Stan Szeto-USA TODAY Sports
The first ever playoff game at Levi’s Stadium will mark the beginning of the 49ers’ postseason chase for a Super Bowl.
It also will bring undeniable life to a stadium that once was “dead.”
That’s according to former 49ers great Justin Smith, who retired following the 2014 season, after Levi’s inaugural campaign.
The five-time Pro Bowl defensive lineman was part of a ’14 squad that finished a disappointing 8-8 a season after reaching the NFC championship. Initially, the sound levels couldn’t seem to compete with Candlestick Park’s. Maybe not anymore.
“I went out [this season], caught a game, and I thought that stadium was just dead from the year I played in it. It’s back,” Smith told “Murph & Mac” on KNBR on Thursday. “You gotta win, and they’ve been winning and they brought it back. Great to see.”
That they have, entering Saturday’s matchup with the Vikings the No. 1 seed in the NFC, finishing the season 6-2 in Santa Clara.
“When I played in there the first year it was open, 2014, understandably we didn’t have that great of a year,” said Smith, who finished his career with 87 sacks. “… You could just hear the air come out of that place. People start [saying], ‘It’s too hot in there’ — that just means you’re losing.
“… They’re not talking about the heat anymore, I guarantee you.”
The early reports from Levi’s Stadium, which has a lack of shade and led to several heat exhaustion cases, have been replaced by excitement for how loud the place can get in the biggest 49ers game of its short life.