Why 49ers' Trent Williams sees 2023 campaign as a success despite Super Bowl loss

San Francisco 49ers tackle Trent Williams has had ample time to reflect on the Super Bowl 58 defeat in Las Vegas. Looking back on his 2023 campaign, he refuses to label the season a failure, instead focusing on the positives of his team's valiant effort.

"That's the biggest loss you can take, but at the end of the day, you look at it for what it is," Williams said on "The Shop" podcast, according to Tristi Rodriguez of NBC Sports Bay Area. "I'm a realist. There were two teams left out of 32 teams. Two teams fighting for that one trophy. Yeah, it sucks, but you got to look back and say, at the end of the day, it was a successful season. I used to think, just get me to the Super Bowl! I don't care if we win or lose. I just wanted to feel that atmosphere. I had never won a playoff game in the first 10 years of my career.

"So to even see and think about the Super Bowl, the NFC Championship -- I just want to feel it. I put so much into this game, I sacrificed so much. I haven't felt the pinnacle yet. I wanted to be there. I just wanted to experience it. Then when you get there, you understand it's just another football game, and now, you want to win that game as bad as ever.

"I take it in strides. I done had obstacles and I think that's just another one of them."

Williams and the 49ers have put the loss behind them and are focused on rebounding from the gut-wrenching overtime defeat against the Kansas City Chiefs. The team's sights remain fixed on that elusive sixth championship for the organization.

A 2020 trade sent Williams from Washington to San Francisco, and the veteran offensive lineman has spent the past four seasons with the Bay Area team. The 11-time Pro Bowler has earned first-team All-Pro honors in each of the past three seasons.