49ers-Saints was my once-in-a-lifetime experience

It's an ugly time in the NFL right now with domestic violence, child abuse, and an incompetent commissioner. That's just the tip of the iceberg, but over the last couple weeks, it has been kind of difficult to enjoy the NFL.

Time for a little distraction. We'll have plenty more on all the nonsense, but for now, I thought it would be fun to talk about once-in-a-lifetime experiences with the 49ers. From a team perspective, "The Catch" is probably the once in a lifetime experience. The team had not been able to get over the hump against the Dallas Cowboys, and Montana to Clark got them over that hump. One could point to the first Lombardi Trophy as the "once-in-a-lifetime" experience, but The Catch remains the definitive play in 49ers history.

However, I wanted to look at this from a more personal perspective, and consider our own once-in-a-lifetime-experiences. It does not need to be about a game you saw in person. It could be something as simple as watching one of the 49ers Super Bowl victories with your family or friends, or anything involving enjoying the 49ers in a unique way.

For me, it was probably being on the sideline for the final few minutes of the 49ers-Saints 2012 divisional playoff game. I went to the Super Bowl the following year, and had the 49ers won that, it would have climbed to the top, so instead, we go with the wild divisional round game the year before.

I include it because it was among the most entertaining games I've been to in person. However, I also include it because of being on the sideline as the final act played out. I got down there just before Alex Smith ran his bootleg in for the score, and stayed down for the remaining plays. Here is a picture I got after the game wrapped, behind Alex Smith and Vernon Davis talking to Tony Siragusa.

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