Pierre Garcon takes a little trip down memory lane, says a break through is close

The San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Pierre Garcon went back to where his career began. Back to where he worked overtime on his routes and learned from NFL greats, Marvin Harrison, Reggie Wayne and Peyton Manning. Fitting that they were all there to for the celebration of the Colts retirement of number 18.

Is it sentimental being here?

It’s cool. It’s cool to see a lot of older guys that when I came in as a rookie that were in their prime, and it’s always good to see those guys because it was a lot of inspiration to me. I tried to play hard for them, always, when I was a rookie, and even in my tenth year now. It’s always good to see those guys – a lot of great people with the Colts’ organization from Bill Polian all the way down to their equipment manager (Jon Scott), T (Brian Seabrooks) and Frog (Sean Sullivan). But it’s always good to come back to Indy where they gave me my first opportunity.

Did you get a chance to talk to Peyton Manning?

No, he was busy, but me and Peyton are cool – always will be cool. He taught me a lot. I did get to talk to (Dwight) Freeney, (Robert) Mathis, Marvin (Harrison), Reggie (Wayne), Edge (Edgerrin James) – all those guys that I looked up to when I was in my first year coming here and even in high school and college watching those guys play.

Do you have a best memory with Manning?

You can never take away from the touchdown in the Super Bowl. That’s one of those things. And, obviously, when we played the Jets here for the AFC Championship Game, so those are a lot of great memories that we had here. And I’m happy I was able to be a part of that team.

Did you manage to catch any of the end of that celebration for Manning?

Yeah, I saw some of it. I saw a lot of it. I thought about going out there and taking one of those passes from Reggie (Wayne), but it was their time, it was their moment. Those are my guys, and I’ll always tell stories about those guys.

Garçon was very productive, building a rhythm early with quarterback Brian Hoyer finishing the day with eight catches for 94 yards. He said getting so close to a win multiple times just reminds the players to keep working hard and take advantage of the opportunities in the first, second and third quarter instead of waiting until the fourth quarter. Is it frustrating?

It’s not frustration, it’s things that we need to do on our own, nobody else’s influence. It’s being consistent and working hard throughout the week and bringing it on Sundays.

When asked if a breakthrough is close for the 49ers he said he believes it is.

It’s close, you know, we’re playing tough, playing hard. There's a lot of things we can do better early in the game. It all came together when we needed it but we have to get it going earlier instead of waiting until the fourth quarter.

Garçon mentioned getting things going earlier instead of waiting until the fourth quarter multiple times, which is something that many have noticed. Going into halftime with a score of 6-6 three weeks in a row spells it out pretty clearly. Garçon and Hoyer had a rhythm early but the offense just couldn’t finish the drives in the first half. Unfortunately this breakthrough may not happen until the 49ers face the Cardinals or the Giants later in the season, tough road trips to Washington and Philadelphia are ahead first.