The SB Nation mothership put together a nice list of the nine NFL moments they wish they could have seen live and as you can expect, some great plays are on there. The San Francisco 49ers got some love with the Terrell Owens touchdown celebration on the Dallas Cowboys star.
There are plenty of moments specific to the 49ers that we all can wish we saw live. I’m curious which ones you would want to see, but I’ll list mine. Note, I’ve embed the video, but the DMCA biscuits will no doubt not allow you watch it in some regions, so click the header link to go to the video on YouTube:
The Catch
Duh. The crowd went absolutely nuts when Joe Montana threw the third-down pass to Dwight Clark, catapulting the 49ers into a dynasty and sending the Cowboys into mediocrity. I unfortunately wasn’t born yet. I would have loved to have been at Candlestick to see this play, but it’d take two more years to get a birth certificate. You can hear from the microphones just how loud it gets and if it feels good watching it, you gotta wonder how those fans felt seeing it.
The Vernon Post
Another obvious one. I was definitely watching everything closely at home. I remember being elated at the previous Alex Smith bootleg run for a touchdown (thanks to Joe Staley’s block), but was left scratching my head as to why Alex didn’t take a knee at the one-yard line and start killing clock (dummy me, that was probably a good idea he didn’t). A minute was just too much for Drew Brees. After the Saints got the ball and Jimmy Graham took off, I remember my body freezing and you could hear a pindrop at Candlestick. Next thing you know, Vernon Davis is bolting down the sidelines with a pass to set up what would be the Vernon Post. I don’t know about you, but I was jacked up when that final play happened and I still get goosebumps now. Wish I saw it live.
The Pick at the ‘Stick
I’m going to get out of Candlestick Park shortly, but while this play sent the 49ers to the playoffs, it also was one of the final moments of the aforementioned stadium. In the final played at Candlestick Park, NaVarro Bowman first messes up an onside kick, giving the ball back to the Atlanta Falcons and letting them get momentum. Then he turns around and intercepts Matt Ryan in the redzone and takes it across the field for a touchdown. Given that it was the final game at Candlestick, there’s not a better way to go out, and there was more emotion for that fact than it was for the 49ers simply sealing their playoff fates.
2012 NFC Championship Game—all of it
The 49ers went up against the Falcons in the NFC Championship and started out slow. So slow it was overreaction time to assume the season was over by the end of the half. It wasn’t a bad prediction either. The Falcons came out to an early lead and when the 49ers finally did find the endzone, the Falcons just dialed up Julio Jones in a few seconds with an additional touchdown of their own. Then the second half came and the Falcons didn’t score again. The 49es would inch themselves closer and closer then turn it over or miss field goals until Frank Gore ran the ball in and did his own rendition of the Dirty bird—then it was all over. Seeing the emotion just go out of the crowd when it seemed like the 49ers were out of it was such a great feeling. I can only assume the 49ers fans took over the stadium in the final minutes. Well, after the 4th down stand the 49ers had.
The Catch II
It was a toss between this or the NFC Divisional where Colin Kaepernick had his coming out party, but the Catch II was such an important piece in 49ers lore, plus how awesome was it when not only Steve Young connected with Terrell Owens, but to beat the Green Bay Packers after all the misery we had to endure? How electric was that stadium after that? Yeah, I would have partied there all night if they had let me. Instead I had to catch the second half at home in Boise, Idaho. Oh how I wish I was there for this game.
Those are mine. What are the five moments you wish you could have seen live with the 49ers?
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