl Media Day at the Superdome. “When I woke up that day, I had no future plans. My job was football, but that was on hold. But since that day, it’s been step by step and a total blessing that I wound up where I am today.”

Cox is here as a reserve defensive back for the NFC-champion San Francisco 49ers. He also plays on most special teams. He had been a nine-game rookie starter for the Broncos in 2010, but his off-field legal troubles temporarily cost him his on-field job.

They also led to a sensational trial in which Demaryius Thomas went from Broncos star receiver to a star witness. Although Cox was cleared in a criminal court, the accuser has filed a civil complaint against Cox and Thomas.

“It’s still pending, but I’m not thinking about that,” Cox said. “Being here from where I was, it speaks for itself. My long-held dream was to make it here. I’m here.”

Cox was released by the Broncos before the 2011 season after a rough performance in the final preseason game at Arizona.

“Just by the feel of the way everything was going, I actually thought I was going to get released before then,” Cox said while wearing his 49ers’ No. 20 jersey. “If I had kind of a sluggish practice (in training camp), which I would have because I was learning a new position (of nickel back), I would come in and their attitude was “Clear your mind.” I would say, “Hey, nothing’s bothering me.’

“I still talked to some of them dudes. Champ (Bailey) is my brother. I felt bad leaving them.”

After he was exonerated, Cox wasn’t an unemployed NFL player for long. He was brought to San Francisco, where he met personally with 49ers general manager Trent Baalke, head coach Jim Harbaugh, defensive coordinator Vic Fangio and defensive backs coach Ed Donatell, who was a Broncos assistant coach during Cox’s rookie season.

“They said everybody has their bumps and bruises, it’s just how you overcome it.” Cox said. “From that day, nobody brought anything up about it, and they treated me like a brother and brought me in.”

Footnotes. Darcel McBath was part of the Broncos’ “strike three” second round in the 2009 draft, but he is now a standout special-teams player for the 49ers. The Broncos made second-round selections of Alphonso Smith, McBath and Richard Quinn in 2009. All were gone with “bust” labels by 2011.

“It doesn’t bother me,” McBath said. “People will say what they want. I know what kind of player I am, the player I’m going to be. I’m going to just keep working.” … Baltimore cornerback Jimmy Smith has battled multiple injuries in the two years since he was a first-round pick out of Colorado. Former Buffs offensive tackle Nate Solder also was a first-round pick of the New England Patriots, who lost in the Super Bowl last year. “We went to one bowl in Colorado,” Smith said. “But now we each have gone to the best bowl.”

Mike Klis: 303-954-1055, mklis@denverpost.com or twitter.com/mikeklis