For the first time in a decade, the Super Bowl returned to the Bay Area on Sunday, Feb. 8, at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif. During yesterday’s pre-game coverage, regional stalwart and rhythm pundit, Mickey Hart, evoked the Grateful Dead legacy in connection to the city that shaped the band and with regard to their hometown football team. 

Before Hart’s appearance, the game day announcer pulled a “Shakedown Street” reference by drawing attention from the field to 710 Ashbury, calling it “the heart of town,” and mentioning the profound loss of the Grateful Dead’s founding member and rhythm guitarist, Bobby Weir, who passed away on Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, at age 78. 

Shortly before Weir’s death, a camera crew visited Hart as he reflected on the band’s potent connection to the San Francisco 49ers. The clip, which can be viewed in full below, shows Hart behind the kit, speaking directly to the viewer about the band’s 60-year legacy and its overlapping history with the sports team. 

Set to “Ripple,” Hart says: “Hi sports fans! Sixty years, that’s a long time. And for both the Grateful Dead and the Super Bowl, it’s been six decades of history. Heroes, heartbreak, reinvention, and a whole lot of joy along the way. And it all started right here in San Francisco. 

It became our home through the Summer of Love. Sixty years ago, the Grateful Dead came together, trying to make sense of our sound, our rhythm, and the strange new world we were living in. Back then, 710 Ashbury, things were buzzing–a little chaos and a lot of passion. Folks were dancing in the street, but just down the road, only six blocks away, another team was making a spark at Kezar Stadium, the first home of the 49ers. 

By the 1980s, the 49ers were the kings of football. Bill Walsh, Joe Montana, Jerry Rice, the best show in the NFL. They were reinventing what offense could be, and at the same time, me, Billy, Jerry, Bob, Phil, we were out there finding our own sound, pushing the envelope. It wasn’t so different, really, the team, the band, the communication, and the trust. It’s all about teamwork. 

The 49ers won a lot of games, and we had some fun along the way as well. Over the years, our connection just kept growing. And then, 10 years ago, the 49ers got a new home–Levi’s Stadium, right here in Santa Clara, which we chose as the best on the West Coast to celebrate our 50th anniversary. 

Now, another chapter is born, another chance to celebrate life in the city we all love and where we all came from. It’s Super Bowl 60 and the Grateful Dead’s 60th as well. Two San Francisco stories, still rolling, still evolving, still truckin’ on. What a long, strange trip it’s been.” 

Watch below.