Emmanuel Sanders will play in his third Super Bowl on Sunday, with his third different team, and he has the Steelers in part to thank for it.



The San Francisco wide receiver played his first four seasons with Pittsburgh, including Super Bowl XLV as a rookie. He then left as a free agent — because the Steelers made him an offer he could refuse, in order to escape the imposing shadow of Antonio Brown and to leave behind his less than fond memories of Ben Roethlisberger.



“I remember just being a kid at SMU and just hoping I had an opportunity to get on a team and prove myself as a special teamer,” Sanders told The Athletic as he prepared to head for Miami with his 49ers teammates. “I’d run down on kickoffs and tackle somebody if I had to. I just wanted to make it to the NFL. Now I look back 10 years later and three Super Bowl appearances and two Pro Bowls, three or four contracts and it’s just like blowing my mind. I just wanted to...