Hearst's Wild Ride
Flashback: Hearst's Wild RideBy Joe Lago
NFL.com
SAN FRANCISCO (Sept. 6, 1998) Why fly when you can drive?
Despite striking through the air seemingly at will against the New York Jets, the San Francisco 49ers rode running back Garrison Hearst to victory on a 96-yard touchdown run that capped a dramatic 36-30 overtime win over the New York Jets.
Of course, the longest run in team history is the last thing head coach Steve Mariucci expected when he called "Ninety-Oh," a simple trap play designed to create some breathing room deep in 49ers territory. Instead, Hearst's wild ride created havoc in the south end zone of 3Com Park.
"Jerry (Rice) told everyone, 'Get off him! Let him breathe!' " Hearst recalled of the dogpile that was the 49ers end-zone celebration. "He said, 'I know! I've been there before!' "
"This play will go down in history as one of the great runs," Mariucci said. "It had downfield blocking, broken tackles, and what a great time to have that run to win the game. I couldn't tell if he scored. The players flew onto the field and everyone went crazy."
San Francisco hadn't witnessed a chase scene like that since Nicholas Cage and action-flick producer Jerry Bruckheimer were in town for "The Rock." Crashed cars weren't strewn on Potrero Hill and along Market Street. The damage was done to a Jets team hoping to pull out an upset win on the road.
"That was a tough way to lose," New York coach Bill Parcells said. "It's very disappointing to fight that hard and lose."
"That's exactly what I was hoping I could do," Jets running back Curtis Martin said. "I wanted to break one 80 yards to win the game."
The first play after Nick Gallery's 49-yard punt pinned the 49ers on their own 4, Hearst took the handoff from Steve Young and burst up the middle breaking two tackles. He then swerved to the right sideline and gave free safety Kevin Williams a stiff arm Marcus Allen would be proud of.
"Someone took out the D-linemen and I thought, 'I've got a chance,' " Hearst recalled.
The path wasn't clear just yet for Hearst. First, tackle Dave Fiore had to rumble downfield to move some Jets defenders out of the way. Terrell Owens took care of the final roadblock inside the 10-yard line as Hearst barely outran an oncoming Mo Lewis.
"The last 10 yards, I was pulling everything I had," Hearst said. "I can't say what I said, but it was coming out of my 'booty.' "
"I was just hoping to end it some sort of way," Hearst added.
Hearst's last-play heroics gave him 187 yards the fourth-highest single-game total in team history and 2 touchdowns on just 20 carries. The 96-yard run not only broke Hugh McElhenny's old team mark of 89 yards set in 1952 but it erased some concern about a one-dimensional San Francisco offense.
"You know what, there was a lot of talk early about our running game," Hearst said. "I think we answered some questions today. We ran the ball well today."
The final 96 yards is what Niner fans will remember.
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