Among the chaos that is New Orleans days before Super Bowl XLVII could be found Dan Beckler sporting the black and gold of Wichita State, iPad in hand as he caught parts of the Shockers’ men’s basketball game against Indiana State on Tuesday. 

“I absolutely loved going to Wichita State. Definitely spread the Shocker pride,” Beckler said. “Was disappointed we lost. We’ll bounce back.”

Beckler graduated from WSU in 2009 with a master’s in sport management, where he also spent time in the athletic department working in media relations for basketball and baseball.

Now he finds himself in the Big Easy with his current employer, the San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League, where he serves as the team’s coordinator of public relations. 

His main job duty? To help set up media interviews for 49ers starting quarterback Colin Kaepernick. 

“I don’t look at this as a job,” Beckler said in a phone interview. “I get to watch professional football games for a living. I wake up everyday and I am eager to go to work.”

Beckler’s journey to San Francisco—and now the Super Bowl—started at WSU when he landed an internship with Disney’s Wide World of Sports in Orlando. Working for Disney allowed him to experience a wide spectrum of the sporting world, including training camp with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Atlanta Braves spring training, and the Old Spice college basketball tournament, which WSU happened to be playing in that year. 

The work he did with the Buccaneers made Beckler—a former basketball player at Oklahoma Baptist—fall in love with the NFL. 

“I just absolutely loved training camp, which is the busiest and hardest time of the year,” he said. “I loved the grind, being around football all the time. I kind of decided then I wanted to try the NFL route and got lucky.”

Beckler volunteered to work Super Bowl XLIV in Miami between the New Orleans Saints and the Indianapolis Colts, as well as the Pro Bowl that year. There he met his current boss, who brought him into the 49ers organization. 

Less than two years later, Beckler finds himself at his second Super Bowl—albeit in a much different role—and part of one of the NFL’s best stories this season. 

“It’s completely different being with the team versus just a volunteer,” he said. “I’m much more invested, knowing the guys. That’s just the biggest thing. I want to see these guys do well. Their ultimate goal is to win the Super Bowl and I’d be so happy for each and every guy on the team.”

Beckler, who was born in Wichita and graduated from Trinity Academy, never thought he would end up where he is, especially so quickly. But now that he’s here, he has no plans to leave. 

“I could have never envisioned being where I am right now,” Beckler said. “I love the NFL. I hope to be in this business for a long, long time.”